Real-Time OS for Rail Systems

Streamline safety certification and improve reliability with BlackBerry QNX.

QNX Embedded OS for Rail

Rail control, maintenance, signalling and management systems must run reliably for decades. Software running on them must be real-time, functionally safe and resilient to cyberattacks, especially given the growing number of complex and connected smart rail systems.  

The right real-time OS (RTOS) or embedded hypervisor can simplify development and reduce costs. BlackBerry® QNX® offers a broad range of safety-certified and hardware-independent solutions for all types of railway systems (ATP, TIMS, PTC, TCMS, communication and more) and we can help streamline certification efforts.

Trusted Solutions for Rail Systems

Trusted Solutions for Rail Systems
BlackBerry QNX software solutions can be used for a wide variety of rail management systems and subsystems.

What You Need

  • ACCELERATE CERTIFICATION
  • ENSURE RELIABILITY
  • EASILY PORT FROM LINUX
  • REDUCE COSTS
  • STRENGTHEN CYBERSECURITY

ACCELERATE CERTIFICATION

Next-gen train control and automation (ATP, PTC, ETCS) and railway management systems are complex and critical, and safety certifying them can be difficult—especially if you use an open source OS such as Linux®. Using a pre-certified OS or hypervisor can significantly simplify your development and accelerate certification while enabling the real-time performance you need.

Pre-certified foundational software lowers your risk and reduces the time and effort needed to safety-certify your systems. QNX® OS for Safety is pre-certified for use in railway applications requiring IEC 61508 SIL 3, EN 50128 SIL 4, and EN 50657 SIL 4.

ENSURE RELIABILITY

Highly reliable, robust software systems for rail require a fail-proof foundation that can be maintained for decades. They must boot quickly, run deterministically, contain functional safety and cybersecurity protections—and never crash. With an open-source or monolithic OS, configuration, scheduling and prioritization are not easy, and a problem with a service or component can crash the whole system as all OS services run in the kernel space.

The QNX microkernel OS architecture provides the temporal and spatial isolation needed to ensure system reliability. It is the foundation for QNX® OS 8.0 as well as the QNX® Hypervisor that can consolidate diverse and mixed-criticality systems on a single system on a chip (SoC).

EASILY PORT FROM LINUX

While Linux is popular for prototypes, certifying a safety-critical production system built with Linux is nearly impossible. All BlackBerry QNX products are POSIX-compliant, so you can easily port to a QNX OS at any point in your software development lifecycle.

The QNX® Software Development Platform looks and feels like Linux and uses the familiar Eclipse development environment, including the GNU compiler collection. For infrastructure systems with a mix of old and new software, the QNX Hypervisor allows you to run diverse OSs on a single SoC. BlackBerry QNX also offers board support packages (BSPs) and engineering services to further streamline development.

REDUCE COSTS

With long-lived railway management systems, software is a major cost factor. Although an open-source OS or hypervisor may be “free,” maintaining them can monopolize the time of your developers with updates, feature implementations, testing, configuration and quality assurance. The right OS can reduce that burden—especially if you choose BlackBerry QNX, a provider of reliable embedded OS for over 40 years.

We provide product support, manage OS maintenance and ensure all security and other updates are extensively tested. Our unique microkernel architecture also lets you share drivers and applications across systems because they are not bound to the kernel.

STRENGTHEN CYBERSECURITY

All types of railway management systems (control, signalling, traffic, maintenance, operations) are increasingly integrated and connected—and at risk of being targeted by cyberattacks. A cybersecurity breach could cause mayhem and put workers, passengers and the public at risk.

The unique microkernel architecture of QNX OS 8.0 provides a layered approach to cybersecurity. With more than 70 options to restrict processes and root-level access removed by default, security controls won’t hamper system functionality or performance. Additionally, the secure QNX Over the Air solution, managed PKI authentication, FIPS-certified encryption with BlackBerry® Certicom® and our cybersecurity services can help you build a secure system.

