AIRBORNE ADVANCED RECONFIGURABLE COMPUTER SYSTEM (ARCS)

摘要

Fault-tolerant electronic subsystems are being applied to future commercial transports to improve their range-payload performance and to enhance their operational capability/reliability. This 1-year study defined a new digital computer subsystem fault-tolerant concept and assessed the potential benefits and costs of such a subsystem when used as the central element of a new transport's flight control system. The derived Advanced Reconfigurable Computer System (ARCS) is a triple-redundant computer subsystem that automatically reconfigures, under multiple-fault conditions, from triplex to duplex to simplex operation, with redundancy recovery if the fault condition is transient. The study included criteria development covering factors at the aircraft's operational level that would influence the design of a fault-tolerant system for commercial airline use.nA new reliability analysis tool was developed for evaluating redundant, fault-tolerant system availability and survivability;and a stringent digital system software design methodology was used to achieve design/implementation visibility.