Certification of Microcontroller based Safety-Critical Avionics

The usage of highly complex microcontroller units (MCUs), like multi core controllers, in avionic systems is a demand created by the increasing performance requirements and changing semiconductor market. In order to be compliant with rules of certification authorities, manufacturers of MCU based avionics have to consider their characteristics during development by an Electronic Component Management Plan (ECMP). The usage domain determination and verification of a MCU is one necessary ECMP process step and specifies how the MCU is integrated into an avionic system. Its realization and benefits are discussed within the scope of current trends in development safety-critical MCUs.