| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Embedded Software |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | San Jose, California |
| Key people | Gurjot Singh, CEO, Inder Singh, Chairman |
| Products | Operating Systems, tools |
| Website | www.lynuxworks.com |
LynuxWorks, Inc. is a San Jose, California software company founded in 1988. LynuxWorks produces embedded operating systems and tools for using full virtualization and paravirtualization 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 background.
LynuxWorks operating systems are used especially in the military and avionics domains. In 1989, LynxOS, the company's flagship real-time operating system, was selected for use in the NASA/IBM Space Station Freedom project.[1] LynuxWorks operating systems are also used in medical, industrial and communications systems around the world.[2].
LynuxWorks is privately held. In 2000, the company filed a registration statement for Initial Public Offering,[3] but later withdrew those plans due to unfavourable economic conditions.[4]
LynxOS, 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 Embedded Hypervisor ("bare metal," type 1) and separation kernel, released in 2005, makes full virtualization and paravirtualization 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.
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, a specialized version of LynxOS geared toward avionics applications that require certification to industry standards such as DO-178B. 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.
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.[5]
The USENET newsgroup comp.os.lynx, established in 1993, serves as an unmoderated forum for general discussion of LynxOS and LynuxWorks.