1 Real-Time & Embedded Systems Forum 2002 2 Version 1.0 3 October 2001 4 1. Vision 5 The vision of the Real-time and Embedded Systems 6 to grow the marketplace for standardized 7 real-time and embedded systems, through the 8 deployments of standards and associated 9 certification programs. 10 2. Goals 11 The goals of the Real-Time and Embedded Systems 12 Forum are: 13 * To be the "single place" for real-time and 14 embedded systems practitioners to come 15 together for information exchange 16 * To act as an independent broker to integrate 17 and bring together related Real-Time and 18 Embedded Systems activities 19 * To develop a series of White Papers 20 identifying the specific needs of Real-Time 21 and Embedded Systems 22 * To identify priorities for standardization 23 * To develop test and certification programs to 24 enable the proliferation of standardized 25 real-time and embedded systems. 26 3. Market Rationale 27 The opportunity of this forum is to prove that 28 real world standardized products exist through 29 both certification and testing, and not just shelf 30 ware standards and specifications. 31 Companies and organizations who benefit from the 32 activities of the Forum include both vendors and 33 users of Real-time and Embedded systems. 34 Industry sectors addressed by the forum include: 35 * aerospace/defense 36 * telecommunication 37 * manufacturing 38 * automotive 39 * industrial controls 40 * medical/scientific research 41 3.1 Market Environment 42 The Open Group position is one of a vendor neutral 43 party bringing customers, users and suppliers 44 together, integrating various standards 45 initiatives and adding value in the area of 46 testing and certification. 47 The objective is to involve all organizations 48 concerned with the production and integration of 49 real-time operating systems and embedded devices 50 The Open Group provides a forum to evolve and 51 converge relevant industry standardization 52 initiatives, to ensure a robust and coherent set 53 of open standards and to enable the certification 54 of supplier's products 55 The Open Group differentiator is an approach that 56 leads to a market preference for products that are 57 certified to conform to open standards. 58 4. Strategy 59 4.1 Positioning 60 4.1.1 Relationship to other forums of The Open Group 61 This activity closely aligns within our Platform 62 activities. The POSIX specifications and their 63 associated test and certification programs overlap 64 with the Base Program. This forum creates subsets 65 of the interfaces in the form of profile 66 specifications for smaller footprint embedded 67 devices. 68 There is joint work with the Security Forum on the 69 definition of security requirements for real-time 70 and embedded systems and the development of a 71 high-level API technical standard. 72 Cross forum activities are occurring with the 73 Quality of Service Task Force. 74 4.1.2 Relationship to other bodies outside of The Open 75 Group 76 The Real-time and Embedded Systems has established 77 liaisons with IEEE PASC, OMG, NCITS R1, the J 78 Consortium, the UDI Consortium, PCSRF and the SAE. 79 5. Technical Strategy 80 The role of members of the Real-time and Embedded 81 Systems Forum is: 82 * to provide a forum to bring practitioners in 83 Real-time and Embedded Systems together to 84 accelerate development of standardized 85 systems through development of testing and 86 certification programs. 87 Planned activities of the Forum include: 88 * The development of certification programs 89 (and the initiation of the necessary test 90 suite development) for POSIX real-time 91 profiles 92 * The development of white papers addressing 93 o POSIX real-time conformance 94 o Security requirements in real-time & 95 embedded systems 96 * The development of a high level security API 97 technical standard, meeting the needs of 98 real-time & embedded systems. (This is a 99 joint activity with The Open Group Security 100 Forum). 101 * The development of a recommended set of 102 products and services to be provided by 103 software vendors for products (such as RT 104 operating systems) intended for use in 105 safety-critical domains. 106 * Continuing review of issues leading to new 107 work items (e.g. safety critical systems, 108 hard real-time behavior for Java). 109 6. Certification Strategy 110 The Real-time and Embedded Systems Forum is 111 complimentary to existing certification and 112 testing activities within the platform area, yet 113 focused more specifically at the Real-time and 114 embedded systems. 115 We aim to establish a set of test and 116 certification programs for Real-time and Embedded 117 Systems. 118 * The initial program has developed test suites 119 for the POSIX Real-time amendments 120 (1003.1d,1j,1q) with deliverables made in 121 3Q2000. 122 * Phase two test development is adding tests 123 for the POSIX 1003.13b profiles. The US DoD 124 funds this activity. It is anticipated that 125 we will create new product standards and an 126 associated certification program around 127 these. 128 Other areas where we hope to establish further 129 programs are for Real-time Java, and possibly for 130 embedded Linux. We also are investigating the 131 criteria used by both system integrators and 132 certification authorities for safety-critical 133 software, to see if it is possible to establish a 134 program to pre-certify software for use in 135 safety-critical situations. 136 7. Roadmap 137 Building on 2001 achievements. the planned 138 deliverables for 2002 are as follows. 139 * Test suites for POSIX 1003.13b Profiles 51 140 and 53 141 * Certification program for POSIX Real-time 142 profiles 143 * Specification of Security for Real-time and 144 Embedded Systems 145 * White Papers 146 o Security for Real-time and Embedded 147 Systems 148 o Standardized security for Safety 149 Critical Applications 150 o White Paper on products and services 151 that should be provided by RT OS vendors 152 targeting safety-critical applications. 153 Initially, this White Paper will address 154 the Avionics/DO-178b domain. 155 * Another test and certification program 156 (possibly security for Real-Time and Embedded 157 Systems) 158 * Additional real-time interest groups (Hard 159 Real-Time Java; Critical Infrastructure 160 Real-Time Applications) 161 Initial deliverables for the Real-time and 162 Embedded Systems Forum are on two parallel 163 tracks: 164 * Test and certification, where the POSIX 165 Real-time profiles work is ongoing and we 166 have prospects for Real-time Java and 167 Embedded Linux. 168 * Working groups are working on white papers, 169 on Security for Real-Time and Embedded 170 Systems and Standard Procedures for Safety 171 Critical Applications. Another possible 172 topics is Real-time Patterns. A longer term 173 aim is to produce a guidebook to Real-time 174 and Embedded Systems.