A Formal Description Technique for the Behavioural Description of Interactive Applications Compliant with ARINC 661 Specification

International audienceThe purpose of ARINC 661 specification (ARINC 661, 2002) is to define interfaces to a Cockpit Display System (CDS) used in all types of aircraft installations. ARINC 661 provides precise information for communication protocol between application and user interface components (called widgets) as well as precise information about the widgets themselves. However, no information is given on the behaviour of these widgets and on the behaviour of an application made up of a set of such widgets. This paper proposes the use of the Interactive Cooperative Objects formal description technique to define in a precise and non-ambiguous way such behaviours. We show on a simple data-link application (compliant with ICAO Controller-Pilot Data-Link Communication) how this description technique can be used. Beyond modeling benefits, we present the advantages of using such notation for the prototyping and the certification of interactive cockpit display systems