Earl. You might find this short report interesting: > DOC=DOT/FAA/AR-01/41 DDATE=01-AUG-2001 DD=CTD > > Title: REVIEW OF PENDING GUIDANCE AND INDUSTRY > FINDINGS ON COMMERCIAL OFF-THE-SHELF (COTS) ELECTRONICS IN AIRBORNE SYSTEMSAbstract: March 11, > 2002 THE INTENT OF THIS REPORT IS TO PROVIDE FINDINGS ABOUT THE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY RELATIVE > TO THE DESIGN OBJECTIVES IDENTIFIED IN GUIDANCE DOCUMENT DO-254 WITH FOCUS ON THE IMPLICATIONS > FOR THE USE OF COMMERCIAL OFF-THE-SHELF (COTS) ELECTRONIC HARDWARE COMPONENTS IN SAFETY > CRITICAL AIRBORNE SYSTEMS. THE USE OF COMPLEX ELECTRONIC HARDWARE COMPONENTS IN AIRBORNE > SYSTEMS POSES A CHALLENGE TO THE MEETING OF SAFETY REQUIREMENTS BECAUSE, FOR COMPLEX > COMPONENTS, COMPLETE VERIFICATION IS, AT BEST, VERY DIFFICULT AND, AT WORST, NOT ACHIEVABLE. IN > ORDER TO ADDRESS THE POTENTIAL LACK OF COMPLETE VERIFICATION, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE HARDWARE > DESIGN LIFE CYCLE PROCESSES SHOULD INCLUDE DESIGN ASSURANCES TO MITIGATE THE POSSIBILITY THAT > DESIGN ERRORS MAY BE INTRODUCED INTO THE HARDWARE COMPONENT AND CAUSE ANOMALOUS BEHAVIOR. NEW > TECHNOLOGIES, BEING DEVELOPED IN THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR, COULD PROVIDE ENHANCED SAFETY IN > AIRBORNE SYSTEMS IF THE TECHNOLOGIES COULD BE INCORPORATED AT AN AFFORDABLE COST. HOWEVER, THE > USE OF COTS COMPONENTS IN AIRBORNE SYSTEMS RAISES A NUMBER > OF ISSUES WITH RESPECT TO MEETING AIRBORNE SYSTEM SAFETY REQUIREMENTS AND DO-254 OBJECTIVES. > COMMERCIAL MARKET TRENDS ARE RAPIDLY DIVERGING FROM THE NEEDS OF SAFETY CRITICALAIRBORNE SYSTEMS. > ISSUES WITH RESPECT TO COTS USAGE MAY BECOME BARRIERS IN CERTAIN CASES, IF NECESSARY ASSURANCES > CANNOT BE ACHIEVED IN A COST EFFECTIVE MANNER. THE ASSURANCES REQUIRED > FOR HIGH CRITICALITY APPLICATIONS SUCH AS LEVELS A AND B WILL PROBABLY NOT BE ATTAINABLE FOR COTS > COMPONENTS WITHOUT MITIGATION BY OTHER MEANS. > > David A. Douthit > Manager > LoCan LLC Earl Moon wrote: > All the little DSP BGA's soldered fine. 4 of 5 boards even work with the > world's worst design ever. > > The story is not over, but it's off to a good start. My thanks to > Sanmina/Hadco tech fab center East and the fine people there. Also, my hat's > off to Sanmina's tech assembly center in Austin. Both busted ass and came > through, against all odds. Thank you too Jason Gregory. > > I'm outa here finally and going gambling and gamboling in Nevada. Then it's > off to do automotive stuff. > > MoonFreeMan > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d > To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in > the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet > To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL > To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest > Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives > Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm for additional > information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------