MATLAB and Simulink for Aerospace Certification Standards Compliance

Organizations use Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and Model-Based Design to comply with safety and security aerospace certification standards for:

  • Requirements management: Import, author, formalize, validate, and trace requirements
  • System architectures and behavioral models: Model, analyze, and simulate
  • Code generation: Generate C, C++, VHDL®, and Verilog® code from models
  • Static and dynamic verification: Author, link, and execute test cases; use formal methods on models and code
  • Qualification: Qualify tools according to DO-330 and generate reports

By integrating these practices, organizations can efficiently manage certification processes and generate necessary evidence.

Consulting

Your Certification Journey

MathWorks consultants can work with you on a customized implementation plan toward Aerospace Certification Standards Compliance. Contact us today to get started.

Systems Standards: ARP4754B, ARP4761A, and DO-326A

Laptop computer with System Composer and an aircraft.

You can use MATLAB and Simulink products to support key aerospace standards such as ARP4754B for developing civil aircraft and systems, ARP4761A for safety assessment, and DO-326A for security assessment.

With MBSE and Model-Based Design, you can use MATLAB and Simulink products, including System Composer, Simulink Fault Analyzer, and Requirements Toolbox to:

  • Capture system requirements in textual and model formats
  • Perform requirements validation
  • Design and test robust system architectures
  • Conduct thorough verification activities at different levels

The process connects higher-level system designs and lower-level software and hardware implementations, creating a digital thread and traceability essential for certification.


Software Standards:
DO-178C and Supplements

The DO-178C standard defines a set of objectives and activities for software to be approved for use in airborne systems. You can reduce risks and effort using Model-Based Design by:

  • Iterating and refining software requirements by creating executable specifications
  • Defining architecture and confirming your design choices for robustness and maintainability leveraging modeling and simulation
  • Demonstrating code and executable coverage through back-to-back testing and traceability from requirements to tests
  • Automating model and code review activities
  • Reducing testing activities with formal methods

Hardware Standard: DO-254

The DO-254 standard defines a set of objectives for the certification of Airborne Electronic Hardware (AEH). MATLAB and Simulink enable you to comply with DO-254 objectives and support its processes:

  • Requirements management and tracing
  • Conformance to design standards
  • HDL code generation
  • Verification and validation

Using Model-Based Design also helps you satisfy DO-254 objectives while realizing cost and time-to-market benefits associated with early verification of requirements, automated linking to requirements, model and code standards checking, code generation, report artifact generation, and test case reuse at different levels.


Certification of AI-Enabled Systems

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in production is growing, demanding model explanation, verification, and validation, especially in high-integrity embedded systems development. Ensuring AI's trustworthiness and reliability in these areas involves challenges such as ensuring data traceability, quality, and coverage and building repeatable, robust, interpretable, and scalable models for integration into larger systems. These efforts are further complicated by the lack of established industry-specific AI standards. MathWorks is part of the SAE WG-114, which is working on the definition of the certification standard.


Space Standards

The processes required to develop software and electronic hardware for space systems are defined by multiple regional standards, such as NASA Software Engineering Requirements (NPR 7150.2), European Cooperation for Space Standardization Space Engineering Software (ECSS-E-ST-40) and Software Product Assurance (ECSS-Q-ST-80), and European Cooperation for Space Standardization for FPGAs and ASICs Space Engineering (ECSS-E-ST-20-40C) and quality (ECSS-Q-ST-60-03C).

You can develop certifiable code that conforms to these standards by using Model-Based Design to:

  • Maintain, allocate, and trace requirements and validate them through behavioral simulation
  • Define and maintain architectures and link them natively to simulation
  • Develop, test, and implement algorithms into software code
  • Use formal methods to ensure design robustness and comply with static code analysis requirements
  • Automate design flows and reporting

Certification Advisory and Learning Paths

Conceptual blueprint of an airplane.

MathWorks Consulting Services work with you to migrate your existing development process or to establish a new one using MBSE or Model-Based Design. Tailored to your specific environment, tools, and applications, the Certification Advisory Service identifies gaps in your current processes, develops a road map for an optimized workflow, and assists you in deploying that road map.

MathWorks Consulting Services prepares you to perform key modeling, code generation, and tool qualification activities to achieve the objectives of ARP4754B, ARP4761A, DO-254, and DO-178C and its supplemental documents.

Key Benefits:

  • Lower schedule and budget risk
  • Reduce development time and cost
  • Compliance, reduced certification time
  • Higher productivity and ROI
  • Enhanced partner relationships

Certification Advisory—Typical Elements:

  • Planning documents review
  • Requirements traceability
  • Requirements-based testing, model coverage
  • Model standards checking
  • Code generation, automated traceability review
  • Host and on-target testing with structural coverage (SW)
  • Automation of lifecycle artifact creation
  • Tool qualification

Contact MathWorks Consulting Services to discuss your specific requirements.

Customized Training Pathways

In addition to consulting services, MathWorks offers customized training pathways that equip you with hands-on experience and a comprehensive understanding of how to use the products. These pathways are designed to complement MathWorks Consulting Services, helping you navigate your certification journey. The showcased learning paths below show the names of the different available courses.

Diagrams of Model-Based Design training pathways for DO-178-C.

DO-178C: Model-Based Design Training Pathways

Diagrams of Model-Based Design training pathways for DO-254.

DO-254: Model-Based Design Training Pathways