RTOS supports powerful aerospace hardware

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Aug 23, 2006

LynuxWorks has introduced a LynxOS-178 RTOS board support package for Extreme Engineering Solutions' XPedite6032 single board computer.

In an important development for the aerospace industry, LynuxWorks has introduced a LynxOS-178 RTOS board support package (BSP) for Extreme Engineering Solutions' XPedite6032 single board computer, marking the first time that Extreme Engineering's powerful aerospace hardware platform has been supported by a certifiable DO-178B safety-critical operating system.

The combination of the two products creates a powerful solution for aerospace developers.

LynxOS-178 is an open standards based operating system specifically designed to fulfil the stringent needs of multithread and multiprocess applications in the aerospace industry.

XPedite6032 is ideally suited for aerospace conditions such as extended temperature, shock and vibration environments that require high bandwidth and processing performance.

The LynxOS-178 BSP allows developers to immediately realise the performance benefits with an out-of-the-box hardware/software solution that is optimised for the most extreme safety-critical environments.

XPedite6032, a ruggedised, small form factor, high-performance PowerPC MPC7447A-based board solution, includes a conduction cooled 3U Compact PCI (cPCI) that tolerates extended shock of up to 40g peak sawtooth for 11ms and vibration of 0.1g2/Hz from 5 to 2000Hz.

XPedite6032 targets the Freescale Semiconductor MPC7447A embedded PowerPC Processor and is capable of operating at up to 85C at the external thermal interface, without forced air flow.

LynxOS-178, which became the first embedded operating system to receive Reusable Software Component (RSC) acceptance from the FAA in March 2006, offers developers an RTOS certifiable to DO-178B level A, the interoperability benefits of POSIX and support for the ARINC 653 Application EXecutive (APEX).

In addition, the LynxOS-178 solution delivers certified software and artifacts that allow developers to design safety-critical systems with reduced time to market.

"With the LynxOS-178 board support package, we offer customers the flexibility associated with open source software while maximising the performance of our XPedite6032 hardware", said Bret Farnum, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Extreme Engineering Solutions.

"Working with LynuxWorks provides our customers with a certified product and the support tools needed to get their designs off the ground and running quickly".

"We are delighted to be supporting Extreme Engineering's XPedite6032 platform and share a common goal in ensuring that customers have the ability to meet the requirements for developing future aerospace applications", said Robert Day, Vice President of Marketing for LynuxWorks.

"Together, Extreme Engineering and LynuxWorks can provide customers an out-of-the-box solution that reduces time to market and exceeds their performance expectations".

With the LynxOS-178 BSP, Extreme Engineering developers can immediately begin designing software applications.

LynuxWorks' BSPs also include advanced embedded development tools such as VisualLynux, Luminosity and SpyKer.

With these comprehensive tools and LynuxWorks' world-class sales and technical support, developers can enhance product quality and reliability and rapidly deploy products to market at a significantly lower cost.

LynxOS-178 BSPs for XPedite6032 are available immediately.