Modelling DO-178C Assurance Needs: A Design Assurance Level-Sensitive DSL

Avionics systems are relying more on software to control their behaviour. However, engineering such software is a complex task. Even more so due to their safety-critical nature. Aviation authorities require suppliers to provide appropriate safety assurance through the certification of compliance with DO-178C to a determined software design assurance level. Such a concern is leading the avionics software industry to consider and incorporate effective engineering methods that can support them in their certification endeavours. This paper presents a domain specific modelling language (DSML) providing a documentation infrastructure that enforces certification information mandated by DO-178C and its supplements according with the software's design assurance level. Focus is given to the conceptual model of DO-178C and its supplements, which lies behind the proposed DSML to support the features it delivers. The DSML was built and implemented as a UML profile. Three different use cases for the DSML are illustrated in an avionics case study.