Congatec lines up with Sysgo to provide secure edge systems in ‘critical systems’
Embedded and edge computing technology vendor congatec has announced its strategic partnership with SYSGO, a European provider of real-time operating systems for safety and cybersecurity applications. The goal, according to the announcement, is to provide the critical systems markets such as industrial automation, medical, smart energy, railway, commercial and autonomous vehicles or construction machinery, with Arm and x86 based turnkey solution platforms that are specifically tailored to address functional safety and cybersecurity requirements. First implementations, certifiable in appropriate designs up to ASIL B or SIL 2, will be made available on x86 and Arm Cortex based Computer-on-Modules. A typical use case is Safety Element out of Context (SEooC) as defined in ISO 26262.
Designed to simplify and shorten the development process of safety and security-critical systems, the full-service offering provided under the new partnership agreement includes comprehensive certification support for the various safety standards analogue to the ICE 61508 standard for functional safety of electronic systems. Support for the SYSGO PikeOS RTOS and hypervisor-based platforms ranges from railway (EN 50129 / EN 50657), commercial and agricultural vehicles (ISO 26262), civil avionics (DO‑254), as well as PLCs in automation and process control (IEC 61508), to medical applications (IEC 62304). Customers also benefit from the PikeOS EAL3+ security certification according to the Common Criteria standard.
“Entering into a strategic partnership with a world leading vendor of Computer-on-Modules enables us to offer customers scalable integrated hardware and software execution platforms that reduce time to market in complex embedded and edge computing projects. Leveraging multicore technologies and bringing together safety and cybersecurity capability in an all-in-one solution will bring our customers a valuable competitive advantage in their markets, while by design also addressing the increasing connectivity-related cybersecurity challenges,” says SYSGO CEO Etienne Butery.
A strong root of trust is essential for the safety and security of applications in environments that form part of critical infrastructures – aka KRITIS – as specified by the German Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) and the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). Functional safety appliances in critical infrastructures located in rugged environments are predominantly found in the transportation and traffic sector as well as in areas related to energy and water supply.
Engineers who develop IEC 61508 compliant functional safety appliances need embedded and edge computing platforms that are ready for certification – including drivers, BSPs and comprehensive documentation for the respective certificate. For this purpose, the new congatec solution platforms will incorporate a functional safety compliant computing core based on SYSGO’s PikeOS RTOS and hypervisor with Linux, plus certifiable BSPs. The first, Intel and NXP processor-based platforms will target mobility appliances for the railway and commercial vehicle markets, including transport logistics. All common standard communication protocols for use in functional safety applications such as Ethernet and serial interfaces will be supported. The turnkey solution platforms will also come with the relevant requirements documents, covering all hierarchy levels that are structured by requirement IDs including traceability, so as to simplify reuse in customers’ own certifications and documentation. This greatly reduces the complexity of the process for the customer. OEMs also benefit from competent contacts, should they have questions regarding security-relevant software implementation, while customers have an expert to turn to with questions about the safety-relevant software implementation.
Article Topics
ARM | avionics | Congatec | embedded systems | energy | IIoT | operating systems | RTOS | security | Sysgo | transportation
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