Development tool and method for airborne bus ICD

Abstract

The invention provides a development tool for an airborne bus ICD, and the tool comprises a management interface which is used for the management functions of the ICD, including importing, exporting, deleting and copying; the development interface is used for ICD development functions including input, editing, new building and data verification; the channel setting interface is used for binding an ICD message with bus configuration and comprises description, signal definition and configuration information of each bus; meanwhile, the invention further provides a development method of the airborne bus ICD. Through a friendly operation interface, the management and development efficiency is greatly improved; the file format content is unified and standard, and cross-device data transmission is facilitated; extension and self-defined configuration are supported, and high expansibility is achieved; cross-platform and expansion are supported by adopting a technology, and various system deployments are supported.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of avionics system testing and simulation, and in particular, to a development tool and method for an airborne bus ICD. Background Art

[0002] ICD (Interface Control Document) is a technical document that defines and describes the interface signal types, characteristics, functions and instructions between various avionics systems and devices. It is an important part of the top-level design and system specifications of the avionics system. The management and use of ICD runs through the entire process of design, development, testing and verification, and after verification of the entire process, it must go through multiple rounds of iterative modifications. The past ICD management and development tools have the following disadvantages:

[0003] 1) The development tools used by different ICD designers are different, and the resulting exported files are also quite different, which cannot fully meet the needs of different developers. For example, some development tools generate PDF or WORD format document files, which cannot intuitively display the entire ICD structure for ICD designers, and the modification and inspection process is inefficient; for developers, the overly large files themselves also increase the difficulty of consulting, which can easily lead to development input errors.

[0004] 2) With the continuous development of technology, the types of aviation buses are also changing with each passing day. The interface characteristics and data features of each bus type vary greatly. Currently, most ICD management and design tools cannot be compatible with all bus types.

[0005] 3) As the mission demands, the number of interfaces in the avionics system continues to increase, the system complexity continues to increase, the complexity of the cross-linking between the data continues to increase, and the ICD design becomes increasingly complex. Many design problems can only be exposed in the development or even verification stage, and some low-level errors will be ignored due to the complexity of the ICD, which greatly affects the development progress of the product.

[0006] 4) The complexity of ICD continues to increase, and the manual bit-by-bit data entry method is not only inefficient but also cannot guarantee accuracy.

[0007] 5) Due to the special usage scenarios in the future, the security of ICD also needs to be taken seriously. Files in ordinary formats are easily stolen, causing great security risks. In the management process, ICD data in special formats is read out by software, and only after verification can the data be exported into files in other formats for development and use.

[0008] 6) Previous ICD management and development tools can only generate files in one format, but cannot meet the needs of different usage scenarios.

[0009] In view of the above problems, the present invention designs a test management and development tool for airborne bus ICD, which is mainly used to solve the problems of low efficiency, high error rate, lack of security, compatibility and adaptation in the ICD management and development process. Summary of the invention

[0010] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an airborne bus ICD management and development tool with high efficiency, low error rate, high security, high compatibility and high scalability. Through this tool, various ICD formats and various airborne bus types can be adapted, and the usage requirements of different users can also be met. The tool software interface is clear and intuitive, and the operation is simple, so that ICD managers and designers can quickly design and develop ICDs, and errors can be quickly discovered through verification; the tool supports the export of files in different formats, and for ICD file users, target files can be quickly generated, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of software development and function integration; the tool supports the import of files in the exported format, and can quickly iterate and upgrade the specific content in the ICD.

[0011] In a first aspect, the present application provides a development tool for an airborne bus ICD, the tool comprising:

[0012] Management interface, used for ICD management functions, including import, export, delete, and copy;

[0013] Development interface, used for ICD development functions, including input, edit, create, and data verification;

[0014] The channel setting interface is used to bind the ICD message to the bus configuration, including the description, signal definition, and configuration information of each bus.

