Multi-core processors (MCPs) have become increasingly prevalent in aerospace and defense technology. While System designers favor mCPs due to their ability to increase computing power without significantly impacting size, weight, and power (SWaP), the challenge lies in ensuring their reliability for certifiable, safety-critical avionics applications.
Organizations such as EASA and the FAA are becoming increasingly aware of the challenges posed by MCPs, hindering the certification process for MCP-based systems. To that end, the Certification Authority Software Team (CAST), which is made up of certification authorities from North and South America, Europe, and Asia, has published a position paper on MCP-based systems called CAST-32A, identifying specific topics that need to be addressed by any MCP-based system design. It details how planning, testing, verification, and reporting are essential parts of this process and fundamental to dealing with challenges inherent in MCP-based systems. This is where choosing the right real-time operating system (RTOS) can be the key to overcoming these challenges, allowing system designers to achieve the most out of their avionics system.
Download the white paper to learn more about the certifiability challenges MCPs face and practices to assure the safe performance of MCP-based systems including:
- CAST-32A guidance on multi-core challenges
- How DDC-I’s Deos RTOS enables multi-core environments in safety-critical applications
- Multi-core hardware foundations for Deos