Not all real-time operating systems are created equal or for same purposes. Based on applications, they can vary in terms of safety, specifications, and other factors. In general, you can categorize real-time operating systems into two categories, namely, Safety Critical RTOS and Commercial RTOS.
What is a Safety Critical RTOS?
A safety critical RTOS is a real time operating system that is especially designed to adhere with a specific set of safety critical design standards. By ensuring compliance to these standards, this RTOS guarantees performance and is highly robust and deterministic. Hence, this RTOS is most suitable for a wide range of industries where failure can result in harm to people, e.g.
- Medical (IEC 62304)
- Automotive (ISO 26262)
- Industrial applications (IEC 61508)
- Aerospace (DO-178C)
What do safety design standards mean?
The Safety Design Standards are there to ensure a consistent and high level of confidence in systems that implement safety critical functionality in various markets. These design standards encompass everything related to system, hardware, design, software, and verification and also cover integration and usage issues.
These standards vary from one market sector to other as each market sector has their own specific standards. However, for specific market sectors, the underlying principles of software design and verification is not much different. Still, the domain specific standards that include processes and procedures to manage the unique system level risks that prevail in the sector.
Therefore, these safety standards are dependent on the industry. But they are typically based on the standard IEC 61508. This standard is a general industrial safety standard that supports the design, development, and operation of electrical, electronic, and programmable electronic systems.
Since Safety Critical RTOS is built based on safety critical standards, it has become a vital component of most high-integrity software architectures.
How is safety critical RTOS different from commercial RTOS?
The main difference between safety critical RTOS and commercial RTOS is the inclusion of safety requirements in the former type. Since the functional requirements remain the same, the operation and the API are similar but the design and the code are completely redesigned to meet safety requirements. The adherence to the relevant safety standard is ensured to minimize or eliminate the chance of malfunction or delay when executing tasks.
What are the benefits of Safety Critical RTOS?
With the ever-increasing regulations and certification bodies that accept systems made of pre-certified blocks, the demand for safety critical RTOS is also increasing. Some of the key benefits of using safety critical RTOS are:
- Greater determinism
- Higher robustness
- Spatial separation of tasks
- Tailor-made for your specific compiler and processor
- Safety assurance
Do you need guidance on which type of RTOS is beneficial for your application? Or, do need assistance in choosing the best RTOS? Whatever your question is, you can get answers to all your questions and receive full guidance with the help of an RTX consulting firm.
