Assurance Benefits of ISO 26262 compliant Microcontrollers for safety-critical Avionics

TL;DR

This paper evaluates how ISO 26262 compliant automotive microcontrollers can enhance safety assurance processes in avionic systems, addressing safety challenges posed by complex MCUs not originally designed for aerospace.

Contribution

It provides an evaluation of ISO 26262 compliant MCUs' benefits for avionic safety assurance, highlighting their potential to improve current assurance practices.

Findings

ISO 26262 MCUs support safety assurance activities in avionics

Using compliant MCUs can reduce safety certification effort

Evaluation shows improved safety assurance with ISO 26262 MCUs

Abstract

The usage of complex Microcontroller Units (MCUs) in avionic systems constitutes a challenge in assuring their safety. They are not developed according to the development requirements accepted by the aerospace industry. These Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware components usually target other domains like the telecommunication branch. In the last years MCUs developed in compliance to the ISO 26262 have been released on the market for safety-related automotive applications. The avionic assurance process could profit from these safety MCUs. In this paper we present evaluation results based on the current assurance practice that demonstrates expected assurance activities benefit from ISO 26262 compliant MCUs.