AUTOMATING THE MANAGEMENT OF INTERFACE DATA

Generation and maintenance of interface data are a significant part of the Systems Engineering effort on most programs. Typically the control is accomplished through Interface Control Documents (ICD's). The data used to generate the ICD has many other applications, such as wire lists, loads analysis, weights reports, etc. In most applications the ICD is actually a subset of the available interface data, and control and maintenance of this data is a multifarious task. Using an electronic database to record all interface data and generate the ICD and other required data from the resulting database cannot only save a significant amount of effort, but can improve the quality and data consistency. This process can enhance the Systems Engineering effort throughout all phases of the program from inclusion of initial interface Requirements, through Functional Allocation, Design Synthesis, Interface Management, and Verification. This approach was used to generate interface documentation for an Unmanned Air Vehicle to Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) interface. The process has proven to be less labor intensive than previous methods, and has shown significant savings in updates and generating related documents from the same database. When maintained on a network, it allowed the systems engineers working the interfaces access to the latest data, without having to generate and control printed copies. This paper will discuss the factors that must be considered in implementing an interface management database, such as selection of a DBMS program, data formats, control of the database, and will discuss the experience gained from this application, and will provide examples of the results.