16:05 - 16:40   Paper 7

Applying RAMS Principles to the Development of a Safety-Critical Java Specification

Adrian Larkham, Aonix Europe

Almost all software for aerospace and defense applications is required to
satisfy reliable, available, maintainable, and safe (RAMS) objectives. While many
RAMS issues are best addressed by requiring that software developers consistently
adhere to particular development methodologies, a development team’s selection of
commercial off-the-shelf technologies, including choice of programming language,
run-time environment, and libraries, may also impact the team’s ability to satisfy
RAMS requirements. The presentation will evaluate a proposed specification for
safety-critical Java in terms of RAMS principles, comparing the use of the draft
safety-critical Java standard with traditional approaches based on C, and motivating
the restrictions imposed by the safety-critical Java specification in comparison with
use of traditional Java and the general purpose Real-Time Specification for Java. The
RAMS solutions that have been designed for the proposed safety-critical Java
specification apply equally well to a breadth of defense and aerospace application
domains, including hard real-time mission-critical code for communication, sensing,
guidance, and automation subsystems.