Digital Engineering Enables Innovative Hardware Integration Opportunities in Aerospace
1 INTRODUCTION
Aerospace and avionics systems have strict requirements for reliability and redundancy . However , like all systems development efforts , there are limited budgets and time constraints and a need to deliver increased capability on shorter timelines . One method for addressing this problem is establishing and using open technical architectures and solutions that leverage Digital Engineering ( DE ) innovations and opportunities .
Many open architecture efforts to enable reuse , extensibility , integration , and open interfaces in the avionics domain have been focused on the software aspect of the avionics system . The desire for open systems and reuse coupled with the difficulty of achieving and maintaining interoperability are just as prevalent in the computing hardware domain as in the software domain .
Simple design questions are very real and currently very difficult to address , such as : What computing chassis or backplanes are available ? Which boards fit into which chassis ? What form factors are available ? Are the electrical and thermal loads appropriate and compatible with the operating environment ? Can I replace a board from Vendor A with a board from Vendor B ?
Even before addressing those kinds of questions , it is necessary to explore issues like : Can we find boards from multiple vendors that have comparable capabilities and operating requirements ? Can smaller form factor boards be used without affecting the mission ?
Figure 1-1 : Introduction - HHITS tradeoffs for component integration . 1
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To help address these issues , the US Navy helped to establish the Hardware Open Systems Technologies ( HOST ) standard . See https :// host-oa . com /
Journal of Innovation 37