Safely isolates RTOS and general purpose OS using Arm TrustZone Technology

Mixed-Critical Systems using eMCOS on VOSySmonitor
Advanced Isolation and Efficient CPU Time Utilization for Mixed-Critical Systems*1 Compared to Traditional Type-1 Hypervisor


Overview

eSOL's POSIX-compliant scalable real-time operating system (RTOS) eMCOS® POSIX supports VOSySmonitor, a certified Arm TrustZone based virtualization layer developed by Virtual Open Systems, for protecting applications with special attention to safety and security.

It enables consolidation of generic OSes, such as Linux, to be co-executed with the RTOS on Arm-based multi-core platforms using Arm TrustZone technology, while ensuring strong isolation for mixed-critical system applications with different security and safety levels.

Generic OSes get to execute during the time when eMCOS POSIX is idle. This technique enables a full and efficient usage of CPU resources on multi-core systems with either heterogeneous or homogeneous hardware configurations.

Related materials
■ Movie: Presents a mixed-critical automotive IVI, instrument cluster demonstration using eMCOS POSIX on VOSySmonitor
Presents a mixed-critical automotive IVI, Instrument cluster demonstration using eMCOS POSIX on VOSySmonitor

■ Flyer: Multi-OSes and Isolation solution (eMCOS on VOSySmonitor)
Multi-OS and separation solution (eMCOS on VOSySmonitor)


Target fields

This solution provides high level security and reliability to mixed-critical systems with different security requirements in one system.

  • Automobiles and other next-generation mobility systems
  • Electric power and other energy platforms
  • IoT edge devices
  • Industrial equipment


Features

Coexistence of RTOS and general purpose OS

  • Allows running of applications with rich libraries on the general purpose OS while performing
    safety-critical processes on the RTOS
  • eMCOS POSIX (RTOS) has higher priority over general purpose OS, and ensures freedom from interference from the general purpose OS
  • When eMCOS POSIX becomes idle, general-purpose OS can get to execute so as to utilize
    the free CPU time efficiently
  • Low software overhead with Arm TrustZone technology
  • Inter-OS communication service via shared memory allows applications running on each OS
    to operate in coordination

*1 Mixed-critical systems: Systems that include functions with different criticality (reliability and safety requirements)