Digital Systems Resources, Inc. (DSR)

E-2C Aircraft Display System Modernization

Ada to C++

History: The E-2C Hawkeye is a U.S. Navy, all weather, carrier-based, tactical aircraft. The E-2C's Mission Computer (MC) contains four Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) Central Processing Units. The Mission Computer Fault Isolation Program (MFIP) is the central processing point for sensor data aboard the E-2C. The Navy contracted with Digital Systems Resources (DSR), a division of DEC, to modernize the MFIP. The Mission Computer Upgrade (MCU) program office contacted the US Office of Naval Research (USONR) to identify a viable cost effective modernization solution. The USONR recommended The Software Revolution, Inc (TSRI), with their Automated Software Modernization (ASM) solutions, as the sole source capable of providing the MFIP modernization within schedule, performance, risk management, and cost constraints.

Challenge: MFIP was a mission-critical real time system written in Ada. The system required migration to C++ to support platform requirements, reduce maintenance, and lower lifetime operational costs. MCU program office identified the Ada to C++ rewrite as a high-risk project from scheduling and technical considerations. Furthermore, the transformation from Ada into C++ needed to preserve real-time performance requirements. Prior to performing the Ada to C++ transformation, TSRI first needed to create an Ada to Intermediate Object Model (IOM) gateway within its JANUS™ automated toolset.

Results: TSRI performed a fully automated transformation of the MFIP legacy Ada software. The modernized code provided an error-free compile and error-free link. The deliverable was on-time, on-schedule, and within budget. Complex integration requirements required DSR to carry out operational testing and deployment of the upgraded MFIP system without further assistance from TSRI.