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Understanding DO-254 and Solutions to Facilitate Compliance wwww.mentor.com 2 INTRODUCTION RTCA/DO-254, or simply DO-254 (also known as ED-80 in Europe), is a document developed under the guidance of the RTCA (www.rtca.org) that establishes "Design Assurance Guidance for Airborne Electronic Hardware." As hardware designs get more and more complex, and virtually impossible to exhaustively test, the purpose of DO-254 is to establish a framework for the development of such hardware to ensure, by way of a standard framework, that the resulting hardware devices perform their intended function under all foreseeable conditions. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and other worldwide certification authorities have invoked DO-254, making it policy for the development of "custom micro-coded components" (i.e., PLD, FPGA, and ASIC devices). This has led to its widespread adoption in commercial aviation programs in recent years. Some airframe integrators are also mandating compliance beyond the component-level. DO-254 compliance is also becoming increasingly common on military projects. As is almost always the case with relatively new standards, initial efforts to comply with DO-254 can be fraught with difficulty and unexpected costs. Fortunately many of these challenges can be minimized with a thorough understanding of what DO-254 compliance really entails, and using work-flows and solutions supportive of this. DO-254 OVERVIEW AND EVOLUTION WHY COMPLY WITH DO-254? DO-254 was originally developed to serve as a means of compliance to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs) Title 14 "Aeronautics and Space" for parts 23 (normal, utility, acrobatic, and commuter category airplanes), 25 (transport category), 27 (category rotorcraft), 29 (transport category rotorcraft), and 33 (aircraft engines). Within the CFR, each of these parts has subparts .1301 and .1309, which are pertinent in the discussion of DO-254 compliance. Part.1301 "Function and Installation" says "Each item of installed equipment must: (a) Be of a kind and design appropriate to its intended function; (b) Be labeled as to its identification, function, or operating limitations, or any applicable combination of these factors; (c) Be installed according to limitations specified for that equipment; and (d) Function properly when installed." Likewise, Part.1309 "Equipment, Systems, and Installations" says: (a) The equipment, systems, and installations whose functioning is required by this subchapter, must be designed to ensure that they perform their intended functions under any foreseeable operating condition. (b) The airplane systems and associated components, considered separately and in relation to other systems, must be designed so that-- (1) The occurrence of any failure condition which would prevent the continued safe flight and landing of the airplane is extremely improbable, and (2) The occurrence of any other failure condition which would reduce the capability of the airplane or the ability of the crew to cope with adverse operating conditions is improbable…." Thus, complying with DO-254 means complying with the CFRs. Countries outside the United States have similar sets of regulations that are likewise satisfied by compliance to this document.

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