[0015] Preferably, the ICD management function is designed and implemented as follows: initially, a new ICD data is created by the new creation method, or the ICD data in the specified file format is imported into the management tool by the import method; the name, project, product, ICD version, creation time, modification time, and modifier of the ICD are viewed in the management interface; the imported ICD is queried by the ICD name and project; the ICD is edited, deleted, exported, and the channel is set. Click Edit to enter the ICD development interface, and click Channel Setting to enter the ICD and bus configuration binding interface.

[0016] Preferably, the development interface is divided into three parts, including:

[0017] Tree display and editing area: The content of each node of the entire ICD is intuitively displayed in a tree structure; each node can be folded and expanded according to needs, and the nodes can be quickly added, deleted, copied, pasted, and batch added through shortcut keys, right-click menus on the left, and shortcut buttons on the right; the content verification status of each node is marked by color behind each node;

[0018] Detailed information display and configuration area for nodes at this layer: by clicking a node at a certain layer on the left, the corresponding detailed editing information and detailed configuration content of the node will be displayed on the right; the specific content of the configuration includes name, byte size, big and small endian, and byte order; this area can be maximized or dragged to maximize the display of important information content;

[0019] Lower-level node basic information display and setting area: By clicking a node on the left, the lower right area will display the basic information of the next-level child nodes of the node in a table, including name, message type, byte offset, and length. Click a specific message to jump to the node for quick editing.

[0020] Preferably, ICD, as a message format file used to describe information transmitted between devices in an electronic system, is bound to the bus in addition to editing and development; in order to decouple ICD information from bus information, a channel setting interface is required to specifically implement the binding of ICD and bus;

[0021] Among them, in the channel setting interface, the entered ICD message is bound to the bus configuration, and the ICD bound to the bus configuration will display the bus type in the tree structure.

[0022] In a second aspect, the present application also provides a method for developing an airborne bus ICD, the method comprising:

[0023] Create a new ICD through the management interface;

[0024] ICD development through the development interface;

[0025] Channel configuration is performed through the channel configuration interface.

[0026] Preferably, creating a new ICD through the management interface includes:

[0027] Edit the name, project name, product name, and version number of the ICD. The tool records the creation time, modification time, and modifier of the ICD by default.

[0028] Preferably, the ICD development through the development interface includes:

[0029] Add and edit the message flow layer: The message flow layer identifies the flow direction and bus type of ICD data. This layer needs to be edited and filled with the message source, message destination, and bus type. For the convenience of using ICD messages, the sending and receiving types can be filled in to facilitate the product to process messages of different sending and receiving types.

[0030] Add and edit the message layer: Message is the smallest unit for data communication between different products. An ICD message is used to transmit one or the same type of information between products. The basic configurations that need to be filled in the message layer include message name, specification number, message sending and receiving type, big and small endianness and byte order; the message specification number is filled in according to actual needs, as the unique identifier of the ICD message, used for rapid positioning of the ICD message; according to the actual sending and receiving type of the ICD, select the message as an event message or a periodic message, where the periodic message needs to fill in the period value; because products use different operating systems, there are differences in big and small endianness and byte order between different systems, so the big and small endianness and byte order are configured in the message layer;

[0031] Add and edit signal groups: Signal groups are a collection of signals, similar to array types in C language, which are used to group and uniformly manage the next layer. The contents that need to be configured at the signal group layer include name, specification number, and number of loops, where the number of loops indicates the number of repetitions of each message content at this level.

[0032] Add and edit signal layer: The signal layer is similar to the data type in C language. The contents to be configured in the signal layer include name, specification number, and data type. Among them, the data type mainly includes

[0033] char / unchar / short / unshort / int / unint / long / unlong / longlong / unlonglong / float / double / string type, and select whether to mark it as an array and the array size as needed;

[0034] Add and edit variable layer: variable layer is the smallest data unit in the ICD structure. Signal layer defines data type. Different data types represent different data lengths. The contents that need to be configured in variable layer include name, specification number, length, resolution, minimum value, and maximum value. By adding sequence and length, the tool automatically calculates the bit offset of the signal where the variable is located. Resolution represents LSB, the least significant bit. Fill in the calculation formula. Maximum and minimum values ​​are filled in as needed to identify the value range of the variable.

