The U.S. Army's Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) Product Line: A Case Study

Abstract

This report is one in a series of Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute case studies of organizations that have adopted a software product line approach for developing a family of software-intensive systems. The U.S. Army's Technical Applications Program Office (TAPO) has adopted a product line approach for the avionics software used for the Army's special operations helicopters. That software is based on Rockwell Collins Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS). The product line has evolved beyond its original scope and is now being adopted to include other Army aviation platforms such as cargo and utility helicopters. This case study describes the acquisition context and organizations involved in the product line, the history behind the development and evolution of the product line, its application to the mission of the Army's special operations helicopters, the Army's motivation for adopting a product line, specifics of the product line approach, and the underlying CAAS system and software architecture. The case study also highlights the software product line accomplishments, examines the results and lessons learned from TAPO's and Rockwell Collins perspective, and discusses future considerations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA444361

Entities

People

  • John Bergey
  • Paul Clemente

Organizations

  • Carnegie Mellon University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Counter WMD
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Sensors
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Application Software
  • Army Aircraft
  • Case Studies
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Flight Training
  • Information Systems
  • Lessons Learned
  • Local Area Networks
  • Operating Systems
  • Situational Awareness
  • Software Design
  • Software Development

Fields of Study

  • Computer science
  • Engineering

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Software Engineering.