DO-178C and DO-330 (airborne software and tool qualification)

DO-178C

RTCA describes DO-178 as the core document for defining both design assurance and product assurance for airborne software. The current version, DO-178C, was published in 2011 and is referenced for use by FAA Advisory Circular AC 20-115D.

AC 20-115D, issued 2017-07-21 and listed as active, describes an acceptable means, but not the only means, for showing compliance for the software aspects of airborne systems. The AC is not mandatory and does not constitute a regulation. It also recognizes the supplements DO-331 (model-based development), DO-332 (object-oriented technology) and DO-333 (formal methods), and DO-330 for tool qualification. EUROCAE publishes the equivalent documents as ED-12C, ED-215, ED-218, ED-217 and ED-216.

DO-330 (tool qualification)

RTCA defines a tool in this context as a computer program used to help develop, transform, test, analyze, produce or modify another program, its data or its documentation, for example code generators, compilers and test tools.

Whether a tool needs qualification is determined by DO-178C subsection 12.2, with DO-330 providing the guidance for qualification. Qualification effort scales with tool qualification level (TQL): RTCA notes that TQL-5 tools meet 14 DO-330 objectives while TQL-1 tools must meet 76.

Where machine learning strains the standard

SAE’s G-34 committee published AIR6988, which reviews current aerospace software, hardware and system development standards used in certification and assesses whether these standards are compatible with a typical AI and machine-learning development approach. EASA’s concept paper, for its part, refers to the limitations of traditional development assurance for data-driven approaches and proposes learning assurance as an extension of traditional development assurance. Our article DO-178C and ML: where the gaps are goes through this in more detail. For whether a trained model can be treated as a qualified tool, see How to map an AI model to DO-178C / DO-330 tool qualification. For 12.2 / TQL on training and verification programs, see DO-330 tool qualification for ML toolchains.

What the FAA says about using these standards for AI

The FAA roadmap says the agency supports the application, and possible extension, of existing standards including DO-178C/ED-12 and DO-330/ED-215, alongside the development of new AI standards in SAE G-34. See the FAA roadmap page.

Buying the documents

RTCA sells DO-178C and DO-330; RTCA members must log in to get member pricing. This site does not reproduce the standards.