"...the pilot had no indication that the mission computers had been
replaced..."
FROM...
Media Release 23/02, 15 November 2002
Defence Science and Technology Organisation
DSTO airborne mission computer successfully 'flies' an F-111
A computer system which can emulate a range of airborne mission computer
types has the potential to replace aging Australian Defence Force (ADF)
computer equipment.
An experimental computer emulator, the system has been under investigation
and customisation by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO)
at Edinburgh in South Australia.
A team from DSTO's Air Operations Division has successfully run the system
through proof-of-concept testing on an Air Force F-111 simulator at RAAF
Base Amberley.
"This is a very exciting outcome," said DSTO's David Culpin, the project's
task manager.
"It is a further endorsement of the potential for this technology.
Applications potentially exist not only for aging aircraft mission
computers, but also flight simulators, automated test equipment, embedded
systems and other computer applications where obsolescence and
supportability is an issue."
The F-111 simulator was chosen as the initial candidate because of mission
computer obsolescence problems and its relatively simple architecture.
Other ADF aircraft to which the emulator could be applied include Navy's
Seahawk, Air Force's Hawk Lead-in Fighter and P-3C Orion maritime patrol
aircraft.
The emulator uses RePLACE (Reconfigurable Processor For Legacy Avionics
Code Execution) software from TRW Inc. in the United States. It is being
investigated for its potential to replace many aging airborne mission
computers in the ADF under task sponsorship by the Director General
Aerospace Development (DGAD). The technology uses commercial off the shelf
(COTS) components including a fast, modern processor. It provides backward
compatibility for existing legacy software.
Laboratory testing of the emulator has proven successful but lacked
complete interaction with all aircraft systems and sub-systems. However,
testing the emulator in the F-111 simulator provided access to a complete
avionics and simulated sensor suite.
The DSTO team acquired a version of the aircraft's Operational Flight
Program which was downloaded to their customised box containing RePLACE.
Experiments were then run at DSTO Edinburgh (north of Adelaide) to test the
performance and validity of RePLACE, before the opportunity to 'plug in'
the unit to the real system in the Amberley simulator.
During the trial at Amberley the original mission computers of the F-111
simulator were taken off-line and replaced by the emulator. Initial
indications showed that all normal simulator functions were unaffected.
Pre-flight checks were then carried out successfully in the cockpit by
private sector company Thales Training & Simulation, which operates the
simulator on behalf of the Air Force.
A complete flight mission employing Terrain Following Radar, Inertial
Navigation and the Global Positioning System was then flown. It lasted for
more than an hour to fully test the emulator which performed flawlessly. No
evident problems emerged and the pilot had no indication that the mission
computers had been replaced.
http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/index.html
Avionics software expert...Victoria Stavridou has no comment at this stage.
