Lynx Software Technologies announces LynxSecure 6.0

SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - October 25, 2017) - Arm TechCon - Lynx Software Technologies, a market leader in secure virtualization, is announcing the release of LynxSecure 6.0, the latest version of its award-winning Separation Kernel Hypervisor. This new version brings LynxSecure to the Arm® architecture for the first time, providing military-grade security coupled with highly efficient virtualization to multi-core Arm® SoC-based designs. The initial port for LynxSecure 6.0 will be available on the Xilinx® Zynq® Ultrascale+™ MPSoC, and this will be on display at the Lynx booth (#516) at Arm TechCon.

LynxSecure 6.0 adds support for the Armv8-A architecture to existing Intel x86 support, offering both the virtualization and hardware protection capabilities that allow LynxSecure to offer real-time performance while maintaining the highest levels of security. LynxSecure supports the 64-bit architecture of Armv8-A, and allows for both 32 and 64-bit virtualized guest OSes to run without modification. LynxSecure fully supports multi-core Arm SoCs by offering core-to-guest OS affinity, support for multi-core guest OSes, and core sharing across multiple guest OSes, enabling developers to take full advantage of multi-core systems.

Robert Day, vice president of marketing at Lynx, commented, "LynxSecure 6.0 brings a whole new development paradigm to Arm-based designers, allowing the mixing and matching of runtime environments on multi-core Arm-based SoCs. Developers can run safety-critical OSes and applications next to general purpose OSes on a single SoC without compromising the performance, safety or features of either, because LynxSecure 6.0 offers true security separation between these different environments and the devices that they use."

LynxSecure takes advantage of the MMU, SMMU, and virtualization capabilities found on Arm Cortex®-A processors to fully isolate OSes and applications, and allows access only to the devices allocated to them. This isolation allows for efficient security to be built into the next generation of connected devices by separating the "connected" domain from other critical computing domains and protecting the system from IT-borne threats.

"Arm has worked with Lynx to add additional protection to vehicle computing functions through virtualization features within the latest Armv8-A architecture," said Rhonda Dirvin, director of marketing programs, Embedded and Automotive Line of Business, Arm. "Optimizations for Armv8-A in LynxSecure Separation Kernel Hypervisor enable the partitioning of specific functions. Now developers can safely consolidate traditionally separate hardware systems onto one physical SoC, resulting in performance, energy efficiency and cost benefits in automotive applications."

The first SoC supported by LynxSecure 6.0 is the Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC, which contains four Cortex-A53 cores, as well as FPGA fabric. The Xilinx device was chosen for its broad market applicability, early customer interest, and the long-term relationship between Lynx and Xilinx, that made the initial port very smooth. LynxSecure's ability to run different environments of mixed criticality on the same SoC is very synergistic with Xilinx's approach of hardware separation between the FPGA fabric and the on-chip processor cores and it offers developers the most flexible approach to supporting critical computing functions.

Simon George, Director, Product Marketing -- Embedded Software at Xilinx, commented, "The combination of LynxSecure with the Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC offers designers an extremely powerful combination of leading edge hardware and software technologies. Being able to isolate critical computing functions, either in secure virtual domains or hardware fabric, gives developers in safety-critical industries the ability to build zero-compromise solutions to meet the exacting demands of their world."

Lynx will be demonstrating the LynxSecure Separation Kernel Hypervisor running on a Xilinx UltraScale+ MPSoC on booth #516 at Arm TechCon in Santa Clara from October 24th - 26th 2017. The demonstration will show a mixed criticality system, with LynxSecure running across Cortex-A53 processors, providing secure domains hosting a safety-critical RTOS next to Linux domains running general purpose computing applications. LynxSecure protects against any fault conditions or threats that manifest in the GPOS domains from compromising the applications running in the safety domain, that are still able to maintain their deterministic behaviour regardless of the performance of the rest of the system.

LynxSecure 6.0 supports both unmodified and para-virtualized guest operating systems as well as the ability to run bare-metal applications directly on LynxSecure. Initially verified operating systems include Linux (Buildroot and Xilinx Petalinux), LynxOS-178 for avionics safety-critical applications and ETAS RTA-OS for automotive Autosar applications.

About LynxSecure

The LynxSecure Separation Kernel hypervisor brings unique protection characteristics to intelligent devices, gateways, and cloud infrastructure. It combines military-grade security with hard real-time scheduling, offering unique differentiation against traditional virtualization solutions. The separation kernel and "Type-0" hypervisor is an award-winning bare-metal architecture, designed from the ground up, that differentiates from type 1 hypervisors by removing the un-needed functionality from the "security sensitive" hypervisor mode, yet virtualizes guest OSes in a tiny stand-alone package. LynxSecure provides an independent runtime environment and libraries to build high assurance LynxSecure Applications (LSAs) that run directly on the CPU cores without relying on the assistance of a guest operating system. LSAs are extremely useful for computing environments that require assurance that application logic is correct. By removing the complex dependencies on an operating system, verifying correctness of these high assurance applications becomes drastically simpler.

About Lynx Software Technologies

Through precision engineering, Lynx Software Technologies develops advanced kernel technology that empowers innovative companies to create the safest, most secure systems in the world. Lynx is committed to providing the highest levels of safety and security in its Virtualization and RTOS products. The latest product in the portfolio, the award-winning LynxSecure offers a secure separation kernel and embedded hypervisor that forms a platform for the development of highly secure systems. Since it was established in 1988, Lynx Software Technologies has created technology that has been successfully deployed in thousands of designs and millions of products made by leading automotive, communications, avionics, aerospace, medical, and transportation companies. Lynx is a member in the Xilinx Alliance Program. Lynx headquarters are located in San Jose, CA. For more information, visit www.lynx.com

Lynx Software Technologies is a trademark and LynxOS is a registered trademark of Lynx Software Technologies, Inc. Other brand or product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of the respective holders.