Multicore PowerPC and ARM platforms feature DO-178C RTOS, integrated DDS/TSS Connectivity, multifunction I/O and reusable DAL-A evidence
Phoenix, AZ, Bohemia, NY, and Sunnyvale, CA, April 25, 2023. DDC-I, a leading supplier of software and professional services for mission and safety-critical applications, North Atlantic Industries (NAI), a leading supplier of embedded computing solutions and power supplies, and Real-Time Innovations (RTI), the largest software framework company for autonomous systems, today announced that they have collaborated to offer a MOSA-aligned SWaP-optimized, platform for avionics targeting FACE applications. The multicore platforms combine NAI’s PowerPC and ARM-based Configurable Open Systems Architecture (COSA®) single-board computers and multifunction I/O with DDC-I’s Deos’ FACE™ Technical Standard, Edition 3.1 conformant Operating System Segment (OSS) software and RTI’s Connext software connectivity framework.
“DDC-I, NAI and RTI have joined forces to offer avionics developers a modular, certifiable, pre-integrated FACE-targeted platform,” said Greg Rose, Vice President of Marketing and Product Management at DDC-I. “The systems combine world-class multicore performance, versatile I/O and safety certification capabilities with a proven DDS framework that streamlines communications, accelerates integration, and enhances reuse and application portability.”
“Deos running on NAI’s COSA architectures provide an excellent safety-critical RTOS platform for our connectivity software,” said Chip Downing, Senior Market Development Director of Aerospace and Defense at RTI. “Together, COSA, Deos and Connext TSS offer a modular, reusable open architecture solution that combines FACE, ARINC 653, POSIX, and DDS into a COTS solution stack that reduces integration and certification risk while speeding time to market.”
“We are excited to be working with DDC-I and RTI to offer our customers integrated platforms that combine our high-performance ARM Cortex-A53 multicore capability and configurable I/O with a best-in-class safety-critical RTOS and communications framework,” 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 that accelerates certification and deployment of safety-critical systems.”
DDC-I, NAI and RTI share an approach to building MOSA-aligned, SWaP-optimized safety critical systems that emphasizes modular, scalable, portable DO-178C DAL A certification evidence. Deos utilizes a DAL A linking loader that allows OS binary components and their artifacts to travel separately. NAI’s COSA utilizes highly modular, portable components that can be added, removed, and reapplied to other system configurations with maximum reuse of DAL-A artifacts. RTI Connext TSS employs an open, modular framework with DAL A evidence that provides real-time messaging and information sharing for seamless, safety-critical communications, data exchange and interoperability between FACE applications and Deos. This shared commitment to modularity, portability and reuse enables avionics designers to reconfigure their systems with minimal impact on hardware, software and DO-178 recertification.
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 provides certified conformant FACE OSS Safety Base and Safety Extended Profiles that feature hard real-time response, time and space partitioning, with support for Rate Monotonic, 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 as specified by the Certification Authorities Software Team (CAST).
Connext TSS is a modular, certified conformant FACE Transport Services Segment (TSS) software connectivity framework designed to meet the demanding requirements of critical airborne systems requiring low latency, high reliability, scalability, security and commercial DO-178C DAL A certification evidence. Featuring peer-to-peer communications and real-time Quality of Service (QoS), Connext TSS facilitates information sharing in real time, enabling applications to work together as one integrated system. Connext TSS is based on the Object Management Group® (OMG®) Data Distribution Service (DDS™) standard, and is the first certified, conformant FACE Transport Services Segment (TSS) that enables rapid interoperability of FACE system components and networked platforms.
NAI’s 68ARM2 VPX single-board computers and NIU3E multifunction I/O processing system feature dual Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 MPCore processors. The 68ARM2 provides a VITA 46.11 Tier-2 interface and can be configured with up to three NAI Smart I/O and communications function modules. The NIU3E, which features FACE 3.0 Input-Output Service Segment (IOSS) conformance, provides 4 Ethernet 10GBase-SR multimode fiber optic ports, 16 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet ports, 24-channel discrete I/O, 8-channelARINC 429/575, 4-channel CANBus and 2-channel MIL-STD-1553. Both the 68ARM2 and NIU3E comply with DO-178C and DO-254 DAL A.
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 (COSA). 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.
About RTI
Real-Time Innovations (RTI) is the largest software framework company for autonomous systems. RTI Connext® is the world’s leading architecture for developing intelligent distributed systems. Uniquely, Connext shares data directly, connecting AI algorithms to real-time networks of devices to build autonomous systems.
RTI is the best in the world at ensuring our customers’ success in deploying production systems. With over 1,800 designs, RTI software runs over 250 autonomous vehicle programs, controls the largest power plants in North America, coordinates combat management on U.S. Navy ships, drives a new generation of medical robotics, enables flying cars, and provides 24/7 intelligence for hospital and emergency medicine. RTI runs a smarter world.
RTI is the leading vendor of products compliant with the Object Management Group® (OMG®) Data Distribution Service (DDS™) standard. RTI is privately held and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California with regional offices in Colorado, Spain and Singapore. Download a free 30-day trial of the latest, fully-functional Connext software today: www.rti.com/downloads
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/.
