Title :
Programming Boolean expressions for testability
Author_Institution :
NASA Langley, Hampton, VA, USA
Abstract :
This paper proposes several methods for programming the Boolean expressions in a flight control program that makes them amenable for exhaustive testing. It first describes the current FAA approach that accepts arbitrary Boolean expressions and attempts to apply the test known as modified condition/decision coverage (MC/DC). The major observation is that MC/DC is still evolving - there is disagreement about what constitutes an MC/DC test set. For this and other reasons, it is appropriate to consider alternative methods. These alternatives may appear to be more arduous than MC/DC, but since they are straightforward there is little time spent choosing a test set. They also attempt exhaustive testing, producing a high probability of detecting errors. This work is in an initial state. Some suggestions are made about checking the practicality of the proposed methods.
Keywords :
Boolean functions; aerospace control; aerospace testing; program testing; safety-critical software; Boolean expressions programming; FAA approach; MC/DC test set; arbitrary Boolean expressions; error detection; exhaustive testing; flight control program; modified condition/decision coverage; Actuators; Aerospace control; Automatic control; FAA; Modems; NASA; Performance gain; Software testing; Uninterruptible power systems; Writing;
Conference_Titel :
Aerospace Conference, 2004. Proceedings. 2004 IEEE
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-8155-6
DOI :
10.1109/AERO.2004.1368116