Express Logic’s ThreadX RTOS Certified for Use in Safety-Critical Systems

SGS-TÜV Saar, formed through a joint venture of Germany’s SGS-Group and TÜV Saarland, has become the leading accredited, independent company for testing, auditing, verifying and certifying embedded software for safety-related systems worldwide. The industrial safety standard IEC 61508, and all standards that are derived from it, including IEC 62304, are used to assure the functional safety of electrical, electronic, and programmable electronic safety-related medical devices, process control systems, industrial machinery, and railway control systems.

SGS-TÜV Saar has evaluated the relevant parts of Express Logic’s modified waterfall development process for ThreadX v5.6, with phase overlap and phase blending, to ensure that best development practices have been followed at these stages:

a) Requirements Management
b) Design
c) Implementation
d) Verification
e) Maintenance

SGS-TÜV Saar, using an extensive test suite, rigorously tested all services and features of the ThreadX RTOS. The ThreadX test suite, comprised of a large number of application simulations, effectively performs functional “black box” testing over the entire ThreadX RTOS. The tests exercise 100 percent of the generic ThreadX C code, which is validated by using code coverage analysis tools. Express Logic’s ThreadX Safety Manual documents these quality assurance measures, which enable developers to use ThreadX in safety-critical software development for even the most rigorous Safety Integrity Level, according to IEC 61508 or IEC 62304, without further qualification.

“Many safety-critical systems will require an RTOS to manage their operation,” commented Gudrun Neumann of SGS-TÜV Saar GmbH. “Express Logic’s ThreadX RTOS has been thoroughly analyzed and verified as being suitable for use in such safety-critical systems. It fulfills all certification requirements of IEC 61508 and IEC 62304.”

“This certification provides evidence of the exceptionally high quality of our products,” said William E. Lamie, CEO of Express Logic, Inc. ”ThreadX builds on over 15 years experience in developing and delivering real-time operating systems for safety-critical systems. With this SGS-TÜV Saar certification, companies can simplify their certification process, save time and money, and reduce risk.”

ThreadX is a priority-based, preemptive scheduling, fully deterministic RTOS for embedded systems. Supporting more than 30 microprocessor families, ThreadX is deployed in over 1.5 billion electronic products in areas that include consumer, medical, industrial, aerospace, and automotive applications.