Application of advanced safety technique to critical subsystem integration

摘要

This paper documents the benefits achieved from application of a dissimilar redundancy technique and analysis process to several flight-critical subsystems utilized in the F-16 Auto TF (Automatic Terrain Following) function. ^The dissimilar redundancy technique, SWIM (System-Wide Integrity Management), has significant advantages over traditional similar redundancy in its ability to achieve fault tolerance in flight-critical functions with minimal volume and minimal cost. ^This paper also covers the extension of the SWIM technique to space applications and surface applications for other critical functions. ^It includes a discussion of the method in which critical, state-of-the-art advanced automated control functions are achieved with minimal hardware, minimal costs and maximum safety. ^In addition, a serendipitious byproduct of the in-depth circuit analyses performed in SWIM programs to date is the discovery of several design enhancements (primarily BIT software) that could be made at virtually no cost. ^Specific areas in which design enhancements were achieved are listed for the various critical subsystems to which the SWIM process has already been applied. ^(Author)