What You Need

  • ACCELERATE CERTIFICATION

    ACCELERATE CERTIFICATION

    Next-gen train control and automation (ATP, PTC, ETCS) and railway management systems are complex and critical, and safety certifying them can be difficult—especially if you use an open source OS such as Linux®. Using a pre-certified OS or hypervisor can significantly simplify your development and accelerate certification while enabling the real-time performance you need.

    Pre-certified foundational software lowers your risk and reduces the time and effort needed to safety-certify your systems. QNX® OS for Safety is pre-certified for use in railway applications requiring IEC 61508 SIL 3, EN 50128 SIL 4, and EN 50657 SIL 4.

  • ENSURE RELIABILITY

    ENSURE RELIABILITY

    Highly reliable, robust software systems for rail require a fail-proof foundation that can be maintained for decades. They must boot quickly, run deterministically, contain functional safety and cybersecurity protections—and never crash. With an open-source or monolithic OS, configuration, scheduling and prioritization are not easy, and a problem with a service or component can crash the whole system as all OS services run in the kernel space.

    The QNX microkernel OS architecture provides the temporal and spatial isolation needed to ensure system reliability. It is the foundation for QNX® OS 8.0 as well as the QNX® Hypervisor that can consolidate diverse and mixed-criticality systems on a single system on a chip (SoC).

  • EASILY PORT FROM LINUX

    EASILY PORT FROM LINUX

    While Linux is popular for prototypes, certifying a safety-critical production system built with Linux is nearly impossible. All BlackBerry QNX products are POSIX-compliant, so you can easily port to a QNX OS at any point in your software development lifecycle.

    The QNX® Software Development Platform looks and feels like Linux and uses the familiar Eclipse development environment, including the GNU compiler collection. For infrastructure systems with a mix of old and new software, the QNX Hypervisor allows you to run diverse OSs on a single SoC. BlackBerry QNX also offers board support packages (BSPs) and engineering services to further streamline development.

  • REDUCE COSTS

    REDUCE COSTS

    With long-lived railway management systems, software is a major cost factor. Although an open-source OS or hypervisor may be “free,” maintaining them can monopolize the time of your developers with updates, feature implementations, testing, configuration and quality assurance. The right OS can reduce that burden—especially if you choose BlackBerry QNX, a provider of reliable embedded OS for over 40 years.

    We provide product support, manage OS maintenance and ensure all security and other updates are extensively tested. Our unique microkernel architecture also lets you share drivers and applications across systems because they are not bound to the kernel.

  • STRENGTHEN CYBERSECURITY

    STRENGTHEN CYBERSECURITY

    All types of railway management systems (control, signalling, traffic, maintenance, operations) are increasingly integrated and connected—and at risk of being targeted by cyberattacks. A cybersecurity breach could cause mayhem and put workers, passengers and the public at risk.

    The unique microkernel architecture of QNX OS 8.0 provides a layered approach to cybersecurity. With more than 70 options to restrict processes and root-level access removed by default, security controls won’t hamper system functionality or performance. Additionally, the secure QNX Over the Air solution, managed PKI authentication, FIPS-certified encryption with BlackBerry® Certicom® and our cybersecurity services can help you build a secure system.

Meet with BlackBerry QNX Functional Safety Experts about Your Next Certification or Safety-Critical Project.

Related Products

QNX OS for Safety

Pre-certified to IEC 61508 SIL 3, EN 50128 SIL 4, and EN 50657 SIL 4, QNX OS for Safety is a POSIX-compliant RTOS for building safety-critical systems.

QNX Hypervisor for Safety

Enable multiple OSs to safely co-exist on the same SoC with QNX® Hypervisor for Safety, which is pre-certified to IEC 61508 SIL 3.

BlackBerry QNX Professional Services

With deep expertise in functional safety and cybersecurity, BlackBerry QNX helps you build safe and secure rail systems.

Technical Resources

Structural Dependency
Try the QNX® Software Development Platform for free with our 30-day evaluation license.
TRY NOW
Structural Dependency
Software certified to the most stringent functional safety standards.
Learn More
Structural Dependency
View our extensive library of BSPs for a broad selection of ARM and x86 boards.
LEARN MORE