; NOTE: This is a "how we did it" case study paper, without too much on "why". So don't waste breath on saying they didn't talk about "why". Just read the paper to get a feel for all the stuff that has to go into a real x-by-wire system. ; Required Reading @Conference{ yeh98_777_fbw, author = "Yeh, Y.C.; ", title = "Design considerations in Boeing 777 fly-by-wire computers", journal = "HASE 1998", year = "1998", abstract = "The new technologies in flight control avionics systems selected for teh Boeing 777 airplane program consist of the following: Fly-By-Wire (FBW), ARINC 629 Data Bus, and Deferred Maintenance. The FBW must meet extremely high levels of fractional integrity and availability. The heart of the FBW concept is the use of triple redundancy for all hardware resources: computing system, airplane electrical power, hydraulic power and communication paths. The multiple redundant hardware are required to meet the numerical safety requirements. Hardware redundancy can be relied upon only if hardware faults can be contained; fail-passive electronics are necessary building blocks for the FBW systems. In addition, FBW computer architecture must consider other fault tolerance issues: generic errors, common mode faults, near-coincidence faults and dissimilarity.", url = "http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel4/5939/15811/00731596.pdf", studentname = "", summary = "", contribution1 = "", contribution2 = "", contribution3 = "", contribution4 = "", contribution5 = "", weakness1 = "", weakness2 = "", weakness3 = "", weakness4 = "", weakness5 = "", interesting = "high/med/low", opinions = "", } ; Supplemental Readings article{Buus97, author = "Buus, H. ; McLees, R. ; Orgun, M. ; Pasztor, E. ; Schultz, L.", title = "777 flight controls validation process", journal = "IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems 33,", year = "1997", pages = "656-66", number = "2", abstract = "The validation process used in support of certification of the Boeing 777 full fly-by-wire Primary Flight Control System (PFCS) and Autopilot Flight Director System (AFDS) is summarized. This process includes development of the system and component level requirements, ensuring the requirements are correct and complete, and ensuring the integrated systems and airplane comply with the system and airplane level requirements. Validation methods, traceability, problem tracking, and organizational management of the process are described", url = "http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel4/7/12850/00588385.pdf", studentname = "", summary = "", contribution1 = "", contribution2 = "", contribution3 = "", contribution4 = "", contribution5 = "", weakness1 = "", weakness2 = "", weakness3 = "", weakness4 = "", weakness5 = "", interesting = "high/med/low", opinions = "", } @article{Norris95, author = "Norris, G.", title = "Boeing's seventh wonder", journal = "IEEE Spectrum 32,", year = "1995", pages = "20-3", number = "10", abstract = "The author describes the new Boeing 777 which incorporates the most advanced avionics of any commercial US aircraft and is the first plane of any kind to be almost entirely computer-designed. The 230,000 kg plane is the biggest twin-engine aircraft ever to fly, uses the largest and most powerful jet engines ever developed, and is the first US-built commercial transport to rely completely on fly-by-wire controls", url = "http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel3/6/9725/00464305.pdf", studentname = "", summary = "", contribution1 = "", contribution2 = "", contribution3 = "", contribution4 = "", contribution5 = "", weakness1 = "", weakness2 = "", weakness3 = "", weakness4 = "", weakness5 = "", interesting = "high/med/low", opinions = "", } @Conference{Driscoll92, author = "Driscoll, K. ; Hoyme, K. ", title = "The Airplane Information Management System: an integrated real-time flight-deck control system", inbook = "Real-Time Systems Symposium ", year = "1992", pages = "267-70", abstract = "Honeywell is completing design and will build hardware for the new Boeing 777 integrated Airplane Information Management System (AIMS). AIMS functions have time constraints from hard real-time to non-real-time, and criticality levels from flight critical to nonessential. The challenge is that these functions share time, memory, and input/output (I/O) on a redundant, distributed multiprocessor. An innovative offline scheduling tool and table driven bus protocol control data transfers and Ada process synchronization with verifiable resource allocation, latency control, and performance", url = "http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel2/447/6239/00242654.pdf", studentname = "", summary = "", contribution1 = "", contribution2 = "", contribution3 = "", contribution4 = "", contribution5 = "", weakness1 = "", weakness2 = "", weakness3 = "", weakness4 = "", weakness5 = "", interesting = "high/med/low", opinions = "", } @Conference{Hess97, author = "Hess, R. ", title = "Computing platform architectures for robust operation in the presence of lightning and other electromagnetic threats", inbook = "16th DASC. AIAA/IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conference. Reflections to the Future. Proceedings ", year = "1997", pages = "4.3-9-16", volume = "1", abstract = "The electromagnetic environment (EME) produces (is a form of) electrical energy of