BAE SYSTEMS, SBS TECHNOLOGIES COOPERATE ON PROCESSING SOLUTIONS FOR SAFETY-CRITICAL APPLICATIONS

BAE SYSTEMS, a leader in ARINC-653-compliant technology for real-time operating systems, and SBS Technologies Inc., a developer and producer of open-architecture embedded computer products, have joined forces to market systems for safety-critical use.

The two companies have agreed to collaborate to provide the CsLEOSâ„¢ real-time operating system from BAE SYSTEMS for applications using SBS Technologies single-board computers (SBC). The combination provides a powerful solution for customers whose products must meet rigid safety standards.

"SBS Technologies' embedded computing products are already deployed in a wide range of commercial and government uses, from networking to industrial automation to military systems. This relationship with BAE SYSTEMS will help extend our reach into safety-critical applications," said Frank Willis, vice president of business development for military products at SBS Technologies.

With more than 50 years of aircraft flight control experience behind it, the CsLEOS operating system "is an ideal commercial, off-the-shelf solution to many safety-critical systems requirements," said Milan Dedek, CsLEOS product manager for BAE SYSTEMS Aerospace Controls. "By combining our efforts to target safety-critical products, we will broaden both companies' ability to serve this important market."

The CsLEOS operating system is the only commercial, off-the-shelf RTOS offered by a safety-critical systems company. Its brick-wall partitioning, designed from the start to implement ARINC-653 and to be certifiable to the highest FAA DO-178B safety level, allows multiple applications to run on the same system without interfering with each other — ensuring that safety-critical functions are protected from other processes running on the same hardware. The unique implementation of CsLEOS also makes is possible to add, revise, and test system functions without retesting existing applications, significantly reducing project life-cycle costs.

A DO-178B, Level A-certifiable version of CsLEOS, complete with documentation artifacts to support system certification, is available now. (D0-178B, developed by RTCA Inc., a nonprofit company in Washington, D.C., is the international standard for certifying software used in safety-critical airborne systems).

The CsLEOS RTOS is supported on a range of SBS VME and 3U CompactPCI boards, including the SBS Technologies VG4 SBC.

Featuring the PowerPC 7410 running at 500 MHz, fast ethernet 10/100Mbit, two DMA channels, 512MB, 100MHz SDRAM with error correction for high integrity, a 64-bit SCSI, and two PMC expansion slots, the VG4 is ideal for use in embedded computing applications found in avionics, tactical ground vehicles, and rugged naval systems. As with all SBS Technologies products, the VG4 is designed for use in extended-temperature, high-shock and -vibration environments that are typical of many defense and aerospace platforms.