LynuxWorks
Encyclopedia
LynuxWorks, Inc. is a San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

 software company founded in 1988. LynuxWorks produces embedded operating systems and tools for using full virtualization
Full virtualization
In computer science, full virtualization is a virtualization technique used to provide a certain kind of virtual machine environment, namely, one that is a complete simulation of the underlying hardware...

 and paravirtualization
Paravirtualization
In computing, paravirtualization is a virtualization technique that presents a software interface to virtual machines that is similar but not identical to that of the underlying hardware....

 in embedded systems. Originally known as Lynx Real-Time Systems, the company changed its name to LynuxWorks in 2000 after acquiring, and merging with, ISDCorp (Integrated Software & Devices Corporation) a nine-year-old embedded systems company with a strong Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

 background.

LynuxWorks operating systems are used especially in the military and avionics
Avionics
Avionics are electronic systems used on aircraft, artificial satellites and spacecraft.Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems and the hundreds of systems that are fitted to aircraft to meet individual roles...

 domains. In 1989, LynxOS
LynxOS
The LynxOS RTOS is a Unix-like real-time operating system from LynuxWorks . Sometimes known as the Lynx Operating System, LynxOS features full POSIX conformance and, more recently, Linux compatibility...

, the company's flagship real-time operating system
Real-time operating system
A real-time operating system is an operating system intended to serve real-time application requests.A key characteristic of a RTOS is the level of its consistency concerning the amount of time it takes to accept and complete an application's task; the variability is jitter...

, was selected for use in the NASA/IBM Space Station Freedom project. LynuxWorks operating systems are also used in medical, industrial and communications systems around the world..

LynuxWorks is privately held. In 2000, the company filed a registration statement for Initial Public Offering, but later withdrew those plans due to unfavourable economic conditions.

Operating system evolution and history

LynxOS
LynxOS
The LynxOS RTOS is a Unix-like real-time operating system from LynuxWorks . Sometimes known as the Lynx Operating System, LynxOS features full POSIX conformance and, more recently, Linux compatibility...

, the company's flagship real-time operating system, is UNIX-compatible, POSIX-compliant (Portable Operating System Interface for Computer Environment), and was one of the earliest implementations of real-time POSIX extensions. Principle distinguishing performance features include predictable worst-case response time, preemptive scheduling, real-time priorities, ROMable kernel, and memory locking.

The LynxSecure
LynxSecure
LynxSecure is a Type 1 Embedded Hypervisor and separation kernel from LynuxWorks which utilizes system virtual machines to provide hardware virtualization for embedded systems built on multicore x86 architecture....

 Embedded Hypervisor
Embedded Hypervisor
Software virtualization has been a major topic in the enterprise space for quite some time, but has become an important technology for embedded systems only in the last few years. The application of the technology to the enterprise space has been well described elsewhere by companies such as...

 ("bare metal," type 1) and separation kernel
Separation kernel
A separation kernel is a type of security kernel used to simulate a distributed environment. The concept was introduced by John Rushby in a 1981 paper...

, released in 2005, makes full virtualization
Full virtualization
In computer science, full virtualization is a virtualization technique used to provide a certain kind of virtual machine environment, namely, one that is a complete simulation of the underlying hardware...

 and paravirtualization
Paravirtualization
In computing, paravirtualization is a virtualization technique that presents a software interface to virtual machines that is similar but not identical to that of the underlying hardware....

 of multiple guest operating systems possible in high-assurance embedded systems. LynxSecure implements the data-isolation, damage-limitation and information-flow policies specified by the MILS (Multiple Independent Levels of Security/Safety) architecture
Multiple Independent Levels of Security
Multiple Independent Levels of Security/Safety is a high-assurance security architecture based on the concepts of separation and controlled information flow; implemented by separation mechanisms that support both untrusted and trustworthy components; ensuring that the total security solution is...

.

The release of LynxOS version 4.0 in 2002 included Linux ABI (application binary interface) compatibility for the first time, which allows Linux programs to run unmodified on LynxOS without being recompiled. LynxOS version 5.0, released in 2008, introduced support for multicore processors.

In 2003, the company introduced the LynxOS-178 real-time operating system
Real-time operating system
A real-time operating system is an operating system intended to serve real-time application requests.A key characteristic of a RTOS is the level of its consistency concerning the amount of time it takes to accept and complete an application's task; the variability is jitter...

, a specialized version of LynxOS geared toward avionics applications that require certification to industry standards such as DO-178B
DO-178B
DO-178B, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification is a document dealing with the safety of software used in airborne systems....

. LynxOS-178 also includes the ARINC 653 APplication/EXecutive (APEX) interface and received FAA acceptance in 2006 from the FAA as a DO-178B RSC (Reusable Software Component), per FAA Advisory Circular AC20-148.

In 2000, LynuxWorks released its first embedded Linux distribution, BlueCat Linux 1.0, and today specializes in paravirtualized Linux for embedded systems with virtualization
Hardware virtualization
Computer hardware virtualization is the virtualization of computers or operating systems. It hides the physical characteristics of a computing platform from users, instead showing another abstract computing platform...

.

LynuxWorks' patents on LynxOS technology include patent #5,469,571, "Operating System Architecture using Multiple Priority Light Weight kernel Task-based Interrupt Handling," November 21, 1995, and patent #5,594,903, "Operating System architecture with reserved memory space resident program code identified in file system name space," January 14, 1997.

The USENET newsgroup comp.os.lynx, established in 1993, serves as an unmoderated forum for general discussion of LynxOS and LynuxWorks.

External links

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