Design
Renesas Selects SYSGO for CPU Virtualization Technology
Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, and SYSGO, a leading supplier of certifiable operating systems, today announced its collaboration to jointly develop basic software supporting CPU virtualization technology suitable for real-time control applications.
SYSGO will port to Renesas Electronics' V850 core its PikeOS hybrid OS, which enables multiple OSes to run simultaneously on a single CPU, providing virtualization support. SYSGO will assess PikeOS in actual automotive and other applications, and the feedback of their evaluation results will be used to optimize the specifications of PikeOS and Renesas Electronics' V850 CPU core. In addition to complying with functional safety standards such as DO-178B (Note 1) and EN50128 (Note 2), which PikeOS already supports, the basic software to be developed will include support for the envisioned ISO 26262 functional safety standard and provide security functionality such as support for MILS (Note 3) and EAL (Note 4).
PikeOS is an innovative product, providing an embedded systems platform where multiple virtual machines can run simultaneously in a secure environment. The safe and secure virtualization technology allows multiple operating system APIs to run concurrently on one machine, e.g. an AUTOSAR application together with Linux. The PikeOS microkernel architecture allows it to be used in cost-sensitive, resource-constrained devices as well as large, complex systems. The simplicity and compactness of the PikeOS design results in real-time performance that competes head-to-head with conventional proprietary RTOS solutions. PikeOS is certifiable to safety standards such as DO-178B or IEC 61508, and is also MILS compliant.
“Renesas Electronics is a well-known provider of electronics components with the reputation of being innovative and high quality oriented,” said Jacques Brygier, VP Marketing of SYSGO. “Besides the perfect technical adequacy of the scalable PikeOS with Renesas Electronics' new V850 platform, the choice of this integration is part of bigger business cooperation with Renesas Electronics that started years ago, including the other SYSGO product, ELinOS.”
“We have been developing a virtualization technology for our V850 architecture to enable control of multiple systems with a single CPU core without mutual interference, allowing high speed and composite control in fields such as industrial machinery and automotive systems, where real-time control is essential,” said Michiya Nakamura, general manager of the 1st MCU Business Division, Renesas Electronics Corporation. “This collaboration with SYSGO enables us to achieve more scalable CPU architecture and to provide virtualization technology that supports our customers in building more flexible development systems.”
(Note 1) DO-178B
An international safety standard for the development of software for airborne systems.
(Note 2) EN50128
A European standard for railway systems (trains). It includes functional safety items. The corresponding international standard is IEC 62279.
(Note 3) MILS (Multiple independent levels of security)
A method of dividing hardware resources into multiple logical components (partitioning) and allocating those components according to predetermined rules.
(Note 4) EAL (Evaluation assurance level)
The levels are defined in ISO/IEC 15408, which sets forth international standards for security quality in information processing technology.