Xilinx-LinuxWorks on Virtex-5 FPGA
LinuxWorks LynxOS-178 running
DO-178B Certified RTOS Demonstration

June 26, 2009 -- Xilinx, a world-leading programmable logic supplier for the aerospace and defense industries, and LinuxWorks, a global leader in embedded software, recently demonstrated the industry's first and only space-segmented FAA-certified Reusable Software Component (RSC) that meets all the requirements of RTCA/DO-178B at the Military & Aerospace Electronics Forum (MAEF) and Avionics USA conferences.

This demonstration featured the ^{Xilinx® Vertex®} -5 FXT FPGIt includes the LynxOS-178 DO-178B certified RTOS running on A, which provides avionics developers with the flexibility, performance, and reliability of programmable technology while using certified application software as is.

The combination of LynxOS-178 and the Virtex-5 FXT device makes it possible to provide the industry's first FPGA-based solution offering up to two industry-standard ^PowerPC® 40 processor blocks. Each processor, featuring an integrated 32KB instruction cache and 32KB data cache, delivers up to 1,100 DMIPS at 550MHz.

A new integrated 5x2 crossbar processor interconnect architecture is combined with PowerPC 440 blocks to provide simultaneous access to I/O and memory. This highly integrated and innovative interconnect architecture includes dedicated master and slave processor local bus interfaces, four DMA ports with separate transmit and receive channels, and a dedicated memory bus interface, enabling high-performance, low-latency point-to-point connectivity.

DO-178B has established itself as a standard defining guidelines for aviation software development in the United States. Detailed information on the drafting process of DO-178B can be found on the RTCA website (www.rtca.org) , and additional information on LynxOS-178 and RSC can be found at www.linuxworks.com/rtos/rtos-178.php .

Following the press release "Xilinx Launches Global Network for DO-254 and ED-80 Standard Requirements for Next-Generation Avionics" released last January, Xilinx is preparing a white paper titled "Compliance with DO-254 and ED-80 Guidelines When Using Xilinx FPGAs" to support the global DO-254 network and avionics developers.