The Rise of the Connected Aircrafte-enabling efficient LSAPs on Modern Aircraft

Managing LSAPs on Modern Aircraft B787 using MRO software

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a long-range, mid-size wide-body, twin-engine jet aircraft with seat capacity of 210 to 290 passengers. The 787 has been designed to be 20% more fuel efficient than the 767. The Dreamliner's distinguishing features include mostly e-enabled systems, electrical flight systems, a four-panel windshield, noise-reducing chevrons on its engine nacelles, and a smoother nose contour. Boeing assembles the 787 by receiving sub-assemblies from various agencies across the globe. An increased number of new systems, multiple sources of supplies, multiple options for operators etc., add more complexities in managing/maintaining the entire airplane.

With the recent introduction of modern aircraft like B787 Dreamliner and Airbus 380, the amount of software and digital content in the aircraft industry has been growing. The inter dependency (various permutations and combinations) between different Software, as well as between and Software and Hardware has become significant.

Further, the pace at which software changes are required, are significantly higher and more complex than traditional hardware/equipment change. Over the lifetime of an aircraft fleet, the volume, complexity and rate of change creates large amounts of data that will have to be managed by the Engineering department of the Airline.

LSAPs (Loadable Software Airplane Parts) in Boeing 787 have such complexities and it is imperative to have an efficient IT system/Software to manage this as more modern e-enabled fleets replace legacy aircrafts at various airlines.

This paper dwells on the need of such a Software/IT systems to manage these LSAPs, and its impact on the Configuration Management of Boeing 787 for catching on to discrepancies and enabling corrective actions at the right time. This approach can also be applied to other modern fleets like the A380, B777 etc., which has similar Loadable Software.

INTRODUCTION01

ABOUT B787 DREAMLINER02

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Boeing has delivered its first aircraft to All Nippon Airways (ANA) on September 25, 2011. It has further delivered to customers like Japan Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, AirIndia etc. With its Order Book full, Boeing holds firm order of more than 900 aircraft and has delivered 89 aircraft till date.

The following graph shows the orders booked by various airlines and deliveries completed till date. It is evident that in the near future, a majority of the airlines will hold B787 and have the responsibility of managing LSAPs efficiently for their Flight Operations.

Delivered to customers like

900 aircraft and has delivered 89 aircrafttill date

Boeing holds firm order of

Fig. Complexity involved in maintaining B787Source: Content available over WEB

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Fig. Boeing 787 Orders & Deliveries

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Source: Article on B787 from Wikipedia

LOADABLE SOFTWARE AIRPLANE PARTS (LSAPS)03

With each new airplane model of Boeing, the number of software controlled systems increases, as does the size and complexity of that software. Virtually all of that software is airplane loadable, which allows operators to change the configuration of loadable systems, without physically modifying or replacing hardware components. Benefits include the ability to meet new requirements, incorporate design improvements, and correct errors. In addition, software can be loaded in just the time required to turn an airplane around for the next flight.

A major advantage of changing system functionality without changing hardware is the reduced number of Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) spares which operators must keep in stock. But on the other hand, it also adds complexity to the airplane configuration management process. There are numerous reasons why a given software part could change during the lifetime of the airplane. The configuration of the airplane must be known and tracked during all of these changes to maintain operational approval for the airplane.

The following table shows some of the loadable software and the frequency of their updates in the Boeing fleet:

Aircraft maintenance is traditionally hardware based. The software is often considered as being part of the hardware equipment, with no requirement for additional maintenance staff in tracking the software Since Loaded software has been treated as a logical hardware part, no new skills, tools and processes are necessary to manage that software exclusively.

However, from various studies, it is inferred that it is cost effective to preload the LRUs for some systems before installation on the airplane. The total time required to configure a complete system can be significant. For example, loading the Integrated Display Units (IDU) would require 15 minutes each and a total of 90 minutes per aircraft, if each IDU is loaded successfully on the first attempt.

