The first objective in table A-1 requires that software development processes and activities are defined. This objective applies to all software levels (A – D), and generally compliance is found in a Plan for Software Aspects of Certification (PSAC), a Software Development Plan (SDP), a Software Verification Plan (SVP), a Software Configuration Management Plan (SCMP) and a Software Quality Assurance Plan (SQAP).
While the PSAC usually stands alone as a document, the other plans are, in my experience, usually grouped together in some combination; typically SDP and SVP get released in the same document. As with most of the DO-178B artifacts, where you put the data isn’t quite as critical as just that it all exists somewhere.
Interestingly enough, for Level D software, the plans must be defined though the objective that the plans comply with DO-178B doesn’t apply. Which, in short, means that for Level D, you must have and follow some sort of plan, even if it isn’t compliant to DO-178B.
Hey, nobody said it had to make perfect sense, did they?