[0035] Preferably, the performing channel configuration through the channel configuration interface includes:

[0036] The use of ICD is related not only to the data structure but also to the transmission carrier, i.e. the aviation airborne bus. The configuration parameters of the bus need to be determined according to the hardware parameters of different products. Since the message is the smallest unit for data communication between different products, the channel configuration of ICD is based on the message layer. Since the current bus types are complex and diverse, and with the continuous development and progress of technology, new buses are constantly iterating and upgrading. This tool not only supports some basic bus configuration content, but also supports customized addition and deletion of configuration parameters to improve the scalability of the tool.

[0037] Beneficial technical effects of the present invention:

[0038] 1) It adopts B / S architecture, with friendly human-computer interaction interface and simple operation. The interface of the tool is clearly divided, the functions of each part are clear, and the operation speed is fast. The tree structure and table operation support quick operation, the interface is simple, clear and intuitive, with high design efficiency, convenient access and simple management;

[0039] 2) It is applicable to a wide range of bus types and has strong scalability. The tool extracts the common characteristics of each bus ICD and performs detailed design in the general development editing interface. Customized development is performed based on the characteristics of different bus signals, and a configuration file is used to form a customized bus signal configuration interface. Therefore, it has high scalability and is convenient for iterative design;

[0040] 3) The output file format is lightweight, adaptable to different development languages, and can be customized as needed. Currently, it supports outputting JSON format files, which are easy to read and write, easy to parse and generate, and support cross-language and cross-platform data exchange and transmission;

[0041] 4) Developed with technologies such as React, Flask, Python, and Sqlite, it has a rich extension library that can be added as needed. Local database files can be encrypted to meet the security requirements of ICD files. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] Figure 1 This is an ICD management interface rendering provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 2 The overall framework interface diagram of ICD development provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 3 A bus message configuration interface diagram provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 4 This is an ICD development flowchart provided for an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] See also Figure 1 - Figure 4 The present application provides the following solution: The method of the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments of the present invention.

[0047] It should be noted that this example only uses one bus as an example, and other bus types can refer to this example or be adaptively modified based on this example. The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in combination with embodiments.

[0048] like Figure 4 As shown, the present invention comprises the following steps:

[0049] Step 1: Create a new ICD through the ICD management interface;

[0050] The name, project name, product name, and version number of the ICD can be edited. The tool records the creation time, modification time, and modifier of the ICD by default. You can then edit and develop the ICD through the ICD development interface.

[0051] Step 2: Develop ICD through the ICD development interface;

[0052] In actual use, add in the order of message flow → message → signal group (if any) → signal → variable; multiple structures of the same level can be added, but content cannot be added across levels; names under the same level cannot be repeated, and the tool will automatically check the name duplication; each level structure has some required content (such as name), the tool will check whether the required content is filled in, and the unfilled places will be marked on the ICD structure tree; the tool supports the expansion of the content to be configured at each level, and can add necessary fields according to actual needs and support configuration saving. The specific ICD development process for each level is as follows:

[0053] Step 201: Add and edit the message flow layer. The message flow layer identifies the flow direction and bus type of the ICD data. This layer needs to be edited to fill in the message source, message destination, and bus type. For the convenience of using ICD messages, you can fill in the transceiver type (receive or send) to facilitate the product to process messages of different transceiver types.

[0054] Step 202: Add and edit the message layer. A message is the smallest unit for data communication between different products. An ICD message is used to transmit one or the same type of information between products. The basic configurations that need to be filled in the message layer include the message name, specification number, message sending and receiving type (periodic or event), big endian or little endian, and byte order (high bit first or low bit first). The message specification number can be filled in according to actual needs. It is used as the unique identifier of the ICD message for quick positioning of the ICD message. According to the actual sending and receiving type of the ICD, select the message as an event message or a periodic message, and the periodic message needs to fill in the period value. Because the products use different operating systems, there are differences in big endian and small endian and byte order between different systems. The big endian and small endian and byte order can be configured at the message layer.

