Professional Articles

Viele Jahre lang wurden Embedded Linux-Systeme überwiegend in vernetzten Umgebungen eingesetzt. Diese Systeme haben lange Zeit gut funktioniert - getreu dem Motto "Never touch a running system". Dies führt jedoch unweigerlich zu Sicherheitsproblemen und geht damit einher, dass laut dem aktuellen Cyber Security Report [1] von Allensbach und Deloitte die Verantwortlichen eine wachsende Bedrohungslage in ihren IT-Infrastrukturen sehen.

Eingebettete Systeme sind in vielen elektronischen Geräten…

The certification of the functional safety of a system is complex. All the manufacturers involved have to contribute to comply with standards - from the hardware with its BSPs and drivers, through the hypervisor and operating system, to the application code of the OEM and third-party supplier. The operating system, which is optimized specifically for the hardware, and the hypervisor used in mixed-critical systems have a key function here - lying between the hardware and the application. If this…

Information security is one of the most important topics of our time. One thing is certain: There will always be attackers who try to exploit gaps in software to abuse it. We are currently experiencing a rapid increase in the number of cyberattacks. Malicious actors – generally professionalized criminals or state attackers – are out to obtain confidential information, gain access to systems in order to control them, or damage them to such an extent that they are no longer operational.

Hybrid system-on-chips increasingly integrate heterogeneous processors. However, developers see them as one component that they want to develop as integrated as possible. A homogeneous RTOS and hypervisor ecosystem for both MPU- and MMU-supported processors provides the critical convenience gain.

When developing embedded systems that are to be real-time capable, one of the first and most important questions is whether the applications should run under a real-time operating system (RTOS) or whether a bare-metal solution should be developed. Bare-metal programming is generally understood to mean that an application is written directly on the hardware without using an external programming interface, i.e. an operating system. Applications access here directly hardware registers of…

While the EN standards 50128, 50129, 50126 and most recently EN 50657 have a strong focus on safety certification of COTS-based systems in the railway industry, they only partly deal with security issues. However, security is becoming more and more important, as closed systems are giving way to networked environments with wired and wireless connectivity. Safety-related systems in trains and signalling need to be protected from cyber threats in order to guarantee both integrity and availability.…

Development of certifiable systems and software for European Space Applications requires strict adherence to the ECSS standards. ECSS - the European Cooperation for Space Standardization - is a cooperation of the European Space Agency (ESA), national space agencies and the European Industry Association Eurospace with the aim of developing and maintaining coherent, commercially oriented and user-friendly standards for space applications. The main intention is to improve the performance and…

Linux makes valuable contributions as a component of medical devices. Due to a large user base, security gaps are quickly detected and thus also closed. Of course, it also plays a role at this point that a professional team takes care of the maintenance of a Linux integration in medical devices and that the system is also regularly maintained. An optimal combination of a core development team and the use of open source can bring great advances in medical technology. The biggest advantage of…

When people think of satellite-based GPS, they envision a high-tech satellite navigation system that can pinpoint locations worldwide to within a few meters. But global navigation systems (GNSS) such as the American GPS or the European Galileo struggle with many environmental interferences. So-called satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) improve the performance of these navigation systems by correcting their data. From 2022, the Korean peninsula will also benefit from the PikeOS-based SBAS…

The electronic systems such as the anti-lock braking system inside a modern car are able to take control of critical systems such as the steering and braking gears. This significantly increases functional safety during vehicle operation, but at the same time also creates the risk of unauthorized access. Consequently, the functional safety of a vehicle must be supported by IT security measures. Real-time applications require deterministic response times, which can only be achieved with the help…

The continuing technological advancement that is enabling decreasing costs and greater compactness of devices make it possible to connect and control more physical elements in the industrial environment today. This is enabling industrial engineers to monitor processes with greater accuracy and drive OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness). At the same time separate operational technology (OT) systems are merging with enterprise IT infrastructure. However, this greater connectivity also brings more…

The ISO 26262 safety standard is a specialization of the general IEC 61508 functional safety standard and defines generic (software) applications and generic (hardware) products that can receive independent certification for automotive applications. When building a complex safety system, such commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products can be reused, including their existing certification artifacts. With this approach, safety-related electronics can be assembled from pre-certified software and…

With the increasing use of networked digital technologies in safety-critical areas of railway operations, the requirements for cyber security, which must be considered together with functional safety, are growing. In the HASELNUSS project, a safety platform is being developed that allows the joint operation of safety and security applications on one system.

For many years, embedded Linux systems have been used predominantly in networked environments. These systems worked well for a long time - true to the motto "Never touch a running system". However, this inevitably leads to security problems and is accompanied by the fact that, according to the latest Cyber Security Report by Allensbach and Deloitte, managers see a growing threat situation in their IT infrastructures. Embedded systems can be found in many electronic devices - from specialized…

In Multi-Core-Systemen ist kaum vorhersagbar, wie sich die Kerne gegenseitig beeinflussen, wenn auf gemeinsame Ressourcen zugegriffen wird. Bisher wurde sicherheitshalber das gesamte System gesperrt, solange kritische Codesegmente ausgeführt werden. Aber das muss nicht sein, denn das geht auf Kosten des Echtzeitverhaltens.