System engineering for the 777 autopilot system

This paper describes the systems engineering process used in developing the 777 Autopilot Flight Director System (AFDS). It includes discussions regarding requirements capture, requirements allocation to hardware and software, system architecture considerations (including the architectural impact of safety requirements), change management, requirements and verification traceability, and requirements-based verification. Additionally, the organizational structure employed and its interaction with the systems engineering process are also reviewed. Finally, the results from a recent joint (Boeing and Collins) lessons learned exercise are summarized.