Build vs. Buy: The Economics of DO-254 Certifiable IP

Why Recreate What Already Exists?

When aerospace and defense programs require DO-254 compliance, engineering teams are often faced with a difficult decision:

Develop and certify the IP internally or purchase pre-certified IP and focus resources on the application itself.

While internal development may appear attractive at first glance, the true cost of DO-254 certification often exceeds initial estimates due to planning, verification, documentation, reviews, coverage analysis, quality assurance, and certification liaison activities.

SafeIP™ provides a proven alternative.

Internal Development vs. SafeIP™

Engineering Effort Comparison

Internal Development

A typical DO-254 compliant IP development effort may require:

• FPGA Design Engineers
• Verification Engineers
• Certification Engineers
• Quality Assurance Personnel
• Configuration Management Support
• Independent Review Teams

In many cases, programs expend thousands of engineering hours before the IP is approved for airborne use.

SafeIP™

With SafeIP, your team can:

• Integrate proven IP immediately
• Leverage existing certification evidence
• Reduce verification effort
• Eliminate years of certification infrastructure development
• Focus engineering resources on mission-specific functionality

View SafeIP™ Page

The Real Cost Is Schedule

For many aerospace programs, the greatest expense is not engineering labor—it is schedule delay.

A six-month certification delay can impact:

• Flight test schedules
• Program milestones
• Customer deliveries
• Revenue recognition
• Competitive positioning

By leveraging SafeIP, programs can avoid lengthy development cycles and accelerate time-to-market while maintaining compliance objectives.

Focus Your Engineers on What Makes Your Product Unique

Your customers are not purchasing an AXI interconnect, DMA engine, memory controller, or communication peripheral.

They are purchasing the unique capabilities of your system.

SafeIP allows your engineering team to spend less time certifying infrastructure IP and more time developing the features that differentiate your product.

Reduce cost. Reduce risk. Accelerate certification.