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Chris Ault cault@qnx.com		Total cost of ownership Linux vs. QNX - Part3 The Linux OS provides for open access to its source code. This has led some to choose Linux as a viable development platform, on the perceived basis that its cost is less than commercial alternatives. To examine this, we present a three-part whitepaper series that closely examines the total cost of ownership of Linux and how that compares to a commercial off-the-shelf realtime operating system like QNX. In Part 3 we examine the challenges of certifying a Linux-based system. Read More... February 2016		Download

Chris Ault cault@qnx.com		Total cost of ownership Linux vs. QNX - Part 2 The Linux OS provides for open access to its source code. This has led some to choose Linux as a viable development platform, on the perceived basis that its cost is less than commercial alternatives. To examine this, we present a three-part whitepaper series that closely examines the total cost of ownership of Linux and how that compares to a commercial off-the-shelf realtime operating system like QNX. In Part 2 we examine the costs of maintaining Linux. Read More... February 2016		Download

Chris Ault cault@qnx.com		Total cost of ownership Linux vs. QNX - Part1 The Linux OS provides for open access to its source code. This has led some to choose Linux as a viable development platform, on the perceived basis that its cost is less than commercial alternatives. To examine this, we present a three-part whitepaper series that closely examines the total cost of ownership of Linux and how that compares to a commercial off-the-shelf realtime operating system like QNX. In Part 1 we examine upfront costs, selecting the right version, and time to market. Read More... January 2016		Download

Chris Hobbs chobbs@qnx.com		The Dangers of Over-Engineering a Safe System Attempts to increase dependability of a specific component without considering the question of overall system dependability may lead to the introduction of new problems. We examine the effect on dependability of adding software error detection to a 2oo2 system, consider the benefits and adverse consequences of this addition, and suggest other approaches to improving dependability. Read More... April 2013		Download

Yi Zheng yzheng@qnx.com Chris Hobbs chobbs@qnx.com		Ten Truths about Building Safe Embedded Software Systems Obtaining safety certifications and approvals for safety-related systems and the larger systems, devices, components, machinery, and vehicles in which they reside is an arduous and costly undertaking. If the projects developing these systems are to be successful, manufacturers must look beyond the strictly technical challenges, and focus also on the environment and culture needed to develop safe software systems. Read More... December 2012		Download

Chris Ault cault@qnx.com Mark Pitchford mark.pitchford@ldra.com		Using Dynamic Software Analysis to Support Medical Device Approval Two key challenges facing medical device software manufacurer are a) demonstrating safety and b) obtaining approval by regulatory agencies. In this paper we look at how dynamic code analysis can support demonstrations of compliance with safety requirements, and key capabilities to look for in dynamic analysis tools. We conclude with tables mapping development activities with requirements in the IEC 62304 standard, and a short description of important OS characteristics. Read More... November 2012		Download

Chris Hobbs chobbs@qnx.com		Which OS for IEC 62304 Medical Systems? This paper is for anyone who must select an OS for a safety-critical medical system. It provides information to help with estimates of the real cost of choosing a Linux or QNX OS. It lists requirements identified by standards such as IEC 62304, ISO 14971 and IEC 61508, and offers comparative estimates of the effort required to meet these requirements. These estimates are for initial certification and pre-approval, subsequent re-certifications following OS upgrades, and ongoing costs. Read More... August 2012		Download

Chris Hobbs chobbs@qnx.com		Clear SOUP and COTS Software for Medical Device Development Medical device manufacturers may be reluctant to use COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf) because it implies SOUP (software of uncertain provenance), and thus may compromise device safety and pre-market approval by regulatory agencies. If we make the distinction between opaque SOUP and clear SOUP, that is, SOUP for which source code, fault histories and long in-use histories are available, we will find that COTS software may be the optimal choice for many safety-related medical devices. Read More... September 2011		Download