Hence, the concept of Loadable Software was evolved. A loadable system is different because it consists of loadable software parts and loadable (hardware) LRUs that are independently configured at the airplane level. Software can be transferred into a software-loadable LRU, using various means like:

The Airline Operator is responsible for implementing procedures to control updates and modifications to loadable systems, occurring after the airplane has been delivered. The part numbers of the software loaded into a loadable system are part of the type certificate of the airplane. The operator must ensure that the configuration control documentation for each airplane reflects the current configuration of loadable software parts, and that the loadable software parts are certified for the airplane on which they are installed.

A permanently installed onboard loader

A portable onboard loader

Industry-available shop loaders

Supplier-unique shop loaders

Supplier automated test equipment

Loadable Software Part

FMF Nav Database

EFB Term Chart DB

Airport Map DB

28 Days

28 Days

14 or 28 Days

23 MB

450 MB

145 MB

EFB Electronic Docs 1- 6 Months 10-200 MB

ISS Terrain Database

4-5 Times /year 89 MB

Frequency Nominal Size

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LSAP CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT PROCESS 04

Fig. HW/SW and its instances

Virtually, all software is airplane loadable in B787, allowing for flexibility in adding new functionality, fixing software problems, or modifying software to accommodate re-designed hardware. There are numerous reasons why a given software part could change during the lifetime of the airplane. B787 has more than 250 LSAPs with more than 1400 instances.

The Boeing 787 e-enabling capability provides a new way to distribute software parts to the airplanes electronically and also to route data from the airplane to the Airline Operation Center (back office), including the “as-flying” configuration of LSAPs. All 787 software parts could be stored electronically in the airline’s “vault” at the AOC. In a similar manner, the LSAP configuration data for each airplane could be stored and managed electronically from the AOC.

new way to distribute software parts to the airplanes electronically

The Boeing 787 e-enabling capability provides a

and also to route data from the airplane to the

Airline Operation Center (back office), including the “as-flying” configuration

No of Unique Items No of Instances

LRUs/ Hardware’s Software

0

200

300

400

500

600

1400

30050 200

Configuration Management process of B787 consists set of LSAPs that are authorized to be installed or stored on a given airplane and it is called as “Authorized Configuration.” The “Authorized Configuration” baseline for a given airplane is established prior to the airplane entering service.

The Software Configuration eXtract (SCX)system/tool hosted on MyBoeingFleet(MBF), the Maintenance Laptop (ML) andoptionally, also the Airline OperationsCenter (AOC)

LSAP CONFIGURATIONMANAGEMENT SYSTEMCOMPONENTS

05

The airline Configuration Management System for the 787 should include, at a minimum, the following three components:

An Engineering Data ManagementSystem (EDMS), hosted by the airline

The 787 Airplane and

Fig. e-enabled B787

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Function of EDMS

HANGARS - Engineering & Maintenance

SATELLITEFLIGHT DECK

FLIGHT DECK - Class 3 Electronic Flight Bag

OPERATIONS CENTER - Flight Scheduling & Tracking

FLIGHT LINE - Maintenance Performance

Toolbox

SPARES - Purchasing & Warehouse

MAINTENANCE - Maintenance engineering

Typically EDMS component has to be purchased or developed internally by the airline. As part of the Configuration Management (CM) strategy, the passing of data between system components should be in XML structures.

At high level, EDMS is expected perform the configuration authorization and change management functions. Additionally, they need to have the capability of importing the “as-delivered” authorized configuration of a new or newly acquired airplane, and exporting the

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airplane’s authorized configuration to the SCX component. The EDMS also may need to store “snapshots” of the as-flying configuration and discrepancy reports as collected after each data load event, so that the complete change history of each airplane, both as-flying and authorized, is available for report generation. For maximum effectiveness, the EDMS should have web accessibility so that imports and exports can be retrieved programmatically, and users can enter or view data remotely.

The SCX tool performs the verification function by comparing the “as-flying” configuration to the “authorized configuration” and generating a report listing discrepancies. This functionality may be used via the Maintenance Laptop. SCX may interface with the airline’s EDMS to retrieve the current authorized configuration or to download reports to the EDMS. SCX comparisons result in a list of discrepancies that need to be corrected to bring the airplane under the correct configuration. When no discrepancies exist, the airplane is “configured” and may be returned to service.

