The role of (software) standards in test (avionics testing)

This paper presents a general overview of software standards for avionics system testing. It begins with a historical description of the ATLAS (abbreviated test language for avionics systems) specification and its management by the IEEE as standard 416. It then details standards for instrumentation, standards for diagnostic and maintenance control, and outlines the current perception of standards. It concludes with a look at future trends, including the use of extensible markup language (XML).