PowerPC

DDC-I Completes Multicore DO-178C DAL-A Verification for Deos RTOS on ARM and PowerPC Architectures

Phoenix, AZ – September 19, 2023 – DDC-I, a leading supplier of software and professional services for mission- and safety-critical applications, today announced that it has completed multicore DO-178C verification to Design Assurance Level A (DAL A) for its Deos™ DO-178C safety-critical real-time operating system (RTOS) on multiple ARM and PowerPC processors. Deos now provides an off-the-shelf set of DAL-A artifacts for a broad range of ARM and PowerPC multicore processors, including the PowerPC e6500 core and the ARM-based Xilinx Zynq Ultrascale+ MPSoC, NXP QorIQ, Layerscape, S32 (automotive), and iMX processor families. This is the second verified baseline of DDC-I’s multicore kernel technology to DO-178C DAL-A.  Verification for Intel’s I7 Tiger Lake and Texas Instruments’ Jacinto are planned for release in the next verified baseline.

“DDC-I has been at the forefront of DO-178C multicore technology development, standardization and verification, with an emphasis on satisfying the CAST-32A and AMC 20-193 objectives for safety-critical operation,” said Greg Rose, vice president of marketing at DDC-I. “Further, Deos takes a different approach to multicore processing versus other certifiable RTOSs by providing technology to reduce cross core interference rather than relying on draconian safety nets as the primary bounding mechanism. Our unique multicore features enable our customers to achieve the highest level of safety-critical operation in the gamut of avionics applications from highly deterministic FADECs and flight controls, to complex high throughput displays and mission computers.”

Deos is a safety-critical embedded RTOS that uses patented technology to deliver the highest possible CPU utilization on multi-core processors. First certified to DO-178 DAL A in 1998, Deos features hard real-time response, time and space partitioning, ARINC-653 and POSIX interfaces and is certified as conforming to the FACE® Technical Standard v3.1 for the Safety Extended and Safety Base Profiles. With an emphasis on safety-critical multicore applications, Deos scales well for all compute- and I/O intensive avionics applications such as those requiring data fusion, and other advanced control and sensor functionality.

DDC-I’s SafeMC™ technology extends Deos’ advanced capabilities to multiple cores, enabling developers of safety-critical systems to achieve best in class multicore performance without compromising safety-critical task response and guaranteed execution time. SafeMC employs a bound multiprocessing (BMP) architecture, safe scheduling, and cache partitioning to minimize cross-core contention and interference patterns that affect the performance, safety and certifiability of multi-core systems. The patented cache partitioning technology is unique to Deos and enables L2/L3 cache segregation at a per-application level. This feature bounds cache jitter to dramatically improve worse-case execution times. Then as a final line of defense against run-bound operation, customers can employ the safety nets of bandwidth restriction for resource over utilization, which protects against catastrophic error conditions. These features enable avionics system developers to address issues that could impact the integrity, safety, performance, and the burden associated with the certification of a multi-core airborne system.

About DDC-I, Inc.

DDC-I, Inc. is a global supplier of real-time operating systems, software development tools, custom software development services, and legacy software system modernization solutions, with a primary focus on mission- and safety-critical applications. DDC-I’s customer base is an impressive “who’s who” in the commercial, military, aerospace, and safety-critical industries. DDC-I offers safety critical real-time operating systems, compilers, integrated development environments and run-time systems for C, C++, and Ada application development. For more information regarding DDC-I products, contact DDC-I at 4545 E. Shea Blvd, Phoenix, AZ 85028; phone (602) 275-7172; fax (602) 252-6054; e-mail sales@ddci.com or visit https://www.ddci.com/pr2311.

DDC-I’s Deos Safety-Critical RTOS Available for North Atlantic Industries’ 68PPC2 Multicore Open VPX Single Board Computer

Integrated avionics platform couples bounded multicore response times with complete DO-178C/ED-12C DAL A verification for rapid development and deployment

 

Phoenix, AZ and Bohemia, NY – March 10, 2021. DDC-I, a leading supplier of software and professional services for mission- and safety-critical applications, and North Atlantic Industries, a leading provider of embedded systems for mil/aero applications, today announced the availability of DDC-I’s Deos™ safety-critical real-time operating system for NAI’s 68PPC2 T2080 PowerPC OpenVPX single-board computer. The integrated platform comes with complete DO-178C/ED-12C DAL A verification evidence for the Board Support Package, including all network and I/O drivers, greatly accelerating the development, deployment and certification of high-performance safety-critical applications for avionics systems.

