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µVISION: COMMON DO-178B CERTIFICATION QUESTIONS
Information in this article applies to:
- µVision2 and µVision3 -- All versions
QUESTION
What is DO-178B?
ANSWER
DO-178B is a document published by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA). It is a guideline used to determine if software components of airborne equipment and systems are FAA airworthiness-compliant. Application programs are certified as a system. Any changes to any part of the application program code require re-certification of the entire program.
QUESTION
What does DO-178B guideline specify?
ANSWER
DO-178B specifies that each line of code is required and tested, and that no unused code exists in the application program build.
QUESTION
How do the Keil tools assist in DO-178B certification?
ANSWER
The Code Coverage feature of the Keil debugger shows statement and decision coverage at both the source and object code level. Code Coverage results may be logged and output using the µVision debug commands.
QUESTION
Does the Keil Library produce unused or "dead" code?
ANSWER
The Keil compiler and linker automatically warn you of unused functions or inaccessible code. Only those library functions that are called from the application program are included in the application program build. Your certification test procedure must insure that all possible arguments supplied to any library function used are tested.
QUESTION
Do I need library source code for DO-178B certification?
ANSWER
That depends on what level of compliance you want to achieve. The Keil tools provide the capability to attain DO-178B, Level C compliance. For levels higher than that you may or may not need library source code depending on how your test procedures are designed.
QUESTION
When should I start DO-178B compliance testing on my code?
ANSWER
Don't start testing until your product is completely debugged, tested and ready to release. Testing must be done to the entire product as a whole. If you happen to uncover a bug during certification testing, and have to change your code at all, the entire certification tests must be re-run to be compliant.
MORE INFORMATION
- Refer to Code Coverage in the µVision® User's Guide.
- Refer to COVERAGE in the µVision® User's Guide.
Last Reviewed: Tuesday, March 27, 2007
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