FACE Architecture Advancing in Development, Upgrades of Military Avionics Systems

Avionics software aligned to the open system architecture of the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) technical standard is increasingly being developed and becoming available for insertion and operation within fixed, rotary-wing and unmanned aircraft operated by airborne segments of several U.S. military services.

FACE Consortium first released Edition 1.0 of the FACE technical standard in 2012 with the goal of providing a common computing infrastructure that would allow software to become more portable and be reused across different military aircraft. During recent discussions with Avionics International, several of the avionics systems integrators and suppliers involved in the FACE Consortium, Open Group and the aviation division of the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office (PEO) provided a status update on FACE software use within current military aircraft and some of the next steps needed to make adoption of this open systems approach a widespread reality for the military aviation community in the future.

"The Open Group FACE Consortium has over 90 Member Organizations, with seven new Members joining in 2021. This represents consistent and increased interest and adoption of the FACE Technical Standard ad business approach by US Government, Industry, and Academic organizations," Judy Cerenzia, Vice President of Forum Operations at The Open Group, told Avionics in emailed statements.

The latest updated information featured in the procurements section of The Open Group's FACE Consortium includes four requests for proposals (RFP) issued by the U.S. Navy with FACE reference architecture requirements including a containerized flight training device configuration upgrade and a $1.02 billion Next Generation Jammer Technology award as well. Additionally, the Army, Navy and U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) have issued 37 different requests for information (RFI) that include FACE conformance requirements since 2013.

There are also now more than 25 software products from 13 different suppliers featured in the FACE Software Registry.

A representative for Army PEO Aviation told Avionics that the service is currently designing an "Aviation Mission Computing Environment (AMCE) using the FACE Technical Standard and architecture as the software baseline for mission systems processors for both the current rotary-wing fleet (Apache, Blackhawk, Chinook) and the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) family of systems."

PEO Aviation envisions using the AMCE to enable the instantiation of avionics software applications that conform to the FACE architecture across these multiple aircraft types that provide alert messaging, chat management, Common Operating Picture presentation and aircraft data loading, among other capabilities. The office has established an Architecture Collaboration Working Group (ACWG) that is now responsible for establishing a common set of requirements for a foundational architecture to be used in avionics systems development and upgrades for in-service and next-generation aircraft.

"These architecture requirements will be used in conjunction with other systems engineering requirements to form the requirements baseline (GFI) for FVL development and enduring fleet modernization. This architecture is to comply with the Modular Open Systems Approach in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 and 2021," the representative said. "Probably the biggest program goal or milestone related to FACE [in 2022] would be the release of the Future Long Range Reconnaissance Aircraft (FLRAA) request for proposal anticipated for FY 22."

The Open Group has released new editions of the FACE standard periodically, including the latest 3.1 edition which is a 586-page document that provides an overview of the FACE reference architecture and an explanation of each segment and interface. According to the document, the FACE Reference Architecture—the guidance that allows developers to create avionics software applications and layers aligned to the standard—is divided into five different segments, including the following:

• Operating System Segment (OSS)

• Input/Output Services Segment (IOSS)

• Platform-Specific Services Segment (PSSS)

• Transport Services Segment (TSS)

• Portable Components Segment (PCS)

The visual representation of the FACE Reference Architecture above was shown by Arun Subbarao, VP of Engineering for Lynx Software Technologies during a December webinar about FACE 3.1 that he participated in. The segments are divided according to portable and platform-dependent functionality.

The high-level overview of the FACE Reference Architecture with software and system components supplied by LYNX and IData shows how new avionics applications can be developed to conform with the FACE Technical Standard. By segmenting the software components in this way, the standard provides isolation of avionics hardware from changes, updates and re-use of the software across different aircraft types.

Avionics companies following the reference architecture depicted in the diagram meet the requirements of the individual segments as outlined in the standard document with individual Units of Conformance (UoC), which the FACE Consortium defines as a "a software component or domain-specific data model designed to meet the applicable requirements defined in the FACE Technical Standard. It is referenced as a UoC at any point in its development, and becomes a FACE Certified UoC upon completion of the FACE Conformance Process," according to the FACE 3.1 standard document.

