ARLINGTON, VA — Oct 31, 2005 — Quantum3D®, Inc., a leading provider of open architecture, COTS realtime visual computing solutions for the Visual and Sensor Simulation Training (VSST) and Embedded Visual Computing (EVC) markets, announced today the availability of IData™ 178 at the Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC). IData 178 will be demonstrated in the Quantum3D – Seaweed System’s Booth No. 12 and 13.

IData 178

IData 178 is a complete DO-178B Certification Package for the production of Level-A safety-critical applications using the Quantum3D IData advanced Human Machine Interface (HMI) toolset. Developed to exacting DO-178B standards by adherence to strict processes with the oversight of FAA Designated Engineering Representatives (DERs), the IData 178 Cert Kit includes source code for the IData Render Engine, which is the foundation for IData, along with a complete set of reusable “certification artifacts” for the IData Render Engine which is essential for certification efforts. In addition, the IData 178 Cert kit includes a qualifiable automated HMI Verification Tool, and a comprehensive Test Harness that achieves 100 percent MC/DC structural coverage of the IData Render Engine code.

Realtime screenshot of IData 178 based avionics application running at 60 Hz update rate atop a DO-178B certifiable OpenGL driver/PMC combination

Industry Best Certifiable Features

IData 178’s DO-178B Render Engine offers avionics developers the full capabilities of IData’s extensible HMI modeling and rendering system, not just a ‘certifiable subset’ normally found in other HMI tools. IData 178 uniquely provides developers with a target application on their embedded system that identically matches the designs made on their development system. IData 178 supports IData’s built-in windowing and control features that let developers produce fully-certifiable cursor-controlled applications that rival the sophistication of desktop applications. Because IData 178 offers the smallest OpenGL footprint and optimal driver compatibility available, IData 178 applications are assured compatibility with popular certifiable OpenGL subsets that developers commonly use. IData 178 is fully compliant with the OpenGL ES Safety Critical profile defined by the Khronos™ Group and with OpenGL® subsets offered by industry leading DO-178B OpenGL driver providers including Seaweed Systems® and Alt.Software® as deployed in COTS certifiable RTOS environments such as LynxOS 178®, Wind River VxWorks® and Green Hills Integrity®, as well as proprietary RTOS environments.

“IData 178 ushers in a new era in the safety-critical application tools industry,” said Ross Q. Smith, Quantum3D president and co-founder. “For the first time, HMI developers can Model their designs on desktop systems and deploy their models directly to their safety-critical embedded systems without code generation, thereby eliminating significant cost and risk for their DO-178B Level-A programs. Quantum3D is proud to offer IData’s unmatched capabilities and performance to the safety-critical marketplace”.

IData 178 Cert Kit Employs FAA RSC for DO-178B Level-A Applications

The IData Render Engine data is packaged for certification to DO-178B Level-A as a Reusable Software Component (RSC) under the latest FAA guidance (AC20-148) for reuse of vendor generated certification data in customer DO-178B applications. Developed by the experienced avionics engineers on Quantum3D’s IData team in close cooperation with certification industry leader Verocel® , the IData 178 Cert Kit Render Engine RSC includes complete ANSI C compliant source code for the Render Engine along with complete DER reviewed plans, standards and evidence required for DO-178B Level-A certification. The IData 178 RSC Test Harness includes tests which provide structural coverage of 100 percent of the Render Engine RSC code. A unique benefit of the IData 178 Cert Kit is that the IData Render Engine RSC can be certified once on a given platform and never modified, saving significant verification costs for additional IData 178 applications. The IData 178 Render Engine RSC was produced by Quantum3D using Verocel’s VeroTrace® DO-178B Traceability package, making certification data readily accessible and easily traceable via hyperlinked CD-ROM.

Industry’s First Qualifiable Automated HMI Verification Tool

A key component of the IData 178 Cert Kit is the HMI Verification Tool (HVT), the industry’s first qualified automated verification tool for HMI applications. Today’s advanced HMI applications are data-intensive, including texture images, fonts, and graphical descriptions of HMI elements. Quality and correctness of HMI data is crucial for ensuring error-free operation. The IData 178 HVT performs rigorous automated verification of HMI data including verification of features such as OpenGL usage, memory footprint, texture usage and size, and traceability. The result is an automated review process that provides rigorous assurance that the HMI application will function as intended in the target environment using the IData 178 RSC, eliminating time consuming and costly certification of generated HMI code. To support ease of certification, the IData 178 HVT also includes a complete tool qualification package.

Enhaced Safety, Decreased Cost and Schedule Risk

IData 178’s combination of reusable Render Engine RSC certification data, HVT automated verification tool, and innovative bytecode database technology significantly reduces cost and schedule associated with developing safety-critical HMI applications while simultaneously enhancing their safety. With IData 178, the actual HMI code volume for a given application is typically reduced by 90 percent or more. This reduction in code based, coupled with the HVT’s rigorous automated verification of well-structured data which replaces time-consuming manual processes, results in increased error detection and correction rates. Moreover, because the IData 178 Render Engine RSC can be certified one time for multiple applications on a target platform, each successive application’s certification costs are further reduced.

About Verocel

Verocel provides expertise, tools, and services for Software Verification in the safety critical software industry. The Verocel staff has many years of experience providing safety critical software services in the Avionics, Nuclear, and Railway industries. Services include: the development and review of software plans and standards; software requirement and test development; and software structural coverage analyses, life cycle data trace, and outsource support.

About Quantum3D

Quantum3D develops and markets realtime, open-architecture, COTS IG solutions, embedded visual computing solutions and subsystems, development software and support services for the VSST and EVC markets and is the exclusive supplier of NVIDIA® graphics technology for the embedded Military and aerospace visual computing market. Quantum3D is a privately held company headquartered in San Jose, CA, with development centers located in Phoenix, AZ, Huntsville, AL, and Orlando, FL. For more information about Quantum3D and the Quantum3D family of realtime visual computing solutions, please visit www.quantum3d.com.

Quantum3D is a registered trademark and IData and Dynamic Bytecode are trademarks of Quantum3D, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners

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