[0055] Step 203: Add and edit a signal group (if any). A signal group is a collection of signals, similar to an array type in C language, and can be used to group and uniformly manage the next layer (signal layer). The contents to be configured in the signal group layer include name, specification number (if any), and number of loops. The number of loops indicates the number of repetitions of each message content at this level.

[0056] Step 204: Add and edit a signal layer. The signal layer is similar to the data type in C language. The configuration contents of the signal layer include name, specification number (if any), and data type. The data type mainly includes

[0057] char / unchar / short / unshort / int / unint / long / unlong / longlong / unlonglong / float / double / string type. You can choose whether to mark it as an array and the array size as needed.

[0058] Step 205: Add and edit the variable layer. The variable layer is the smallest data unit in the ICD structure. The signal layer defines the data type. Different data types represent different data lengths. For example, the char type represents 1 byte length, which is 8 bits. When editing the variable layer, you need to add a variable with a length of 8 bits. The contents that need to be configured in the variable layer include name, specification number (if any), length, resolution, minimum value, and maximum value. By adding the order and length, the tool can automatically calculate the bit offset of the signal where the variable is located; the resolution represents the LSB, the least significant bit, and the calculation formula can be filled in. The maximum and minimum values ​​can be filled in as needed to identify the value range of the variable.

[0059] Step 3. Configure the channel through the ICD channel configuration interface. In addition to the data structure, the ICD usage process is also related to the transmission carrier, that is, the aviation airborne bus. The configuration parameters of the bus need to be determined according to the hardware parameters of different products. Since the message is the smallest unit for data communication between different products, the ICD channel configuration is configured based on the message layer. Due to the complexity and diversity of current bus types, and with the continuous development and progress of technology, new buses are constantly iterating and upgrading. This tool supports custom additions and deletions of configuration parameters on the basis of supporting some basic bus configuration content, thereby improving the scalability of the tool.

[0060] Through the above three steps, a complete ICD message management and development is achieved. The ICD message edited and developed by this tool supports import and export, and can be imported and exported through the ICD management interface.

[0061] In other embodiments of the present application, the present invention is implemented by the following technical solutions:

[0062] 1) Use the React framework to develop the front-end interface. ICD itself is similar to a tree node structure. The React framework has complete documentation and a rich icon library, which allows the interface to be customized. It is fully functional and has a beautiful interface.

[0063] 2) Use Flask framework and Python language to develop the backend interface. Flask framework is relatively lightweight, Python language development is simple, has great advantages in processing large data, and has a rich extension library;

[0064] 3) Use Sqlite as the storage database. Sqlite database is a lightweight relational database that is compatible with all mainstream operating systems and occupies very few resources. It can be used as a tool for local normalized data storage. The database file can be encrypted for high security.

[0065] 4) Supports import and export of json, xml and other format files. Other format files can be developed as needed for the management and transfer of ICD between different devices.

[0066] The tool of the present invention mainly includes three parts: management interface, development interface and channel setting interface. The management interface is mainly used for ICD management functions, including import, export, delete, copy, etc.; the development interface is mainly used for ICD development functions, including input, edit, create, data verification, etc.; the channel setting interface is mainly used to bind ICD messages to bus configurations, including descriptions of each bus, signal definitions, configuration information, etc.

[0067] 1) ICD management function design and implementation

[0068] The ICD management interface is as follows Figure 1 shown.

[0069] Initially, you can create a new ICD data by creating a new one, or you can import ICD data in a specified file format into the management tool by importing it. In the management interface, you can view the name, project, product, ICD version, creation time, modification time, and modifier of the ICD. You can query the imported ICD by ICD name and project. You can edit, delete, export, and set channels for the ICD. Click Edit to enter the ICD development interface, and click Channel Settings to enter the ICD and bus configuration binding interface.

[0070] 2)ICD development function design and implementation

[0071] ICD development overall framework interface is as follows Figure 2 shown.

