Integrity in Electronic Flight Control Systems.

Abstract : With the increased use of electronics flight-control systems for better aircraft performance and cost-efectiveness, development and test techniques which can insure the integrity of such systems have become critically important. Rapid advances in solid-state electronics have permitted a hundred-fold decrease in control computer size, power and cost over the past two decades. Designers have capitalized on these gains primarily by incorporating additional control functions to improve aircraft capabilities. Resulting control systems have become very complex and reliability requirements have mushroomed. This paper summarizes the evolution of these requirements, outlines the current status of flight control reliability, and hihglights promising methods of achieving integrity in future flight control systems. (Author)