Model reuse for software development and testing: The application of common interfaces to support va

Thomas A. Halley McDonnell Douglas Corporation St. Louis Missouri Parl C. Hummel McDonnell Douglas Corporation St. Louis Missouri It is desirable to use object-oriented design techniques and common interfaces which map closely to the "real world" to achieve maximum reuse of aerospace models for both development and testing. The model development process should support and provide models at different levels of detail (fidelity), so the designer/user/analyst/tester can select the version needed for the activity being performed. The simulation should also be flexible enough to allow the models to change from one fidelity level to another during execution to minimize overall runtime. There are several graphical tools and techniques available that support object-oriented design by the subject matter experts including Rational Rose, JMASS, ISI MATRIXx, and i-Logix Rhapsody. Models should be developed and tested to verify they can operate in a simulation using common interfaces and that the interfaces can be modified/expanded to allow the different "levels of detail" to be used. Bandwidth trade-off vs. fidelity and the capability to switch models during execution will be discussed. The conclusions will show the advantages of using object-oriented design and "real world" interfaces over traditional methods and the affordability and maintainability improvements possible. Future applications include applying the same processes and tools to reusable aircraft avionics software.