LynxOS-178 2.0 provides comprehensive open-standards support and certification for Safety-Critical Systems

Citation

(2005), "LynxOS-178 2.0 provides comprehensive open-standards support and certification for Safety-Critical Systems", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 77 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2005.12777bab.015

LynxOS-178 2.0 provides comprehensive open-standards support and certification for Safety-Critical Systems

LynxOS-178 2.0 provides comprehensive open-standards support and certification for Safety-Critical Systems

Keywords: Military aircraft, Commercial aircraft, Safety, Software

LynuxWorks Inc., recently announced the latest version of its LynxOS-178(R) real-time operating system (RTOS), adding support for ARINC-653 APplication/EXecutive (APEX) interface to meet the most stringent safety and reliability standards for military and commercial avionics systems. With this latest release of LynxOS-178, LynuxWorks is said to be providing a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) operating system that delivers the security and real-time responsiveness needed for safety- critical systems, with a level of POSIX and ARINC-653 compliance which it believes was previously unavailable in the avionics industry.

The introduction of LynxOS-178 2.0 continues LynuxWorks' long-standing commitment to broad support of open standards which has spanned more than 16 years. With full POSIX compliance, LynxOS-178 2.0 enables developers to take advantage of the time-to-market and investment-protection benefits of open standards-based development. The powerful formula of POSIX and ARINC-653 conformance with DO- 178B certification, will ensure application portability, software reuse and interoperability between embedded systems, as well as meet the most stringent requirements for real-time safety-critical applications.

In addition, LynuxWorks is rapidly moving toward FAA Reusable Software Component (RSC) certification for LynxOS-178 2.0 which would enable embedded system design integrators to consider portions of the software code and supporting DO-178B documentation for reuse in other embedded system designs with other software components. This will help developers significantly decrease the time of software development, modification and maintenance across various design projects and minimise overall costs of aircraft and avionics equipment.

“LynxOS-178 2.0 offers a level of compliance to the popular standards- based POSIX and ARINC-653 programming interfaces that, until now, has not been available in the market. This will give our customers a distinct advantage in efficiently designing their products and leveraging readily available POSIX and ARINC- 653 compatible software to get to market cheaper and faster,” said Bob Morris, vice-president of sales and marketing, LynuxWorks.

“ARINC-653 conformance combined with DO-178B certification, provides a COTS operating system that our customers can be confident will meet the standards widely accepted and adopted in the military and commercial avionics industries.”

The military and aerospace industry mandates rigorous technical and process requirements for safety-critical computing. In the US, these are expressed in the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) DO-178B standard for the production of software for airborne systems. The targeted DO-178B certification level is either A – catastrophic; B – hazardous- severe; C – major; D – minor; or E – no effect. Until the formidable specifications of this standard are met, safety-critical computing systems literally never get off the ground.

LynxOS-178 2.0 fully satisfies the objectives of the DO-178B level A specification, providing a low-risk path to DO-178B certification for developers to meet the technical requirements in the production of software for airborne systems. The availability of LynxOS- 178 2.0 allows developers to leverage software and artefacts that have been certified previously. In the end, LynxOS-178 2.0 provides high value to developers by enabling the rapid time-to market delivery of safety-critical applications.

LynuxWorks' LynxOS-178 2.0 is available directly through LynuxWorks. In addition to the LynxOS-178 2.0 kernel, the offering will include a complete artefacts package for the kernel and user library, DO-178B required documentation, code coverage test suites and analysis for 100 per cent modified condition/ decision coverage of the kernel and libraries, a full suite of standards-based development tools, and support.

Details available from: LynuxWorks. Tel: +33 1 30 85 06 00; Fax: +33 1 30 85 06 06; E-mail: gwinckler@lnxw.com; web site: www.lnxw.com