A methodologic project to characterize and model COTS component reliability

Abstract

The industries of transportation as the space industry are faced with a strong global economic competition which sets economic constraints on the cost of the functions. The use of COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) components in embedded systems is more and more necessary to shorten the development cycles and reduce manufacturing costs. The application of electronic components comes overwhelmingly from public sectors whose requirement is to provide, in short development cycles, technological innovations including risk and cost mitigation. These development cycles must incorporate the specific constraints of embedded systems in terms of reliability, dependability, and availability, held in harsh environment and life. Due to the low volume of components supplying the market of embedded systems, component manufacturers are unlikely to provide information necessary to supporting folders for certification or qualification. It is therefore necessary for the Space, Aeronautics and Automotive industries to characterize the performance and robustness of these COTS components in the operational and environmental conditions of their applications. This paper presents the objectives and main challenges of a sponsored project dedicated to characterize and model COTS reliability.