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DO-178B Certifications for avionics software with Testwell CTC++ Test Coverage Analyzer

The standard DO-178B "Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification" is the commonly used standard for softwares in the avionics industry.
The regulations publicated by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics RTCA in the FAA Advisory Circular AC20-115B are the worldwide used guidelines for the certification of softwares and development processes.
The standard has been elaborated in a tight cooperation with EUROCAE (European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment) which has published the corresponding guidelines in the standard precedures instruction ED-12B.

In order to get the certification of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the software has to fulfil the standards of DO-178B for requirement based testing and code coverage analysis.
According to the required level, different documents as well as quality proofs have to be provided.
The different DO-178B-levels are defined according to the possible consequences of a software error:


Catastrophic (level A), hazardous-severe (level B), major (level C), minor (level D) or no-effect (level E).

According to the DO-178B-level the following test coverage (code coverage) is required :

Airbus 380 DO178-B DO-178B Level A:
Modified Condition Decision Coverage (MC/DC)
Branch/Decision Coverage
Statement Coverage

DO-178B Level B:
Branch/Decision Coverage
Statement Coverage

DO-178B Level C:
Statement Coverage

To obtain a DO-178B certification the software and a number of supplementary documents and quality proofs (among them test protocols) have to be provided.
In order to limit the expenditures the usage of professionnal tools is essential.

The Code Coverage Analyzer Testwell CTC++ covers all test coverage modes up until Multiple Condition Coverage (which includes Modified Condition Decision Coverage, MC/DC). For this reason Testwell CTC++ can be used in order to get the DO-178B certification for all levels (A, B, C and of course D and E).

CTC++ Test Coverage Analyzer for C and C++ is a user friendly and easy to use test coverage tool that gives clear and simple analysis results.

Because of its low instrumentation - overheads CTC++ can be used when developing embedded software basically for all targets, even for very small ones. Adaptations for all current target systems are provided with the coverage analyzer. As the Host-Target-Add-on is provided with the source, CTC++ can be adapted easily and quickly to any new target.

Testwell CTC++ is used in many safety and mission critical software projects for air and space transportation, rail transportation, automotive industry as well as for medical applications.
Nevertheless CTC++ is not only used for projects that require DO-178B or other certifications but also for the development of many other applications which just need quality to avoid costly "surprises" after the software release.
Some of our CTC++ references are available from our references page.

Further information about Testwell CTC++ can be obtained from our CTC++ Homepage.

Further information about DO-178B certifications are available here.