Secure, Safety-critical open Standards-based Software to Significantly Impact Future of Embedded Industry, says LynuxWorks at Annual Vision Summit

"Pervasive networks" and widespread reliance on networked devices have caused embedded systems to proliferate while the requirements, standards and certifications for safety and security have become more demanding, stringent and complex

SAN JOSÉ, Calif., Feb. 10, 2006—LynuxWorks™, a world leader in the embedded software market, hosted its annual Vision Summit during which company executives and customers discussed the latest trends, open standards and certifications for embedded systems, including:

• The importance of providing developers with open standards-based, COTS real-time operating systems (RTOSes) to allow them to build applications that meet the most stringent safety-critical and security standards, such as those required by products intended for use in avionics, military and aerospace environments.
• The major trend toward Reusable Software Components (RSC), which allows developers to reuse code in new applications, while still meeting the strict requirements set by, for example, the FAA which certifies embedded systems for use on aircraft flight decks.
• The fact that Linux has become an unstoppable force in the embedded software market, as well as the leading de-facto open standard embedded platform in both military and commercial systems. And while some Linux-only vendors have struggled to survive, LynuxWorks—with its broad product line based on open standards such as POSIX® and including BlueCat® Linux® and LynxOS®, and with its unique Linux Application Binary Interface (ABI)—continues to thrive.
• Reliability and security assurance are becoming key concerns for all embedded developers. While many of these highly secure applications are first put to use in military, aerospace, and avionics applications, they inevitably make their way into commercial products, especially in industries such as finance and telecommunications.

Stephen Balacco, Embedded Systems Market Analyst with Venture Development Corporation (VDC), attended the Vision Summit event and said, "LynuxWorks' success in 2005 and optimism for the future has allowed them to invest in their marketing programs, organizational structure, and product R&D. All these together should position LynuxWorks to capitalize on their momentum going into 2006. What remains then is the hard part: executing against the strategy and realizing the returns on those investments."

Dr. Inder Singh, president and CEO of LynuxWorks kicked off the Vision Summit by discussing the pervasive networks that are so commonplace today and how they have caused embedded systems to proliferate at an unprecedented pace.

"In a world where everything is networked, embedded systems are now connected virtually everywhere and have become a part of the very fabric of our lives—whether we are aware of it or not," Dr. Singh said. "Embedded systems, most of which are, by their nature, unseen, are in the devices we rely on every day—at home, at work, in our communities. Of course, the network has now also extended to the battlefield, and embedded systems are commonplace in aircraft, sea-going vessels, military equipment and the devices carried by our soldiers."

Dr. Singh went on to explain that with this "explosion of embedded systems" has come a substantial increase in the complexity of these systems, and that the requirements for reliability, safety and security have never been more pronounced.

In response to this, LynuxWorks outlined its vision for two groundbreaking new products based on open standards that will meet the needs of both medium assurance and high assurance security levels, which are determined by Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Levels (EALs). These EALs range from least secure (EAL-1) to most secure (EAL-7). While there is no OS available today at EAL-7, LynuxWorks LynxOS-178 could be certified to EAL-4 and is based on software developed under stringent processes that meet the standards for safety-critical systems. LynuxWorks intends to build on this technology and has a significant head start to become the first company in its industry to develop an OS that will be certified to EAL-7.

In its presentation last week, the company outlined its roadmap for this achievement, which includes a technological innovation called a separation kernel that will allow this goal to become a reality. For medium assurance applications, LynuxWorks will offer LynxOS-SE, a time-space partitioned, hard real-time, deterministic RTOS based on its current LynxOS-178 technology. For high assurance applications, LynuxWorks will offer LynxSecure, which is a product intended to achieve Evaluation Assurance Level EAL-7. A prototype demonstration of LynxSecure was provided for attendees.

LynuxWorks finished the day with a presentation from Joe Wlad, director of product marketing on the topic of Reusable Software Components (RSC), an important new trend in embedded software development.

Traditionally, embedded devices have been hardware-centric. However, with the growing proliferation of safety-critical requirements, modern engineering has become increasingly software-intensive—so much so that software now dominates cost and time schedules of embedded system designs due to the increasing complexity of safety-critical software. As a result, the old paradigm of developing software from scratch is giving way to the need to reuse software components from previous development efforts in order to reduce the time, costs and risks involved in redevelopment efforts and the swift building of complex systems.

Software complexity has made it desirable to develop reusable software components that can be integrated into a number of safety-critical systems. As the most complex part of an OS, the effort to generate a DO-178B level A (the FAA's highest security certification) kernel is significant. Therefore, an approved and certified kernel provides tremendous savings in effort, cost and time.

A follow up announcement will be made, showing in more detail how LynuxWorks and its RTOS technology is contributing to the area of software RSC.

About LynuxWorks

LynuxWorks is a world leader in the embedded software market, providing operating systems, software development products and consulting services for the world's most successful communications, aerospace/defense, and consumer products companies. Established in 1988, the company is a technology leader in the real-time operating systems (RTOS) industry. LynuxWorks' headquarters are located in San José, California.

LynuxWorks is a trademark and LynxOS and BlueCat are registered trademarks of LynuxWorks, Inc. Other brand or product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of the respective holders. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

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