the same type that is used by electrical/electronic equipment to process and transfer information. As such, this environment represents a fundamental threat to the proper operation of systems that depend on such equipment. For electrical/electronic systems providing functions that can affect the safe flight and landing of an aircraft (level A systems), the EME threat translates to a threat to the airplane itself. When protection against EME effects is being developed, architectural techniques should be applied, particularly to achieve the high margin of safety needed for level A electrical/electronic systems. The computing platform for the aircraft Information Management System (AIMS) used on the Boeing 777 aircraft and Versatile Integrated Avionics (VIA) technology is an example of the application of an architectural philosophy in the design of the digital engine for such aircraft systems. Another is a prototype computing platform for rapid recovery from "soft faults" (upset, momentary interference, etc.)", url = "http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel3/5023/13779/00635073.pdf", studentname = "", summary = "", contribution1 = "", contribution2 = "", contribution3 = "", contribution4 = "", contribution5 = "", weakness1 = "", weakness2 = "", weakness3 = "", weakness4 = "", weakness5 = "", interesting = "high/med/low", opinions = "", } @Conference{Gries95, author = "Gries, M.J. ", title = "Systems engineering for the 777 Autopilot Flight Director System", inbook = "14th DASC Digital Avionics Systems Conference AIAA/IEEE ", year = "1995", pages = "403-9", abstract = "This paper will describe the systems engineering process used in developing the 777 Autopilot Flight Director System (AFDS). It will include discussions regarding requirements capture, requirements allocation to hardware and software, system architecture considerations (including the architectural impact of safety requirements), change management, requirements and verification traceability, and requirements based verification. Additionally, the organizational structure employed and its interaction with the systems engineering process will also be reviewed. Finally, the results from a recent joint (Boeing and Collins) lessons learned exercise will be summarized", url = "http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel2/3487/10318/00482929.pdf", studentname = "", summary = "", contribution1 = "", contribution2 = "", contribution3 = "", contribution4 = "", contribution5 = "", weakness1 = "", weakness2 = "", weakness3 = "", weakness4 = "", weakness5 = "", interesting = "high/med/low", opinions = "", } @Conference{Hoyme92, author = "Hoyme, K. ; Driscoll, K. ", title = "SAFEbus", inbook = "Proceedings IEEE/AIAA 11th Digital Avionics Systems Conference ", year = "1992", pages = "68-73", abstract = "SAFEbus is slated to become the first standard backplane bus for commercial avionics. It has been accepted as the draft for ARINC Project Paper 659. SAFEbus is designed to provide communications of all data among the line replaceable modules in the Boeing 777 Airplane Information Management System (AIMS) cabinets. The success of an integrated cabinet hinges on the backplane bus. It is the mechanism responsible for maintaining the space and time partitioning required to ensure that independent functions, which are sharing the cabinet resources, cannot adversely affect each other, even if the designs of one or more of the functions are faulty. A custom protocol is necessary since no existing standard bus was found to provide the fault tolerance or partitioning required for AIMS validation", url = "http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel2/1033/6983/00282179.pdf", studentname = "", summary = "", contribution1 = "", contribution2 = "", contribution3 = "", contribution4 = "", contribution5 = "", weakness1 = "", weakness2 = "", weakness3 = "", weakness4 = "", weakness5 = "", interesting = "high/med/low", opinions = "", } @Conference{Yeh96, author = "Yeh, Y.C. ", title = "Triple-triple redundant 777 primary flight computer", inbook = "1996 IEEE Aerospace Applications Conference. Proceedings ", year = "1996", pages = "293-307", volume = "1", abstract = "The flight control system for the Boeing 777 airplane is a Fly-By-Wire (FBW) system. The FBW system must meet extremely high levels of functional integrity and availability. The heart of the FBW concept is the use of triple redundancy for all hardware resources: computing system, airplane electrical power, hydraulic power and communication path. The Primary Flight Computer (PFC) is the central computation element of the FBW system. The triple modular redundancy (TMR) concept also applies to the PFC architectural design. Further, the N-version dissimilarity issue is integrated to the TMR concept. The PFCs consist of three similar channels (of the same part number), and each channel contains three dissimilar computation lanes. The 777 program design is to select the ARINC 629 bus as the communication media for the FBW", url = "http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel3/3554/10645/00495891.pdf", studentname = "", summary = "", contribution1 = "", contribution2 = "", contribution3 = "", contribution4 = "", contribution5 = "", weakness1 = "", weakness2 = "", weakness3 = "", weakness4 = "", weakness5 = "", interesting = "high/med/low", opinions = "", }