[0072] The entire ICD editing and development interface is divided into 3 parts, including:

[0073] Tree display and editing area: The content of each node of the entire ICD is intuitively displayed in a tree structure. Each node can be folded and expanded according to needs. The nodes can be quickly added, deleted, copied, pasted, and batch added through shortcut keys, right-click menus, and shortcut buttons on the left and right. The content verification status of each node can be marked by color behind each node.

[0074] Detailed information display and configuration area for nodes at this layer: By clicking on a node at a certain layer on the left, the corresponding detailed editing information and detailed configuration content of the node will be displayed on the right. The specific content of the configuration includes name, byte size, big and small endian, byte order, etc. This area can be maximized or dragged to maximize the display of important information content;

[0075] Lower-level node basic information display and setting area: By clicking a node on the left, the lower right area will display the basic information of the next-level child nodes of the node in a table, including name, message type, byte offset, length, etc. You can click a specific message to jump to the node for quick editing.

[0076] 3)ICD channel setting interface

[0077] ICD is a message format file used to describe the information transmitted between devices in an electronic system. In addition to editing and development, it is also bound to the bus. In order to decouple ICD information from bus information, a separate interface is required to bind ICD to the bus. Figure 3 As shown:

[0078] In the bus message configuration interface, you can bind the ICD message entered on the left to the bus configuration. The ICD bound to the bus configuration will display the bus type in the tree structure on the left. Since there are too many bus types and most configuration contents cannot be forcibly defined, and considering the scalability requirements, the right bus configuration interface can add or delete configuration information according to actual needs. In order to improve configuration efficiency, you can copy and paste the message configuration.

[0079] The ICD test management and development tool designed according to the present invention has the following advantages compared with other tools:

[0080] 1) It adopts B / S architecture, with friendly human-computer interaction interface and simple operation. The interface of the tool is clearly divided, the functions of each part are clear, and the operation speed is fast. The tree structure and table operation support quick operation, the interface is simple, clear and intuitive, with high design efficiency, convenient access and simple management;

[0081] 2) It is applicable to a wide range of bus types and has strong scalability. The tool extracts the common characteristics of each bus ICD and performs detailed design in the general development editing interface. Customized development is performed based on the characteristics of different bus signals, and a configuration file is used to form a customized bus signal configuration interface. Therefore, it has high scalability and is convenient for iterative design;

[0082] 3) The output file format is lightweight, adaptable to different development languages, and can be customized as needed. Currently, it supports outputting JSON format files, which are easy to read and write, easy to parse and generate, and support cross-language and cross-platform data exchange and transmission;

[0083] 4) Developed with technologies such as React, Flask, Python, and Sqlite, it has a rich extension library that can be added as needed. Local database files can be encrypted to meet the security requirements of ICD files.

[0084] In summary, the technical solution of the present invention is reasonably designed. Through a friendly operation interface, management and development efficiency are greatly improved; the file format content is standardized and unified, which facilitates data transmission across devices; it supports expansion and custom configuration, and has high scalability; the technology used supports cross-platform and expansion, and supports multiple system deployments.

Claims

1. A development tool for an airborne bus ICD, characterized in that: The tools include: Management interface, used for ICD management functions, including import, export, delete, and copy; Development interface, used for ICD development functions, including input, edit, create, and data verification; The channel setting interface is used to bind the ICD message to the bus configuration, including the description, signal definition, and configuration information of each bus.

2. The tool according to claim 1, characterized in that ICD management function design and implementation: Initially, a new ICD data is created by creating a new one, or the ICD data in the specified file format is imported into the management tool by importing. The name, project, product, ICD version, creation time, modification time, and modifier of the ICD are viewed in the management interface. The imported ICD is queried by the ICD name and project. Edit, delete, export, and set channels for ICD. Click Edit to enter the ICD development interface. Click Channel Setting to enter the ICD and bus configuration binding interface.

