A power distribution assembly for an aircraft comprising: a housing (26A, 28A) at least partially configured for receiving a plurality of hardware modules (26D, 28D) coupled to a backplane (26C, 28C), the plurality of hardware modules including at least one output module (26G, 28G) and a communications module that is configured to communicate information between the plurality of hardware modules and a second power distribution assembly that are configured to define a communications hierarchy; wherein at least one hardware module of the plurality of hardware modules includes a field programmable gate array that is configured to command the at least one output module to selectively power at least one aircraft system; wherein the at least one hardware module includes random access memory that is configured to define an input buffer and an output buffer, the input buffer configured for storing information corresponding to the inputs of a discrete set of inputs, the field programmable gate array is configured to read information in the input buffer and to store information in the output buffer according to one or more pointer tables to command the output module; wherein the field programmable gate array is configured to execute logical operations allocated to the at least one hardware module and that correspond to inputs of the discrete set of inputs at a corresponding level in the communications hierarchy; wherein: the communications hierarchy is defined such that the communications module is subordinate to the second power distribution assembly, and other hardware modules of the plurality of hardware modules are subordinate to the communications module; characterised in that: the at least one aircraft system includes a plurality of aircraft systems defining the discrete set of inputs introduced at one or more lower levels of the communications hierarchy and aggregated at relatively higher levels of the communications hierarchy; and the logical operations are allocated at one or more lower levels in the communications hierarchy based upon the availability of inputs to the logical operations being at the respective levels. a housing (26A, 28A) at least partially configured for receiving a plurality of hardware modules (26D, 28D) coupled to a backplane (26C, 28C), the plurality of hardware modules including at least one output module (26G, 28G) and a communications module that is configured to communicate information between the plurality of hardware modules and a second power distribution assembly that are configured to define a communications hierarchy; wherein at least one hardware module of the plurality of hardware modules includes a field programmable gate array that is configured to command the at least one output module to selectively power at least one aircraft system; wherein the at least one hardware module includes random access memory that is configured to define an input buffer and an output buffer, the input buffer configured for storing information corresponding to the inputs of a discrete set of inputs, the field programmable gate array is configured to read information in the input buffer and to store information in the output buffer according to one or more pointer tables to command the output module; wherein the field programmable gate array is configured to execute logical operations allocated to the at least one hardware module and that correspond to inputs of the discrete set of inputs at a corresponding level in the communications hierarchy; wherein: the communications hierarchy is defined such that the communications module is subordinate to the second power distribution assembly, and other hardware modules of the plurality of hardware modules are subordinate to the communications module; characterised in that: the at least one aircraft system includes a plurality of aircraft systems defining the discrete set of inputs introduced at one or more lower levels of the communications hierarchy and aggregated at relatively higher levels of the communications hierarchy; and the logical operations are allocated at one or more lower levels in the communications hierarchy based upon the availability of inputs to the logical operations being at the respective levels. the at least one aircraft system includes a plurality of aircraft systems defining the discrete set of inputs introduced at one or more lower levels of the communications hierarchy and aggregated at relatively higher levels of the communications hierarchy; and the logical operations are allocated at one or more lower levels in the communications hierarchy based upon the availability of inputs to the logical operations being at the respective levels.