A practical approach to modified condition/decision coverage

Author

Hayhurst, K.J. ; Veerhusen, Dun S.

Author_Institution

NASA Langley Res. Center, Hampton, VA, USA

Volume

1

fYear

2001

fDate

14-18 Oct 2001

Abstract

Testing of software intended for safety-critical applications in commercial transport aircraft must achieve modified condition/decision coverage (ITC/DC) of the software structure. This requirement causes anxiety for many within the aviation software cornmunitv. Results of a survey of the aviation software industry indicate that many developers believe that meeting the MC/DC requirement is difficult. and the cost is exorbitant. Some of the difficulties stem, no doubt, from the scant information available on the subject. This paper provides a practical 5-step approach for assessing MC/DC for aviation software products, and an analysis of some types of errors expected to be caught when MC/DC is achieved

Keywords

aircraft computers; certification; program testing; program verification; safety-critical software; Boolean expression; DO-178B objective; advanced automation; aviation software; certification; coding errors; commercial transport aircraft; error sensitivity; masked tests; modified condition/decision coverage; requirements-based testing; safety-critical applications; software life cycle; software testing; source code representation; structural coverage analysis; Air traffic control; Aircraft navigation; Application software; Communication system software; Computer errors; Computer industry; Costs; FAA; Software safety; Software testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Digital Avionics Systems, 2001. DASC. 20th Conference

Conference_Location

Daytona Beach, FL

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7034-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/DASC.2001.963305

Filename

963305