A proprietary RTOS capable of running Linux binaries has been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a re-usable software component (RSC). LynuxWorks says LynxOS-178's RSC acceptance will enable greater software reuse among integrators and developers of safety-critical aerospace and defense components.

According to LynuxWorks, LynxOS-178 is the first safety-critical RTOS to receive an “Advisory Circular AC 20-148 acceptance letter” from the FAA. The letter can be used to support “virtually any FAA Technical Standard Order,” the company claims. In other words, once certified, implementations of LynxOS-178 can be deployed on other hardware and with other software components without full re-certification.

CEO Inder Singh stated, “The LynxOS-178 RSC will lead to a dramatic reduction in the cost and schedule risks associated with [safety-critical projects]. This is very consistent with LynuxWorks' focus on software reuse through our conformance with open standards and our RTOS and Linux dual product strategy.”

LynuxWorks describes LynxOS-178 as a “time, space and resource partitioned” RTOS compliant with the IEEE POSIX standard, with DO-178B, level A, and with ARINC 653. The company launched LynxOS-178 in March of 2003, and in April of 2005, won a large contract to supply the RTOS to Boeing for a project involving the US military's Future Combat System (FCS). The RTOS's ability to run Linux applications played a large role in winning that contract, the company said at the time.

 
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