ELISA Project Welcomes Hamburg University of Technology and Lynx Software Technologies to Strengthen their Commitment to Safety-Critical Applications in Aerospace

VIENNA, AUSTRIA — Open Source Summit Europe – September 15, 2024 – Today, the ELISA (Enabling Linux in Safety Applications) Project welcomes Hamburg University Technology - Institute of Aircraft Systems Engineering and Lynx Software Technologies to its ecosystem. This collaboration marks a significant milestone, as both organizations commit to advancing its commitment to Linux and its effective use in safety-critical applications. Hosted by the Linux Foundation, ELISA is an open source initiative that aims to create a shared set of tools and processes to help companies build and certify Linux-based safety-critical applications and systems.

Lynx Software Technologies, which joined as a General Member, enhances high-assurance Mission Critical Edge platforms with modular, open-standard software.

“In many aerospace and defense applications, Lynx observes a strong interest from primes and OEMs to make Linux a viable option for safety-critical applications,” said Tim Reed, CEO of Lynx Software Technologies. “The goal of the ELISA Project, to define and demonstrate methodologies that allow Linux to be used in such applications, aligns with our market view. Lynx is pleased to join the group and anticipates bringing its expertise in open standards to the ELISA Project to help reduce the costs associated with safety certification.”

Hamburg University Technology - Institute of Aircraft Systems Engineering, which joined as an associate member, emphasizes research priority, interdisciplinarity and innovation, while contributing to collaborative international efforts.

“Powerful avionics platforms in aircrafts are key for modern flight systems and drive innovations in software,” said Martin Halle, PhD, Senior Engineer of the Institute of Aircraft Systems Engineering of Hamburg University of Technology. “Open standards for the operating system and APIs are important to achieve not only safety but also a freedom of choice for system- and user-applications that demand more and more flexibility and performance while retaining safety. Therefore, we are contributing to the ELISA Aerospace Working Group to come up with a certifiable infrastructure for a Linux real-time kernel for safety-critical applications. We will also share recent insights, concepts and achievements of the joint activity through publications and teaching activities.”

The Aerospace Working Group aims to collaborate with industry partners to make Linux compliant with the stringent requirements needed for certification in aviation, space systems, and other aerospace fields. The Aerospace Working Group develops use cases to inform and influence Linux architecture and related tools, work to derive technical requirements for avionics operating systems, and seek to enhance and expand avionics software lifecycle processes, practices, and tools to enable use of Linux in avionics systems that are certified to high design assurance levels. Get involved here.

Critical Software Summit

Open Source Summit Europe, scheduled for September 16-18 in Vienna, Austria, offers a rich array of technical content. This conference is an umbrella event that for microconferences like the Critical Software Summit that drives open source innovation and supports the sustainability of the ecosystem. On Monday September 16, several ambassadors, contributors, and leaders from the ELISA Project will be giving presentations including:  

• Application of the Upcoming SPDX Safety Profile – Nicole Pappler, AlektoMetis.com
• Traceability and Automation Examples with Basil an Open Source Software for Quality Management – Luigi Pellecchia & Gabriele Paoloni, Red Hat
• Enhancing Kernel Functional Safety Analysis with KS-nav – Alessandro Carminati & Gabriele Paoloni, Red Hat
• Cross Industry Demands and Collaboration Opportunities in Open Source for Safety Critical Systems - Philipp Ahmann, Etas GmbH (Bosch) & Olivier Charrier, Wind River

 Linux Plumbers Conference

The Linux Plumbers Conference will be held in Vienna, Austria from September 18-20, 2024. Several ELISA Project ambassadors will be on-site to in presentations and microconferences including:

• Building for Safety in a Security and Feature Focused World on September 18 at 5 pm CET

In this talk, Chuck Wolber, Associate Technical Fellow at the Boeing Company, will succinctly describe the Open Source duality, the tension between build integrators and individual projects, the benefits of Safety Engineering's approach to testing and design rigor, and lay out a vision and a roadmap for gaining the Open Source community's confidence in the value of these techniques.

• Real-Time Linux on September 19 at 3 pm CET

The real-time community around Linux has been responsible for important changes in the kernel over the last few decades. Preemptive mode, high-resolution timers, threaded IRQs, sleeping locks, tracing, deadline scheduling, and formal tracing analysis are integral parts of the kernel rooted in real-time efforts, mostly from the PREEMPT_RT patch set. The real-time and low latency properties of Linux have enabled a series of modern use cases, like low latency network communication with NFV and the use of Linux in safety-critical systems.

• Kernel Testing & Dependability - September 20 at 10 am CET

The Kernel Testing & Dependability Micro-Conference (Testing MC) is dedicated to advancing Linux Kernel testing and infrastructure through collaborative efforts. By fostering connections and discussions on identified issues and potential solutions, the conference aims to enhance the predictability and trustworthiness of the kernel for diverse applications and products. Learn more.

• The Tracing / Perf Events Microconference - September 20 at 10 am CET

The Tracing / Perf Events Microconference explores how tracing and perf events illuminate the complexities of the Linux kernel, enabling advanced debugging, feature development, and runtime verification. This year, the focus will also include the perf events mechanism, which presents performance counters and software events through both kernel and userland components. Learn more.

• Safe Systems with Linux on September 20 at 3 pm CET

The Safe Systems with Linux Microconference tackles the challenge of ensuring security fixes in Linux distributions do not introduce regressions in safety-critical applications by improving the linkage between code, tests, and requirements. Issues in requirements tracking, documentation, and testing, emphasizing the need for formalized documentation of requirements and consistent test documentation within the kernel ecosystem will be discussed. Learn more.

• Measuring and Understanding Linux Kernel Tests on September 20 at 12 pm CET

University of Illinois has been working on an LLVM-based toolchain for measuring test adequacy of existing kernel tests from test suites including KUnit, kselftest, LTP, test suites from RHEL and more in KCIDB. Learn more.