DENVER — Performance Software
Inc. claims to have developed a TCP/IP-based application
for Honeywell Inc. in which no lines of code had to
be changed from the trial application. The project is
part of the Airplane Information Management System for
the Boeing 777 aircraft, for which Honeywell is a prime
contractor.
Honeywell had estimated the communications management
system would cost $3.5 million. Performance developed
the subsystem on a fixed bid of $2.5 million and completed
it a year ago, allowing certification to be completed
in June.
Percy Sanford, project director for the AIMS TCP/IP
program at Performance (Phoenix), said that a mix
of "Rational Rose" programming methodologies developed
at Rational Software Inc., and "extreme programming"
methods in which software developers are placed in
flexible teams, helped drive an iterative model of
software development that was correct as first developed.
"We're unlikely to duplicate that again ourselves,
but it's a nice milestone nonetheless," said Raj Ghate,
director of sales and marketing at Performance, a
four-year-old software company specializing in mission-critical
communications protocols for avionics and defense
applications.
Performance has specialized in programs such as flight-deck
communications for the 777 and flight-management systems
for the Airbus A320 and A380 aircraft. The company
also is a subcontractor for battle-information software
in the U.S. Army's Future Soldier program.
While some forces in the military have been striving
for common software components in order to move to
off-the-shelf communication applications, Ghate said
that commercial aviation remains a somewhat proprietary
world, requiring custom projects for each corporation
and each commercial plane. Performance's work still
is dominated by that type of custom contract, he said.
