Lynx Delivers High Availability Software for Embedded Applications

New Lynx/HA software enables cost-effective, high-availability solutions

SAN JOSÉ, Calif.—March 31, 1998—Lynx Real-Time Systems, Inc., a leader in embedded software solutions, today announced the release of a new add-on software product called Lynx/HA, a tool kit for LynxOS that lets embedded software developers build high availability systems for mission-critical applications in telecommunications, data communications, aerospace, and military markets.

"LynxOS, coupled with this new Lynx/HA software, provides Motorola the building blocks necessary to deliver cost-effective, high-availability systems based on our CompactPCI® product suite," said Bill Donlan, Vice President, Telecommunications Business Unit of Motorola Computer Group. "And this is only the first step. Our relationship with Lynx will result in a new generation of embedded platform solutions providing more functionality and higher levels of integration."

Lynx/HA allows developers to build continuous availability (hot standby) and high availability (cold standby) functionality into their LynxOS-based systems. Lynx/HA is middleware which provides a convenient set of application programming interfaces (APIs) allowing developers to define sets of critical client processes on a single processor, closely coupled processors, or distributed processors across a network. Developers establish a set of fail-over rules so that if a software process or processor node fails, a switchover occurs, invoking an equivalent process or enabling a replacement node. These processes and nodes register themselves with intelligent "software routers"—programs executing on the linked processor nodes. These intelligent routers take the pulse of the high availability process or processor node at user-defined intervals. If a process or node fails to check in during periodic polling, Lynx/HA automatically enables an identical process on a different processor or restarts the process on the same processor.

"Intelligent products of all types are the backbone of mission-critical communications and control systems," said Dino Brusco, Vice President, Marketing at Lynx Real-Time Systems. "Many of these systems today are required to be fault-tolerant and have been built with expensive, proprietary hardware and software. Lynx/HA is a new enabling technology for low-cost, high availability software solutions for embedded applications. This software, coupled with today's distributed processing architectures and off-the-shelf board products like CompactPCI, enable our customers to create a whole new generation of low cost, intelligent products where downtime simply is not an option." Lynx/HA can also manage an active cluster of processes and load balance the processing tasks within the cluster for optimal system operation. This load balanced clustering capability also enhances system scalability because processes can be dynamically added or removed from a cluster with no interruption in system operation.

The rich set of APIs in Lynx/HA provide message-oriented middleware capabilities to support multiple communications distribution modes, including unicast, broadcast, and multicast. Other features, such as event services, CORBA-compatible quality-of-service options, notifications, and persistence provide developers features necessary to build robust distributed systems.

About Lynx Real-Time Systems

Lynx Real-Time Systems, Inc. is a worldwide supplier of real-time operating systems and development tools. Its products shorten product development cycles and lower costs for software engineers who design embedded applications. By committing to POSIX®, UNIX and other industry standards, the company enables customers to leverage their investments in software development and education. Founded in 1988 as a privately held company, Lynx has offices in the U.S., Europe and Japan, and worldwide headquarters in San José, Calif.

LynuxWorks press contacts

Kirsten Long Director, Marketing Communications LynuxWorks, Inc. USA +1 408-979-4404	Barbara Stewart Patterson & Associates USA 480-488-6909
Hamid Mirab Managing Director EMEA LynuxWorks Ltd. United Kingdom +44 208-906-9506	Peter van der Sluijs Neesham Public Relations Europe +44 1442-879222