Aerospace Requirements Decomposition & Traceability
Decompose aerospace requirements into traceable derived specs with compliance matrices
What You Can Do
You can systematically break down complex top-level system requirements into lower-level functional, performance, interface, and constraint requirements allocated to subsystems and components. Claude generates comprehensive traceability matrices that link customer requirements to derived requirements to verification methods, while automatically identifying conflicts, ambiguities, and infeasibilities before design begins—ensuring your requirements documentation is audit-ready for certification.
Features
automatically breaks top-level requirements into functional, performance, interface, and constraint categories with inheritance tracking
generates forward and reverse traceability linking customer → derived → verification requirements with compliance status
distributes performance budgets (weight, power, thermal, cost) across subsystems with margin tracking and allocation justification
maps requirements to DO-178C/DO-254/ARP4754A evidence items and provides regulatory alignment checklists
identifies requirement contradictions, undefined acceptance criteria, and testability gaps before design reviews
generates measurable, testable acceptance criteria with verification method assignment (analysis, test, inspection, demonstration)
traces requirement changes across the hierarchy to identify affected subsystems and verification activities
produces CDR-ready requirement genealogy with allocation justification and risk mitigation strategies
Example Output
Example 1: Software Requirement Decomposition (DO-178C Level A)
Input: "System shall automatically divert aircraft from hazardous weather"
Output:
-
Derived Requirement 1.1: Weather radar shall detect convective activity within 200 nm at ±5° bearing accuracy
- Allocation: Avionics subsystem
- Verification: Hardware-in-loop test (DO-178C objective 6.3.1d)
- Traceability: Customer Req 2.4.1 → Design Spec 3.2.1 → Test Case WDR-047
-
Derived Requirement 1.2: Flight management system shall compute diversion waypoints with <2 nm lateral error
- Allocation: Software component SWC_FMS_NAV
- Verification: Software unit test + integration test (DO-178C objectives 6.4.4.2, 6.5.1)
- Acceptance Criteria: 1000 test vectors, all pass within error margin
Example 2: Traceability Matrix (Partial)
| Customer Req | Derived Req | Subsystem | Ver. Method | DO-254 Evidence | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.4.1 Weather avoidance | 1.1 Radar detection | Avionics | HW Test | TSR-082, TR-156 | Allocated |
| 2.4.1 Weather avoidance | 1.2 FMS guidance | Software | SW Test | STP-034 | In Review |
Example 3: Allocation Table (Power Budget)
| Subsystem | Requirement | Allocated Power (W) | Margin (%) | Justification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avionics | Continuous radar operation | 180 | 15% | Thermal analysis ATH-042 |
| Flight control | Actuator redundancy | 120 | 20% | Load case analysis FCA-156 |
What's Included
- SKILL.md instruction file with decomposition methodology and DO-178C/DO-254/ARP4754A compliance guidance:
- Requirement Decomposition Template: hierarchical requirement tree with derived requirement categories, allocation fields, and traceability references
- Traceability Matrix Framework: bidirectional matrix linking customer → derived → verification requirements with compliance status and evidence tags
- Allocation Table Checklist: performance budget allocation (weight, power, thermal, cost) with margin tracking and justification fields
- Compliance Verification Mapping: cross-reference tables for DO-178C Level A/B objectives, DO-254 design and production controls, and ARP4754A requirement rigor assignments
- Conflict Detection Checklist: questions to identify ambiguous acceptance criteria, untestable requirements, and allocation gaps before design reviews
Who It's For
- Systems Engineers — decomposing customer requirements and building traceability for design reviews and certification
- Requirements Managers — owning requirement genealogy, managing changes, and preparing compliance evidence for audits
- Certification/Compliance Engineers — mapping requirements to DO-178C/DO-254/ARP4754A objectives and generating audit-ready documentation
- Hardware/Software Design Leads — translating allocated requirements into design specifications and test plans
- Supply Chain/RFQ Managers — generating detailed design-input requirements for supplier RFQs and subcontract SOWs
Best For
- DO-178C Level A/B software certification — requirement allocation and traceability matrix generation with objective linkage
- DO-254 hardware certification — design-input requirement decomposition and verification method assignment
- ARP4754A system safety analysis integration — linking functional requirements to safety requirements and failure condition mitigation
- Design review preparation (PDR/CDR) — requirement genealogy, conflict resolution, and allocation justification documentation
- Requirement change management — impact analysis across derived requirements and verification activities
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