Connectivity software for military avionics systems

Sunnyvale, California – Real-Time Innovations (RTI), the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity platform company, has introduced its transport services segment (TSS) software based on the new technical standard for Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE), Edition 2.1 (an Open Group standard). This commercially available and supported TSS 2.1 reference implementation allows avionics software developers and platform integrators to rapidly assemble best-of-breed technologies with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components that have proven safety certification credentials. These systems will reduce integration and airworthiness certification risk while facilitating reuse across both manned and unmanned systems. For example, a surveillance system built for a Navy aircraft can be used in another vehicle without requiring a rebuild from the bottom up.

 

“RTI’s COTS transport services segment software expands the range of commercial solutions for global military customers,” states Chip Downing, senior director of aerospace and defense at Wind River and chair of the FACE Business Working Group Outreach Committee. “The FACE industry partners are rapidly developing a rich ecosystem of FACE aligned components, enabling government customers a wide range of powerful and proven COTS components that can quickly deploy advanced solutions into next generation aircraft."

 

RTI’s TSS technology is built on the data distribution service (DDS) standard developed by the object management group (OMG). This includes RTI Connext DDS Cert, which is certifiable to DO-178C Design Assurance Level (DAL) A for resource-constrained applications. Additional benefits of RTI TSS include flexible communication due to the publish/subscribe paradigm, physical transport independence, and real-time quality of service (QoS). The RTI TSS is also interoperable with non-FACE DDS applications, such as those that comply with the UAS control segment (UCS) architecture. 

 

“We announced our FACE TSS two years ago and have since worked with several military organizations to enable interoperable and reusable avionics systems,” said David Barnett, VP of product and markets at RTI. “This new FACE TSS 2.1 reference implementation will drive the power of DDS into next generation systems using an open, flexible, and robust COTS communications foundation.”

 

The objective of the FACE consortium of The Open Group is to create an open architecture and business strategy that will result in the development and procurement of portable and interoperable technology products and components, which will cut costs and reduce maintenance requirements in avionics systems. The FACE technical standard leverages more than100 proven-in-service application programming interfaces (APIs) including POSIX, ARINC 653, OpenGL, and DDS. It couples these components with business models that encourage rapid innovation. These technical standards are driving a new era of COTS avionics solutions in both military and commercial markets.

 

The FACE TSS encompasses those APIs used for exchanging data between software components, for example, between a radar and display application. To ease integration, the FACE standard also specifies that exchanged data must conform to a well-defined data model with unambiguous semantics. The RTI TSS includes a compiler that generates C++ data types and the TSS API from a FACE data model, simplifying both development and integration.