During the U.S. Army FACE Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) held in September, demonstrations by several avionics systems integrators, software suppliers and vendors provided examples of what the FACE Reference Architecture looks like inside of actual aircraft systems. One demonstration at the TIM featured Collins Aerospace as the lead avionics systems integrator working in partnership with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Parry Labs, Tektonux and Palantir Technologies, among others. Dave Schreck, vice president and general manager, Military Avionics & Helicopters for Collins Aerospace, described how the demonstration visualized the open system architecture of FACE in emailed statements to Avionics.

Collins supplied the "FACE Transport Services Segment—a software layer that essentially allowed the other 18 software applications to talk to each other. Those software apps included things like tactical synthetic vision, flight control and payload control," according to Schreck.

"General Atomics provided UoPs that encompassed the logic to command, control and communicate with US Army Gray Eagle. This software was re-used from on-contract work with the PM UAS, Ground Modernization, where the software is currently deployed," Schreck writes. "Tektonux provided UoPs that correlated to the General Atomics logic-based applications but were tailored for our Large Area Displays (LADs) to provide the ability to control a Gray Eagle using a touchscreen in a helicopter versus the original intended use of a Ground Control Station with a keyboard, mouse, and joystick."

The Army remains one of the leading military aircraft operators advancing FACE acceptance and adoption as noted in the number of RFPs and RFIs issued and awarded by the service branch in recent years. Schreck noted that re-use opportunities like the one demonstrated at the TIM event will increase for the Army once PEO Aviation releases an Enterprise Product Architecture that creates common definitions of capability and how those capabilities interface with each other.

"That capability grouping is currently being referred to as a Major System Component by the Army, but will likely change to Product Specification sometime in 2022," according to Schreck. "In addition to the technical challenges, a new business model is also needed for DOD and industry to apply open-system integration like this. In the past, suppliers would typically sell the hardware and give the software away for free, but in the future it may be the other way around."

DDC-I, Inc., the Phoenix, Arizona-based software company, is another RTOS supplier embracing the principles of FACE that participated in the September FACE TIM as well as the 2021 Aerospace Tech Week event in Toulouse, France. Their Deos RTOS first achieved FACE 3.1 conformance for the Operating System Services Segment in 2019, and continues to publicly demonstrate what the open system architecture can provide on military aircraft.

"At the current time, the target audience for FACE is the US military, although there is growing interest in other NATO countries as well," Gary Gilliland, technical marketing manager for DDC-I, told Avionics during a recent interview. "If you look at FACE from an OSS perspective, the goal of the specification is to abstract the operating system from the applications such that applications can be run on any system regardless of the Operating System (OSS). The ARINC653 specification, which is part of the FACE technical standard, already provides common architecture and APIs that have been shown to be easily portable between COTS operating systems in the DO-178 space.”

Since the FACE reference architecture builds on a common computing infrastructure, as more military aircraft technology procurement leaders release enterprise product architectures that include FACE, it will increasingly become easier to reuse individual avionics applications across multiple aircraft types in the future. Real-Time Innovations (RTI), the Sunnyvale, California-based software framework company, is also a big believer in embracing FACE as part of a broader MOSA approach to military avionics systems.

Chip Downing, Senior Market Development Director, A&D at RTI told Avionics that the open APIs providing the interfaces between FACE software segments are key to its ability to enable replacement or reuse of FACE avionics solution stacks.

"I suspect that most capabilities reused between different aircraft platforms will be a simple duplication of an existing FACE solution stack with the underlying hardware platform," Downing says. "The second most common will be replacing applications, also known as Units of Conformance (UoCs), on top of a working FACE avionics stack. The FACE software segment that will require the most work in these reuse scenarios will be the Platform Specific Services Segment (PSSS) that maps the capabilities from a specific aircraft type into the FACE avionics stack.”

The Open Group is also working to advance future development of avionics software aligned to the FACE Technical Standard. In December, the FACE Consortium announced a new training accreditation program for new courses designed to help people acquire the necessary knowledge and understanding of the FACE Standard and the FACE Conformance program.

“The Open Group FACE Accreditation Program represents a significant milestone in the FACE Ecosystem by adding training and education to support the procurement of avionics systems," Steve Nunn, President and CEO, The Open Group, said in a press release announcing the new program. "Accreditation from The Open Group provides a mark of quality, that course materials and training provisions meet the high levels of professionalism that The Open Group requires. This will undoubtedly accelerate the adoption of the FACE Technical Standard and Conformance Program, bringing benefits to buyers and vendors alike.”