SYSGO and TechSAT Collaborate to Develop Advanced Software Tools for Avionics

The two companies are working together to build a specific software tool, IMACT, dedicated to the support of an IMA platform. The concept of Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) was invented in the early '90s to overcome the vast number of single electronic devices in the avionics. The goal therefore is to decrease the number of computers in an aircraft, but as the required software complexity is heavily increasing at the same time, new techniques must be developed to manage a safe execution of multiple software applications on the same hardware platform.

The IMA platform targeted here is a set of configurable resources that, only after proper configuration, can support hosted aircraft systems applications. In order to be able to perform this task the IMA Configuration Tool is necessary to support these activities.

The IMACT is a software tool set which allows the creation of configuration files for the entire IMA system that includes the IPM, RDC, AFDX Switches and AFDX End Systems.

The following functionality is supported by IMACT:

· Capturing of IMA system architecture, component specifications (usage domain) and application requirements

· Definition of communication structures

· Creation of IMA configuration files

· Evaluation and analysis of the IMA system

· Generation of test cases

· Configuration management function with change tracking

TechSAT GmbH is a major supplier for large aerospace programs. TechSAT’s core competence and main business segment is the design and development of turnkey solutions for integration, verification, and validation of aircraft systems including related consulting and services.

“TechSAT is a well-known provider of software and hardware solutions for avionics with the reputation of being innovative and high quality oriented,” said Michael Tiedemann, CEO of SYSGO. “The high expertise of SYSGO in software tools and advanced avionics concepts like IMA made the collaboration with TechSAT very natural. We expect this collaboration to be very fruitful in penetrating new geographical markets.”

SYSGO has developed expertise on certification for security- and safety-critical applications both in terms of products and in terms of services. PikeOS product is the only product on the market designed from ground up to offer embedded virtualization that is also DO-178B certified. As embedded Linux is more and more considered for non-highly critical applications, ELinOS is being used in actual aircraft equipment. The complementary with PikeOS makes it the product of choice for new IMA based systems where different levels of criticality have to co-exist on the same platform. SYSGO has been involved in different avionics projects requiring the integration of AFDX functionality.

“We have been in the aerospace area for more than two decades and we can recognize experts in this domain,” said Dieter Konnerth, Managing Director at TechSAT. “SYSGO is definitely a technology leader in this area, as its participation of numerous avionics projects can prove it. Our respective expertise and solutions are highly complementary. We think that our collaboration will create a set of new opportunities for both companies as the level of expertise reflected in the new IMACT tool has no equivalent in the market.”

The IMACT product will be available in Q1 2013.