Typically, when an avionics manufacturer designs a product for certification, the software must meet certain TSO requirements for the software using DO-178B guidelines. The type of aircraft usually designates the certification level associated with DO-178B. Almost all of Genesys Aerosystems’ products are certified to DO-178 Level A software, which means it meets the highest Design Assurance Level, or DAL. Once certified, the software can’t change without significant retesting and approval by the FAA. This restricts an avionics manufacturers’ ability to customize features for customers requiring special capabilities—without substantial time and money.
OASIS Offers Flexibility and Customization
One of the advantages that Genesys Aerosystems brings to the marketplace is OASIS (Open Architecture System Integration Symbology), a technology that allows our customers to customize certain features a nd functionality in their avionics systems outside of the traditional TSO software.
We do this by partitioning out the customizable software from the TSO’d software, allowing access to authorized customers to change certain aspects of the product, such as the display of EICAS (Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System). This does not mean that FAA approval is not required. It is, but is accomplished as part of the STC approval.
The OASIS Difference
OASIS provides aircraft manufacturers or programs with a greater range of options than are typically found in the standard off-the-shelf hardware and software. This is especially useful to OEMs and the special-missions markets that demand unique features in their avionics.
For example, the Genesys IDU-680 with integrated 3D SYNVIS employs OASIS. This allows for configurable, dynamic shapes and text. It also allows for definable position, color, size, rotation, motion, conditions and selection. It features 10 dedicated pages plus five de-clutterable overlays for most display functions, with 512 elements per page or overlay. When designed by the customer, these shapes and texts create an ideal engine display page for the customer’s mission. For example, some may prefer dials while others require tapes. Others may like large text or smaller text.
OASIS also enables dynamically definable menus/sub-menus and screen status, with a fixed EICAS screen position option, which is required by some aviation authorities.
Additionally, with OASIS, an open-architecture ground maintenance function can be used for either flight configuration or a ground maintenance configuration.
Additional OASIS Details
For readers who like all the technical details, please continue to read. For the rest, thank you for gaining an insight to OASIS technology.
For overlays, each overlay element can be rendered full-time or tied to a declutter menu in the affected page. Five overlays may be added to the following pages:
- Normal PFD (pilot and co-pilot can be different)
- Basic PFD (pilot and co-pilot can be different)
- Navigation Display
- Traffic Display
- Datalink Display
- Hover Display
- WX/SAR Radar Display
- Video 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- There are also externally assignable menus.
- OASIS also allows for movable and rotatable elements in displays, including the following:
- X/Y Pixel Location from external source
- Direction/Pixel location from ownship from external source
- Lat/Lon/Alt location from external source (perspective rendering on PFD)
- Direction/Distance/Alt location from external source (perspective rendering on PFD)
- Lat/Lon/Alt Element can be OASIS waypoint (with name)
- Clock element
- SDI Segregation (memory analysis)
- Configurable DDW outputs
- Bitmap support
- Object select with receive and send action
Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you come back for more.