With PikeOS 5.1.5, SYSGO has released the latest update of its certifiable real-time operating system and hypervisor platform. Alongside the expected improvements and bug fixes, the release introduces several new hardware platforms, drivers and development capabilities.

The most significant addition is official support for the RISC-V architecture, bringing PikeOS' separation kernel and virtualization capabilities to an increasingly important open instruction set architecture.

RISC-V Support for PikeOS

RISC-V has established itself as an increasingly relevant architecture for embedded computing, particularly in applications where flexibility, openness and long-term platform independence are important considerations.

With PikeOS 5.1.5, RISC-V becomes an officially supported architecture alongside the processor architectures already supported by PikeOS. The implementation provides the same level of PikeOS features available on the other supported architectures, extending the platform's separation and virtualization approach to RISC-V-based systems.

This is particularly relevant for embedded systems with demanding requirements for isolation and mixed-criticality workloads. PikeOS enables multiple software components with different levels of criticality to execute on the same hardware while maintaining strong spatial and temporal separation.

The new RISC-V support also comes with dedicated hardware enablement. The Microchip Icicle Kit, based on a RISC-V processor, is introduced as a new PikeOS Board Support Package (BSP).

The addition of RISC-V represents an important step in broadening the hardware ecosystem available for PikeOS-based systems and gives developers an additional architecture option for future embedded platforms.

RISC-V and Linux Virtualization

The RISC-V support introduced with PikeOS 5.1.5 focuses on the PikeOS platform itself. For projects requiring Linux virtualization on RISC-V, SYSGO is extending the corresponding capabilities through ELinOS.

The upcoming ELinOS 7.2.3 service release, planned for November 2026, will include RISC-V support and address Linux virtualization requirements on the architecture.

Together, these developments extend SYSGO's platform strategy for RISC-V across both the real-time and Linux worlds.

Maintaining a certifiable Foundation

PikeOS 5.1.5 is a certifiable version, maintaining the certification level of the previous version for DO-178C DAL A and DAL B on selected ARM processors and Intel x86 processors.

This provides a stable foundation for safety-critical projects while introducing additional platform capabilities. 

For organizations developing systems subject to stringent functional safety and certification requirements, maintaining continuity of the certification baseline is an important aspect of a product update. PikeOS 5.1.5 therefore combines new hardware support with the established certification foundation of the PikeOS 5.1 product line.

More Hardware Platforms and Drivers

Beyond RISC-V, PikeOS 5.1.5 expands its hardware support with several new BSPs.

Newly supported platforms include:

• NXP Layerscape LS1028 Reference Design Board — ARMv8
• Toradex i.MX 95 Verdin Evaluation Board — ARMv8
• Microchip Icicle Kit — RISC-V

The release also introduces additional drivers:

ARM

• Block driver for uSDHC

Intel x86

• Ethernet drivers for Intel ixgbe, igc, ice and i40e controllers
• SATA driver
• NVMe driver

Additional BSPs are planned for upcoming releases, including

• NXP LX2160 Reference Design Board
• TQ-Systems TQMA8XX
• Curtiss-Wright v3-122
• AMD Versal 2
• Microchip PIC64HX

This continued expansion of BSP and driver support is important for embedded developers working across diverse processor families and hardware configurations. It allows PikeOS to serve as a common software foundation while adapting to the requirements of different target platforms.

CODEO 7.7 included

PikeOS 5.1.5 is delivered together with CODEO 7.7, the latest version of SYSGO's integrated development environment.

The integration of the updated IDE provides developers with a consistent environment for configuring, building and debugging PikeOS-based systems and complements the new platform support introduced in the release.

A broader Platform for future embedded Systems

The PikeOS 5.1.5 release combines incremental improvements with a significant architectural expansion. While the release maintains the established certification foundation and introduces additional drivers and BSPs, RISC-V support is the key new capability.

For embedded systems developers, the move opens PikeOS to another processor ecosystem while retaining its core approach to real-time execution, virtualization and strong isolation. The planned RISC-V support for ELinOS further extends this ecosystem toward Linux-based workloads.

As RISC-V continues to gain traction across embedded and high-assurance computing, PikeOS 5.1.5 provides a new path for integrating the architecture into systems that require a deterministic and partitioned software environment.