Wind River Unveils Products for DO-178B Airborne Systems Software Certification
Alameda, Calif., July 26, 2000— Wind River Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:WIND), a leading provider of software and services for smart devices in the Internet age, today announced products that address the DO-178B standard for software considerations in airborne systems and equipment certification. Products for DO-178B include Tornado® for DO-178B Starter Kit and Tornado for DO-178B. Both will address DO-178B up to Level A, the highest degree of certification listed in this international standard, targeting extreme software safety requirements.
The civil avionics market is expected to reach $6.3 billion by 2004 (Frost and Sullivan). The internationally recognized DO-178B standard is the certification standard of choice in this market. Many aerospace and defense manufacturers, which make up 20% of Wind River sales, need to ensure that their systems are DO-178B certifiable. These manufacturers must spend significant time and money to ensure that their proprietary systems, which sometimes include commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, meet the 66 objectives listed in DO-178B to certify their application. Using Wind River’s DO-178B-certifiable commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products helps reduce time-to-market for manufacturers in this competitive market by enabling them to focus on their own area of expertise rather than build these components themselves. It also allows them to leverage additional ready-made technology available from numerous WindLink™ partner program members.
“Real time operating system vendor commitment to the certification initiative for international avionics standards is vital to our industry,” said Dr. Dudrey Smith, manager support software, Smiths Industries Grand Rapids Division. “Smiths Industries is very happy to see that Wind River, with its leadership position in embedded software solutions, is meeting this commitment by bringing a new line of certification products to market. Our efforts can be focused on our core strengths and product differentiation, confident that the Wind River DO-178B certification solution will comply with the tedious and exacting certification process.”
In August 2000 Wind River will provide early access to Tornado for DO-178B Starter Kit, which includes a certifiable version of the VxWorks® RTOS. The Starter Kit will be generally available later in 2000. Following the commercial release of Tornado for DO-178B Starter Kit, Wind River will provide thecomplete solution, Tornado for DO-178B Certification, which will be available in the first half of 2001. This product will include both the certifiable version of VxWorks RTOS as binary and source code as well as over 20 documents containing the very detailed information necessary to support the certification process.
“The complexity of today’s sophisticated safety critical applications results in a lengthy and costly certification process,” said Jerry Fiddler, chairman and co-founder of Wind River. “Wind River’s DO-178B-certifiable products will give customers significantly greater efficiency in deploying aerospace and defense applications built on the VxWorks RTOS. These products show the strength of Wind River’s business unit structure and its ability to target customer needs and develop strong, vertically-focussed solutions for this and other markets.”
About DO-178B
Developed by the non-profit Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA), DO-178B is the recognized assurance standard for software development within the aerospace and defense industry. Membership in RTCA includes 150 U.S organizations such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA, as well as 40 international avionics government and business organizations.
About Wind River Systems, Inc.
Wind River Systems, Inc. is the worldwide leader in embedded software. Wind River provides software development tools, real-time operating systems, and advanced connectivity for use in products throughout the Internet, telecommunications and data communications, digital consumer electronics, digital imaging, networking, medical, computer peripherals, automotive, industrial, and aerospace and defense markets. Wind River is how smart things think. Founded in 1983, Wind River is headquartered in Alameda, Calif., with operations in 15 countries worldwide.
wrs.com |
