Fundamentals of designing complex aerospace software systems

Abstract

Contemporary aerospace systems are complex conglomerates of components where control software drives rigid hardware to aid such systems meet their standards and safety requirements. The design and development of such systems is an inherently complex task where complex hardware and sophisticated software must exhibit adequate reliability and thus, they need to be carefully designed and thoroughly checked and tested. We discuss some of the best practices in designing complex aerospace systems. Ideally, these practices might be used to form a design strategy directing designers and developers in finding the “right design concept” that can be applied to design a reliable aerospace system meeting important safety requirements. Moreover, the design aspects of a new class of aerospace systems termed “autonomic” is briefly discussed as well.