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Esterel Technologies Introduces the DO-178B Certification Plans for SCADE Suite® Applications Level A and B

Plans result from expertise acquired over many years of guiding customers through certification on major avionics projects

Elancourt, France and Boston, Massachusetts - August 24, 2010

Esterel Technologies, the leading worldwide provider of model-based development solutions for mission and safety-critical systems, announces the availability of the DO-178B Level A and B Certification Plans for embedded avionics applications developed with SCADE Suite®. Embedded software developers can utilize and customize these plans to guide them through the DO-178B certification process and audit with the FAA, EASA, Transport Canada and other certification authorities for Level A and B objectives. DO-178B, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification, is an industry standard for software development. Level A has the most demanding requirements, where safety and hazard analysis indicates the potential of a catastrophic failure condition for aircraft, crew, and passengers. Level B indicates the potential for a failure leading to a situation where the aircraft or crew is less capable to deal with adverse operating conditions.

Esterel Technologies' DO-187B Certification Plans includes the Software Development Plan, the Software Verification Plan, the Software Configuration Management Plan, and the Software Quality Assurance Plan. Additionally, the SCADE Suite Development Standard and basic procedures are delivered. The DO-178B Certification Plans can be easily customized to a specific project by the software development and quality teams within an organization as well as with the help of Esterel Technologies' avionics experts and Safety Team members. The DO-178B Certification Plans typically cover 90 percent of the work to be done, leaving a residual customization workload of approximately 10 percent. Usual customization encompasses the introduction of the customer's specific organization, schedule and methodology.

Certification plans and standards are reviewed in detail by certification authorities at the start of a DO-178B project in the SOI#1 milestone. Underestimating the effort required to set up these plans leads to a high risk of failing to pass the SOI#1 milestone, endangering the entire schedule of the development project, explains Bernard Dion, Esterel Technologies CTO and Safety Team leader.

Esterel Technologies has worked side-by-side through certification with many major airframe manufacturers and aviation software developers throughout the past ten years. Companies, including, Airbus, Intertechnique, Liebherr, Meggitt, Dassault Aviation, Thales Avionics, Safran, GE Aviation, Rolls Royce, Eurocopter, and others, have relied on Esterel Technologies' expertise to guide them through DO-178B certification.

The DO-178B Certification Plans will allow companies to harness the knowledge that we have gained during over 25 certification audits. Relying on proven generic plans will reduce costs and delays and lower certification risk on future projects, states Eric Bantegnie, President and CEO of Esterel Technologies.

Product Availability and Details

The DO-178B Certification Plans for SCADE Suite Applications Level A and B are available immediately. The chart below details the documents included in the DO-178B Certification Plans. As a part of our DO-178C readiness program, these Plans and Standards will be updated when the new DO-178C standard becomes applicable.

About Esterel Technologies

Esterel Technologies is the worldwide leader of model-based design, verification and code generation tools for mission and safety-critical embedded systems. Esterel Technologies is a privately held company with European headquarters in Elancourt, France, U.S. headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, with direct sales offices in Germany, the United Kingdom, and China. Esterel is supported by channel and service partners worldwide.

For additional information, visit the Esterel Technologies website at www.esterel-technologies.com.

Press Contacts:

For Esterel Technologies

Kara Gremillion

Phone : 1-781-762-4689

Email : kara.gremillion@esterel-technologies.com

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