03 March 2008
LynuxWorks looks to boost security
Embedded software developer LynuxWorks has given a preview of LynxSecure 2.0, its separation kernel and embedded hypervisor set for launch later this year.
Robert Day, vp of marketing, claimed: “In the server world, everyone is using hypervisors, but they aren’t common in the embedded world.”
LynxSecure 2.0 virtualizes the underlying hardware to enable multiple different operating systems to coexist on the same platform. This makes it easier to run an array of applications on oneprocessor, reducing hardware costs and allowing for easier reuse of legacy software.
“Customers want to run Windows,” Day continued, “which is more challenging. You have to fully virtualise Windows to allow it to run on top of another OS.”
LynxSecure 2.0 will run on 32 and 64bit processors and will offer multiprocessor support. “It will allow users to take legacy applications and move them into secure environments,” Day observed.
According to the company, virtualisation does not bring a high processing burden. Steve Blackman, director of military and aerospace business development, noted: “The overhead is often less than 3%, depending on what the cpu is doing. The software can perform 60k switches per second and still use less than 5% of the host processor’s capacity.”
Potential markets beyond mil/aero are likely to include medical and automotive.
Author
Graham Pitcher
Supporting Information
Websites
http://www.lynuxworks.com
Companies
Lynuxworks Inc
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