Green Hills Announces Additional High Assurance Software Components for its Certified and Field-Proven RTOS

The Journaling File System provides multiple INTEGRITY-178B partitions with concurrent power-fail safe access to an underlying file system. IPFLITE’s client/server architecture allows multiple applications to access the underlying network stack that resides in a virtual INTEGRITY-178B partition. PJFS-178B, IPFLITE and the ARINC 615A dataloader are available as optional components for Green Hills Software’s industry-leading INTEGRITY-178B operating system.

With the introduction of these additional high assurance components for INTEGRITY-178B, Green Hills Software continues to widen its lead over the second tier RTOS suppliers. This announcement also follows the U.S. Government’s recent announcement that INTEGRITY-178B has been certified to the highest security assurance level required by the U.S. Government for operating systems – EAL6+/High Robustness. This EAL6+ certification is the first of its kind, the highest Common Criteria security level ever achieved for an operating system. Only an EAL6+ High Robustness operating system is certified to protect classified information and other high value resources from attack by hostile and well-funded attackers. This is secure by anyone’s definition. The highest security standard to which any other operating system is certified only protects against “inadvertent or casual attempts to breach the system security.” That is not even close to secure by anyone’s definition.

With the new PJFS-178B file system, IPFLITE network stack and ARINC 615A dataloader, Green Hills Software now offers system developers and integrators a single-source solution for their high assurance operating system and related software components without relying on third party software products or certification services. In contrast, alternative RTOS products, unable to offer a single-source high assurance operating system solution, can only suggest that a customer’s required DO-178B Level A-compliant software components be obtained from their “partner ecosystem.” The facts are simple. A single-source solution from an RTOS vendor, such as Green Hills Software, that does not rely on third party products or certification services significantly reduces risk over a “partner ecosystem” solution. RTOS vendors recommending a file system from a third party supplier, cannot adequately assure the successful integration and certification of all components on the customer’s flight hardware, nor can they guarantee the correct operation and intended behavior of the separately acquired components throughout the life cycle of the customer’s airborne equipment.