LynuxWorks, Inc., a world leader in the embedded software market, will demonstrate its LynxOS-178 v 2.2.2 safety-critical real-time operating system (RTOS) with API support of the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE™) technical standard along with its industry-leading LynxSecure separation kernel and hypervisor during the AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems North America conference in Las Vegas from August 7-9 (booth #2921).
Used primarily for military operations, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are now extending their reach to aerial photography, monitoring forest fires and environmental conditions, and protecting borders. The Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), responsible for regulation of commercial aircraft, is developing new policies, procedures and approval processes to accommodate commercial operation of UAVs.
The latest version of LynxOS-178 will be demonstrated at AUVSI. LynxOS-178 is the only DO-178B Level A certified RTOS available today with both native POSIX and ARINC 653 APIs and full safety extended FACE profile and certification artifacts. It is also the only time- and space-partitioned RTOS that has been awarded the FAA Reusable Software Component (RSC) for DO-178B certifications. LynxOS-178 combined with FACE APIs provides a DO-178B certified foundation for UAV software components which can then be rapidly migrated across systems conforming to the FACE standard.
LynxSecure, a highly secure virtualization solution that provides a versatile platform for legacy code preservation and migration, is also being featured at AUVSI. The LynxSecure hypervisor has been designed to offer military-grade protection for the latest generation of laptops, ground control stations and embedded systems, helping protect these connected devices from malicious cyber attacks. With its small footprint, high performance and flexible virtualization support on the latest generation of Intel® multi-core processors, LynxSecure brings the benefits of virtualization to UAVs not previously available because of size or security issues.
By combining LynxOS-178 and LynxSecure on a single hardware platform, running LynxOS-178 as a guest operating system atop LynxSecure, developers of next-generation of UAVs can take advantage of the safety pedigree of LynxOS-178 with its new FACE compliant API and the security and multi-core functionality of LynxSecure to give the most powerful and flexible software platform without compromising on either safety and security.
As reported by UPI, security analysts are concerned about thousands of unmanned aircraft or drones flying into civilian airspace over the U.S. that can pose a security threat as they may be difficult to monitor or may fall into enemy hands. To this end, security will be paramount in ground control stations where pilots direct the actions of UAVs and prevent hackers from usurping command of the aircraft. Several communications channels must be protected including a line-of-sight data link to the UAV, a satellite data link and a network connection.