ENGINEERING DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (EDMS) REQUIREMENTS

06

The EDMS has to perform the following three main functions in managing the LSAPs:

Version Management – importing the “as delivered” configuration and base lining

Change Management – log and track change requests

Status Accounting – Generating reports, showing the status of specified change requests or the configuration of specified tail numbers

Parts Information

Database

ChangeDatabase

CMDatabase

Web Services

ImportXML

Work�ow Management

Part instance changes Per CR

Parts Information

Management

Airline Provided

Boeing Provided

Change Management

Con�gurationManagement

Browser

My Boeing Fleet

Current Authorized

Con�gurationCurrent

Authorized Con�guration

As- delivered Authorized

Con�guration

ExportXML

SCX

Network Storage

Network Storage

LEGEND

Fig. EDMS Functional Flow

Source: Boeing documents from Website

EDMS

CM Person Mechanic

- Enter PUAs- Enter PIMS data- View part info

Admin- De�ne CR FORM- De�ne work�ows- De�ne con�guration

Engineer- Enter Change Request - De�ne con�g change

EngineerPlanner

Mechanic CM personManager

- Enter Task Status- View work�ow status- Task Noti�cation- Reports

CM personEngineer

- Import “as-delivered”- Export “ current” to storage- View Con�guration- Change history report

Change Request Sources

- Service Bulletin- Supplier- Airline

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task notification capability,via email, notifying the next CR state/task owner that action is required

As an additional feature, the EDMS could have a

The EDMS should be capable of logging and tracking Change Requests originated from OEMs in the form of Service Bulletins. If the EDMS allows CR states to be defined with roles and/or assignments associated with each state, then the EDMS also serves as a Work Management System. As an additional feature, the EDMS could have a task notification capability, via email, notifying the next CR state/task owner that action is required. The below snapshot illustrates a possible CR state flow.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT08

VERSION MANAGEMENT07The Configuration Management process starts by striking the initial baseline/version of the item under configuration; in this case, the authorized LSAP configuration for a specific airplane identified by tail number. The EDMS should have a user interface that allows the operator to:

All subsequent changes to the initial baseline will be initiated via the Change Management process. Whenever the “Current Authorized” configuration is generated, the EDMS will generate it by starting with the initial baseline and applying all implemented CRs. When an authorized configuration is requested by (tail#, CR#)

the EDMS starts with the initial baseline and applies all implemented CRs in sequence until the specified CR# has been incorporated. The EDMS could also incorporate a repository for “snapshots” of as-flying configurations and the SCX discrepancy reports.

“Import” the as-delivered authorized configuration ( XML) for a specific airplane from MyBoeingFleet

Save/baseline the initial version in the configuration database

“Export” the authorized configuration for a specified airplane tail number in XML format

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The EDMS should have the capability of generating reports showing the status of specified change requests or the configuration of specified tail numbers.

STATUS ACCOUNTING09

Export

BOEING

RAMCO

OPERATOR

IPC/PIMS

XML

XML

BOEING/ SUPPLIERS

OPERATOR: LINE/ HANGAR MAINTENANCE

Part Master Con�guration

Vault

Engg. Change

“As Delivered” “Authorized”- Baseline “As Flying”

Discrepancy Report EO

Compare

BACK OFFICE

Export

Maintenance Laptop

As Flying

scx

Execute Line/Hangar

MCDF

RAMCO - EDMS “As Delivered” Con�guration

My Boeing Fleet SB

Ramco’s Aviation Solution addresses the requirements of the EDMS and following diagram depicts the processes of managing the LSAPs of B787 in that.

RAMCO AVIATION M&ESOLUTION: AN EFFICIENT EDMS10

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For Airlines/MROs operating or maintaining the Boeing 787 Dreamliner or similar Aircraft, which is equipped with LSAPs, it is important to acknowledge that software management is complex, and affects the way in which airlines/MROs run their Engineering, Flight Operations and Maintenance Operations. Traditional M&E/MRO systems will not be able to appropriately support this software complexity. The Airlines/MROs therefore need to prepare for these latest trends/advancements, and begin the process of gradually increasing their capability to manage software and digital content in modern fleets.

CONCLUSION11

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