FAA Research Project on System Complexity Effects on Aircraft Safety: Literature Search to Define Complexity for Avionics Systems

Abstract

This special report describes the results from the first task of a two-year project for the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate the impact of system and software complexity on aircraft safety and certification. The first task was a literature review sampling what is known about complexity. The term complexity is often used but not often defined, especially in the context of safety and assurance; our review had to intuit what different sources intended as the meaning by how they used the term in their writings. Essentially, sources described a number of different causes and impacts of complexity. The causes and impacts as described in the literature are presented here in a hierarchy of categories. To use the word complexity precisely, the causes and the impacts should be specified. Some sources also discussed measurement and mitigation of complexity; both measurement and mitigation can apply to both causes and effects.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2015
Accession Number
AD1145721

Entities

People

  • Michael Konrad
  • Sarah Sheard

Organizations

  • Carnegie Mellon University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algorithms
  • Behavioral Sciences
  • Best Practices
  • Boundaries
  • Cognitive Complexity
  • Complex Systems
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Differential Equations
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Language
  • Literature Surveys
  • Measurement
  • Motivation
  • Reliability
  • Software Development
  • Standards
  • System Safety
  • Systems Engineering

Readers

  • Aviation Safety Risk Assessment.
  • Library and Information Science
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.