DDC-I’s approach to building safety critical software mirrors North Atlantic’s approach to configuring boards, with an emphasis on modular, scalable portable DAL-A verification.  Deos utilizes a DAL A linking loader that allows OS binary components and their artifacts to travel separately.   NAI’s Configurable Open Systems Architecture™ (COSA®) utilizes highly modular, portable components that can be added or removed, and reapplied to other system configurations with maximum reuse of DAL-A artifacts. This shared commitment to modularity, portability and reuse enables avionics designers utilizing Deos and the COSA architecture to reconfigure their I/O systems with minimal impact on hardware, software and DO-178 recertification.

The 68PPC2 is a 3U OpenVPX™ NXP® T2080 PowerPC single-board computer that can be configured with up to two NAI smart I/O and communications function modules. Featuring an NXP QorlQ® T2080 Quad Core e6500 Processor running at 1.5 GHz, and consuming less then 25W, the 68PPC2 is ideally suited for rugged Mil-Aero applications that accelerate deployment of SWaP-optimized systems in air, land and sea applications. The 68PPC2 comes equipped with eight Mbytes of DDR3 SDRAM and 32 Gbytes of SATA II NAND Flash. It also features PCIe, USB, I2C, TTL, and RS-232 interfaces, as well as an optional SATA II for external access to up to 512 Gbytes of expansion memory.

“Advanced SafeMC™ multicore technology, together with reusable verification evidence, make Deos an ideal environment for developing, hosting, and certifying high-performance safety-critical avionics applications targeting the 68PPC2 and COSA architecture,” said Greg Rose, vice president of marketing and product management at DDC-I. “Deos SafeMC technology uniquely resolves the CAST-32A multicore objectives, enabling it to deliver unmatched performance and determinism for safety-critical applications running on NXP PowerPC multicore processors.”

“We are pleased to be working with DDC-I to offer our joint customers an integrated platform that combines our high-performance multicore capability with a best-in-class safety-critical RTOS,” added Lino Massafra, vice president of sales and marketing at NAI. “Developers requiring the highest level of design assurance now have a rugged, flexible, off-the-shelf solution combining high-performance multicore computing and configurable I/O in a compact, low-power package that accelerates deployment of safety-critical systems.”

Deos is a safety-critical embedded RTOS that employs patented cache partitioning, memory pools, and safe scheduling to deliver higher CPU utilization than any other certifiable safety-critical COTS RTOS on multi-core processors. First certified to DO-178 DAL A in 1998, Deos combines FACE conformance with DO-178C DAL A artifacts, providing a FACE Safety Base Profile that features hard real-time response, time and space partitioning, and both ARINC-653 and POSIX interfaces.

SafeMC technology extends Deos’ advanced capabilities to multiple cores, enabling developers of safety-critical systems to achieve best in class multi-core performance without compromising safety-critical task response and guaranteed execution time. SafeMC employs a bound multiprocessing (BMP) extension of the symmetric multiprocessing architecture (SMP), safe scheduling, and cache partitioning to minimize cross-core contention and interference patterns that affect the performance, safety criticality and certifiability of multi-core systems. These features enable avionics systems developers to address issues that could impact the safety, performance and integrity of a software airborne system executing on Multi-Core Processors (MCP), as specified by the Certification Authorities Software Team (CAST) in its Position Paper CAST-32A for Multi-core Processors.

 About DDC-I, Inc.

DDC-I, Inc. is a global supplier of real-time operating systems, software development tools, custom software development services, and legacy software system modernization solutions, with a primary focus on mission- and safety-critical applications. DDC-I’s customer base is an impressive “who’s who” in the commercial, military, aerospace, and safety-critical industries. DDC-I offers safety-critical real-time operating systems, compilers, integrated development environments and run-time systems for C, C++, Ada, and JOVIAL application development. For more information regarding DDC-I products, contact DDC-I at 4545 E. Shea Blvd, Phoenix, AZ 85028; phone (602) 275-7172; fax (602) 252-6054; e-mail sales@ddci.com or visit http://www.ddci.com/pr2101.

 About NAI

NAI is a leading independent supplier of embedded computing, Input/Output, communications, measurement, simulation, power and systems products for commercial, industrial and military applications built on a Configurable Open System Architecture (COSATM). COSA offers the greatest modularity, flexibility, adaptability and configurability in the industry that accelerates our customer’s time-to-mission.  COSA supports a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) that delivers the best of both worlds: custom solutions from COTS components with No NRE.  For over 50 years, companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon have leveraged NAI’s capabilities to meet the demanding requirements of a wide range of I/O and communication-centric applications, and do so with uncompromising quality, efficiency and responsiveness. Information about NAI and its products can be found at www.naii.com.