IEC 62396-3:2013

Overview

IEC 62396-3:2013 - "Process management for avionics - Atmospheric radiation effects - Part 3: System design optimization to accommodate the single event effects (SEE) of atmospheric radiation" provides guidance and requirements for designing avionics systems to manage the effects of atmospheric radiation-induced single event effects (SEE). It builds on the system-level approach in IEC 62396-1:2012 and defines outputs and evidence that feed higher-level certification and safety assurance activities. The standard aims to ensure system development assurance levels are met while minimizing hard and soft fault impacts on aircraft functionality and reliability.

Key Topics and Requirements

• Process guidance (Clause 4): Establishes procedures and activities for integrating SEE accommodation into the avionics design process.
• Atmospheric radiation and electronic system faults (Clause 5): Describes how atmospheric radiation produces hard faults (permanent damage) and soft faults (transient or recoverable errors) and introduces relevant terminology (e.g., latch‑up, firm error, ASET, MBU/MCU).
• Aircraft safety assessment (Clause 6): Presents a methodology for assessing SEE contribution to system failure rates, defines mitigation strategies, and maps recommendations to system assurance levels (Levels A–E).
• System-specific guidance: Considers different avionics systems (Levels A–E) and provides tailored optimization methods to reach required reliability targets (MTBF, MTBUR).
• Informative annexes: Include a design process flow diagram for SEE rates (Annex A), mitigation method considerations (Annex B), and example systems (Annex C).

Practical Applications - Who Uses This Standard

IEC 62396-3 is intended for:

• Avionics systems engineers and architects designing robust flight-critical electronics.
• Component and equipment manufacturers developing LRUs (line replaceable units) and ICs sensitive to radiation.
• Safety assessors and certification teams preparing evidence for regulatory compliance and certification processes.
• Reliability and maintenance planners addressing MTBF/MTBUR impacts and in-service removal rates.
• Airlines and integrators concerned with operational reliability and lifecycle costs influenced by SEE.

Use cases include optimizing redundancy and diagnostics, defining test and verification inputs for certification, and deriving system-level fault-rate allocations that incorporate atmospheric radiation effects.

Related Standards and References

• IEC 62396-1:2012 - Accommodation of atmospheric radiation effects at the equipment level.
• IEC/TS 62239-1 - Preparation and maintenance of an electronic components management plan.
• ARP4754 - System development and safety assessment methodology referenced for fault-rate accommodation.

Keywords: IEC 62396-3, single event effects, SEE, atmospheric radiation, avionics, system design optimization, aircraft safety assessment, MTBF, MTBUR, LRU, mitigation methods.