Control architecture and process for porting application software for equipment on board an aircraft to a consumer standard computer hardware unit

A control architecture comprising:

• a first software unit arranged on one of a plurality of computer hardware units, the first software unit including application software designed for real equipment, the plurality of computer hardware units including a real computer hardware unit of the real equipment and a plurality of virtual computer hardware units of virtual equipment, each computer hardware unit having an operating system, source code, and a compiler, wherein the real computer hardware unit further includes real input/output cards for communicating with digital buses of the real computer hardware unit to operate the real equipment when the first software unit is arranged on the real computer hardware unit, wherein at least one of the plurality of virtual computer hardware units comprises a computer, wherein each virtual computer hardware unit further includes real and/or virtual input/output cards for communicating with digital buses of analog type and/or of discrete type of the virtual computer hardware unit to operate the virtual equipment when the first software unit is arranged on the virtual computer hardware unit;
• wherein the first software unit further includes a standardized software-hardware abstraction software layer made up of a library of primitives that interface with source codes of the first software unit and are suitable for interfacing with the real computer hardware unit and each of the virtual computer hardware units;
• and
• wherein the real computer hardware unit further includes a real-hardware software layer, a first one of the virtual computer hardware units further includes a first virtual-hardware software layer, and a second one of the virtual computer hardware units further includes a second virtual-hardware software layer, said real-hardware software layer configured to interface with the standardized software-hardware abstraction software layer when the first software unit is arranged on the real computer hardware unit, said first virtual-hardware software layer configured to interface with the standardized software-hardware abstraction software layer when the first software unit is arranged on the first one of the virtual computer hardware units, and said second virtual-hardware software layer configured to interface with the standardized software-hardware abstraction software layer when the first software unit is arranged on the second one of the virtual computer hardware units, the real-hardware software layer serving to manage the real input/output cards of the real computer hardware unit for communicating with digital buses of the real computer hardware unit to operate the real equipment, the first virtual-hardware software layer serving to manage the real and/or virtual input/output cards of the first one of the virtual computer hardware units for communicating with digital buses of analog type and/or of discrete type of the first one of the virtual computer hardware units to operate the virtual equipment, the second virtual-hardware software layer serving to manage the real and/or virtual input/output cards of the second one of the virtual computer hardware units for communicating with digital buses of analog type and/or of discrete type of the second one of the virtual computer hardware units to operate the virtual equipment, said virtual input/output cards of the first one of the virtual computer hardware units and said virtual input/output cards of the second one of the virtual computer hardware units performing at least the same functions as the real input/output cards and associated drivers of the real computer hardware unit;
• wherein the first software unit is arranged the first one of the virtual computer hardware units;
• a second software unit having the application software and a second standardized software-hardware abstraction software layer, the second software unit arranged on the second one of the virtual computer hardware units;
• wherein each of the first and second virtual computer hardware units includes a communications software layer, wherein the communications software layers are arranged between the first and second software units by recompiling and editing links with the library of the standardized software-hardware abstraction software layer on the first virtual computer hardware unit and a library of the second standardized software-hardware abstraction software layer on the second virtual computer hardware unit, each communications software layer including a data exchange intermediate software element constituting a software interface socket of the operating system of a corresponding virtual computer hardware unit with a communications network protocol service for communicating with other software units, wherein the arrangement of the communications software layers is such to implement and manage data exchanges between virtual input/output cards of the first and second virtual computer hardware units;
• and
• disturbance software connected to the virtual-hardware software layer of the first virtual computer hardware unit with the first software unit arranged thereon to deliver indications of physical disturbances to be encountered on the real computer hardware unit and conveyed by the communications software layer of the first virtual computer hardware unit.