Function Extraction: Automated Behavior Computation for Aerospace Software Verification and Certification
• SEI Report
Publisher
Software Engineering Institute
Abstract
The complex aerospace systems of the future will challenge the capabilities of present-day software engineering, which is reaching cost and complexity limits of development technologies evolved in the first fifty years of computing. A new science for the next fifty years is required to transform software engineering into a computational discipline capable of fast and dependable software development. This paper describes verification and certification challenges for avionics software, in particular, the need to verify behavior in all circumstances of use. The emerging technology of function extraction (FX) for automated computation of software behavior is discussed as a new technology for avionics software certification. An FX demonstration system is employed to illustrate the role of behavior computation in the avionics certification process.
Cite This SEI Report
Daly, T., Linger, R., & Prowell, S. (2007, April 29). Function Extraction: Automated Behavior Computation for Aerospace Software Verification and Certification. Retrieved August 19, 2026, from https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/function-extraction-automated-behavior-computation-for-aerospace-software-verification-and-certification/.
@techreport{daly_2007,
author={Daly, Tim and Linger, Richard and Prowell, Stacy},
title={Function Extraction: Automated Behavior Computation for Aerospace Software Verification and Certification},
month={Apr},
year={2007},
institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University},
url={https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/function-extraction-automated-behavior-computation-for-aerospace-software-verification-and-certification/},
note={Accessed: 2026-Aug-19}
}
Daly, Tim, Richard Linger, and Stacy Prowell. "Function Extraction: Automated Behavior Computation for Aerospace Software Verification and Certification." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, April 29, 2007. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/function-extraction-automated-behavior-computation-for-aerospace-software-verification-and-certification/.
T. Daly, R. Linger, and S. Prowell, "Function Extraction: Automated Behavior Computation for Aerospace Software Verification and Certification," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, 29-Apr-2007 [Online]. Available: https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/function-extraction-automated-behavior-computation-for-aerospace-software-verification-and-certification/. [Accessed: 19-Aug-2026].
Daly, Tim, Richard Linger, and Stacy Prowell. "Function Extraction: Automated Behavior Computation for Aerospace Software Verification and Certification." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, 29 Apr. 2007. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/function-extraction-automated-behavior-computation-for-aerospace-software-verification-and-certification/. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.
Daly, Tim; Linger, Richard; & Prowell, Stacy. Function Extraction: Automated Behavior Computation for Aerospace Software Verification and Certification. Software Engineering Institute. 2007. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/function-extraction-automated-behavior-computation-for-aerospace-software-verification-and-certification/