3. The tool according to claim 1, characterized in that The development interface is divided into three parts, including: Tree display and editing area: The content of each node of the entire ICD is intuitively displayed in a tree structure; each node can be folded and expanded according to needs, and the nodes can be quickly added, deleted, copied, pasted, and batch added through shortcut keys, right-click menus on the left, and shortcut buttons on the right; the content verification status of each node is marked by color behind each node; Detailed information display and configuration area for nodes at this layer: by clicking a node at a certain layer on the left, the corresponding detailed editing information and detailed configuration content of the node will be displayed on the right; the specific content of the configuration includes name, byte size, big and small endian, and byte order; this area can be maximized or dragged to maximize the display of important information content; Lower-level node basic information display and setting area: By clicking a node on the left, the lower right area will display the basic information of the next-level child nodes of the node in a table, including name, message type, byte offset, and length. Click a specific message to jump to the node for quick editing.

4. The tool according to claim 1, characterized in that ICD is a message format file used to describe the information transmitted between devices in an electronic system. In addition to editing and development, it is also bound to the bus. In order to decouple ICD information from bus information, a channel setting interface is required to specifically bind ICD to the bus. Among them, in the channel setting interface, the entered ICD message is bound to the bus configuration, and the ICD bound to the bus configuration will display the bus type in the tree structure.

5. A method for developing an airborne bus ICD, characterized in that: The method comprises: Create a new ICD through the management interface; ICD development through the development interface; Channel configuration is performed through the channel configuration interface.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that Creating a new ICD through the management interface includes: Edit the name, project name, product name, and version number of the ICD. The tool records the creation time, modification time, and modifier of the ICD by default.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The ICD development through the development interface includes: Add and edit the message flow layer: The message flow layer identifies the flow direction and bus type of ICD data. This layer needs to be edited and filled with the message source, message destination, and bus type. For the convenience of using ICD messages, the sending and receiving types can be filled in to facilitate the product to process messages of different sending and receiving types. Add and edit the message layer: Message is the smallest unit for data communication between different products. An ICD message is used to transmit one or the same type of information between products. The basic configurations that need to be filled in the message layer include message name, specification number, message sending and receiving type, big and small endianness and byte order; the message specification number is filled in according to actual needs, as the unique identifier of the ICD message, used for rapid positioning of the ICD message; according to the actual sending and receiving type of the ICD, select the message as an event message or a periodic message, where the periodic message needs to fill in the period value; because products use different operating systems, there are differences in big and small endianness and byte order between different systems, so the big and small endianness and byte order are configured in the message layer; Add and edit signal groups: Signal groups are a collection of signals, similar to array types in C language, which are used to group and uniformly manage the next layer. The contents that need to be configured at the signal group layer include name, specification number, and number of loops, where the number of loops indicates the number of repetitions of each message content at this level. Add and edit signal layer: The signal layer is similar to the data type in C language. The contents to be configured in the signal layer include name, specification number, and data type. The data types mainly include char / unchar / short / unshort / int / unint / long / unlong / longlong / unlonglong / float / double / string types, and you can select whether to mark it as an array and the array size as needed. Add and edit variable layer: variable layer is the smallest data unit in the ICD structure. Signal layer defines data type. Different data types represent different data lengths. The contents that need to be configured in variable layer include name, specification number, length, resolution, minimum value, and maximum value. By adding sequence and length, the tool automatically calculates the bit offset of the signal where the variable is located. Resolution represents LSB, the least significant bit. Fill in the calculation formula. Maximum and minimum values ​​are filled in as needed to identify the value range of the variable.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The channel configuration is performed through the channel configuration interface, including: The use of ICD is related not only to the data structure but also to the transmission carrier, i.e. the aviation airborne bus. The configuration parameters of the bus need to be determined according to the hardware parameters of different products. Since the message is the smallest unit for data communication between different products, the channel configuration of ICD is based on the message layer. Since the current bus types are complex and diverse, and with the continuous development and progress of technology, new buses are constantly iterating and upgrading. This tool not only supports some basic bus configuration content, but also supports customized addition and deletion of configuration parameters to improve the scalability of the tool.

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