Lynx Software Technologies has confirmed that its LynxOS-178 RTOS provides the platform for a ground breaking real-time flight information reporting system. FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd. global voice and data communications system uses the Iridium global satellite network to stream data in real time from aircraft in flight. The information available can include live black box data in the event of an emergency.
FLYHT’s technology, called the Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRS™) increases safety, improves service and enhances profitability with reliable real-time communications. Services available include SATCOM voice, global flight tracking, aircraft/engine health monitoring as well as real-time black box data streaming capabilities. Data is sent securely to airline operators.
Commenting, Derek Graham, CTO at FLYHT Aerospace said, “AFIRS meets all the certifications and performance standards necessary for installation on 95% of transport category aircraft. Adopting LynxOS-178, a Commercial off-the-Shelf (COTS) operating system with space and time partitioning significantly reduced the time required to develop our product. We needed a solution that supported ARINC 653 specification for safety-critical avionics real-time operating systems. We researched the market extensively and LynxOS was the real-time operating system that we identified offering this capability.”
Robert Day, vice president of marketing at Lynx Software Technologies, added, “AFIRS is an exceptionally exciting technology to enhance both the efficiency and the safety of flight operations. We are excited that LynxOS-178 has been chosen as the key software platform for AFIRS. It is especially good to know that Lynx has helped bring this very beneficial technology to the industry more quickly through its DO-178B certified re-usable operating system.”
The LynxOS-178 RTOS is the first and only COTS operating system to receive acceptance for reusability from the FAA for DO-178B certification. This means that it is recognized by the FAA as meeting the requirements of RTCA/DO-178B and that may be used on more than one project without having to regenerate certification artefacts. Its RSC documentation set follows the guidance of AC 20-148 and includes a detailed partitioning and interface analysis that focuses on time, space and resource partitioning as well as timing margin analysis so developers can allocate budgets to use of operating system services. This simplifies the integration with multiple applications at various levels of DO-178B criticality.
In addition, LynxOS-178 offers the open standards interoperability benefits of POSIX® along with support for the ARINC 653 Application Executive (APEX). The core of the LynxOS-178 RTOS is designed to be hardware-agnostic, so no changes are required to move the RSC onto other hardware platforms.
