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Understanding DO-254 and Solutions to Facilitate Compliance wwww.mentor.com 5 ■ Production Transition (DO-254 Section 5.5) occurs after the design work and the devices are ready to begin larger volume production. ■ Validation and Verification (DO-254 Section 6) is one of the "Supporting Processes" of DO-254 that occurs throughout the hardware design. Validation ensures that the requirements are correct, complete, and verifiable. Verification ensures the device performs the intended function as specified by the requirements. Part of this process includes traceability. Requirements must be traced to their implementation (typically linkage is established to/from the HDL code) and verification (both test cases and results). Traceability of validated requirements helps ensure that all functions are implemented and working as expected. ■ Configuration Management (DO-254 Section 7) helps ensure that the device is developed in a structured, repeatable, and controlled environment. This includes version management, problem reporting, and related processes to ensure that the development process can consistently replicate an item, regenerate pertinent information and make modifications to an item in a controlled fashion if necessary. ■ Process Assurance (DO-254 Section 8) is an actual project role focused on ensuring that the processes defined in the PHAC are followed. ■ Certification Liaison (DO-254 Section 9) involves engaging with a certification authority (typically a designated engineering representative, or DER, in the U.S.) to ensure DO-254 compliance during the development process. This typically involves four official audits, called "Stage of Involvement" or SOI audits, whereby DO-254 objectives are demonstrated to a certification authority and credit is given for meeting them. Likewise, compliance failures or "findings" are also noted and must be addressed before compliance is granted. MAPPING THE DO-254 LIFECYCLE TO A TYPICAL FPGA FLOW Typical FPGA process flow diagram Figure 3. DO-254 lifecycle applied to an FPGA design process More information about each of these processes and how they are done is presented in the Solutions to Facilitate DO-254 section.

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