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QNX Software Systems Pursues SIL 3 Certification for Safety-Critical Systems

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  • QNX to seek IEC 61508 Safety Integrity Level 3 certification for QNX Neutrino RTOS.

  • Certification will validate that the QNX Neutrino RTOS meets an extremely high level of risk reduction.

  • Certification will help users of QNX Neutrino RTOS achieve application-level certification with less time and effort.

  • OTTAWA, September 22, 2009 QNX Software Systems today announced that it is pursuing IEC 61508 Safety Integrity Level 3 (SIL 3) certification for the QNX® Neutrino® RTOS, a fault-tolerant, high-performance operating system deployed in millions of mission-critical systems worldwide.

    SIL certification levels are defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61508 standard; the higher the SIL level, the lower the risk of failure. SIL 3 is considered the highest level of risk reduction achievable on a single programmable electronic system.

    IEC 61508 is well established in the industrial process control and automation space, and is becoming increasingly important in automotive, heavy machinery, mining, nuclear, and other applications.

    The QNX Neutrino RTOS is designed to meet the most demanding reliability and performance requirements. Its microkernel architecture incorporates only a small core of fundamental services in a well-tested kernel; all other components — device drivers, file systems, networking stacks, user applications — run outside the kernel as separate, memory-protected processes. This architecture provides an inherent degree of reliability and fault-tolerance to user applications and serves as a solid foundation for the SIL 3 certification.

    QNX Software Systems is deeply committed to pursuing standards and certifications for customers in markets such as industrial automation and medical instrumentation. To date, the company has achieved certification to Common Criteria EAL 4+, POSIX PSE52 Realtime Controller 1003.13-2003, OpenGL ES, and ISO 9001:2000. SIL 3 certification represents the latest QNX initiative to provide customers with standards-based, certified products that reduce costs, improve time to market, and maximize reusability of software assets.

    “Demand for the QNX Neutrino RTOS is high in mission-critical applications for the industrial automation, networking, and automotive markets. With SIL 3 certification we are further confirming our commitment to customers who need to achieve very high levels of reliability and risk reduction,” said Yi Zheng, product manager, QNX Software Systems.

    About QNX Software Systems
    QNX Software Systems, a Harman International company (NYSE: HAR), is the industry leader in realtime, embedded OS technology. The component-based architectures of the QNX® Neutrino® RTOS, QNX Momentics® Tool Suite, and QNX Aviage® middleware together provide the industry’s most reliable and scalable framework for building innovative, high-performance embedded systems. Global leaders such as Cisco, Daimler, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, and Siemens depend on QNX technology for network routers, medical instruments, vehicle telematics units, security and defense systems, industrial robotics, and other mission- or life-critical applications. Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, and distributes products in over 100 countries worldwide.

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    Editorial Contacts

    Jennifer Barlow or Bill Keeler
    Schwartz Communications
    +1 781 684-0770
    qnx@schwartz-pr.com


    Paul Leroux
    QNX Software Systems
    +1 613 591-0931
    paull@qnx.com

    QNX, Aviage, Momentics, and Neutrino are trademarks of QNX Software Systems GmbH & Co. KG, registered in certain jurisdictions, and are used under license. All other trademarks and trade names belong to their respective owners.