Rick Pitz sales@certicom.com Yi Zheng yzheng@qnx.com		Meeting Security Certification Requirements with Certicom and QNX To reduce the complexity and costs of its expanding networking and security needs, the U.S. federal government has published Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules. In this paper we describe how the QNX Neutrino RTOS and the Certicom Security Builder Government Security Edition (GSE) cryptographic library can help ease the burden of building and delivering FIPS 140-2 compliant software. Read More... July 2011		Download

Justin Moon jmoon@qnx.com Ben VandenBelt bvandenbelt@qnx.com		Persistent Publish/Subscribe Messaging in Medical Devices Many medical devices must bring together a disparate array of hardware and software components, as well as support a sophisticated, multi-layered Human-Machine Interface (HMI). Persistent Publish/Subscribe (PPS) messaging offers versatile, easy-to-use and reliable messaging that simplifies system design and facilitates HMI implementation. Read More... May 2011		Download

Justin Moon jmoon@qnx.com Somu Vadali svadali@qnx.com		Choosing an RTOS for Remote-care Medical Devices Three trends are driving a dramatic increase in the number and diversity of remote-care medical devices entering the market: aging populations in industrialized countries, pressures to reduce health care costs, and a new focus on primary and secondary care. This paper is about choosing an embedded OS for remote-care medical devices. It provides a high-level “shopping list” of requirements that device manufacturers can use to evaluate OSs they are considering. Read More... April 2011		Download

Chris Hobbs chobbs@qnx.com		Building Functional Safety into Complex Software Systems, Part II Proofs that software systems meet standards for functional safety have depended on exhaustive testing. This method is inadequate for today’s multi-threaded systems, whose complexity precludes their being treated as deterministic systems in practice. In Part II of this whitepaper series, we propose how a combination of procedural rigor, statistical testing, and design verification can be used to increase confidence in the functional safety of complex software systems. Read More... March 2011		Download

Chris Hobbs chobbs@qnx.com		Building Functional Safety into Complex Software Systems, Part I Proofs that software systems meet standards for functional safety have depended on exhaustive testing. This method is inadequate for today’s multi-threaded systems, whose complexity precludes their being treated as deterministic systems in practice. In Part I of this whitepaper series we discuss the limits of testing of complex software systems, and some factors that should be weighed when deciding how to build complex software systems that must meet functional safety standards. Read More... January 2011		Download

Shree Paranjpe sparanjpe@qnx.com Scott Pennock spennock@qnx.com Phil Hetherington phetherington@qnx.com		Acoustic Echo Cancellation for Wideband Audio Speech processing is transitioning to wider bandwidths. Benefits include increased intelligibility and comprehension, and a better communication experience. High quality, full-duplex Acoustic Echo Cancellation is an integral component of a hands-free speakerphone system. The challenge is to develop a robust Acoustic Echo Canceller that processes full-band audio signals while maintaining low computational complexity and reasonable memory consumption for an affordable telepresence experience. Read More... December 2010		Download

Chris Hobbs chobbs@qnx.com		Using an IEC 61508-Certified RTOS Kernel for Safety-Critical Systems This whitepaper presents the characteristics of a safe kernel,and briefly describes the QNX® Neutrino® RTOS Safe Kernel, which has been certified to conform to IEC 61508 at Safety Integrity Level 3. The paper then describes some important support requirements for developing applications with safe kernels: a comprehensive tool suite, documentation and training. Read More... September 2010		Download

Scott Pennock spennock@qnx.com Phil Hetherington phetherington@qnx.com		Wideband Speech Communications for Automotive: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Wideband (50-7000 Hz) speech communications brings improvements over traditional narrowband (300-3400 Hz) communications: it can increase intelligibility, reduce driver distraction, enable spatial auditory displays, and more. Unfortunately, wideband communications also has some drawbacks. This paper reviews some of the main benefits, challenges and unresolved issues with wideband speech communications in an automotive environment. Read More... July 2010		Download

Shiv Nagarajan shiv@qnx.com		Processor Affinity or Bound Multiprocessing: Easing the Migration to Embedded Multicore Processing Migrating systems designed for single core processors to multicore environments is still a challenge. Bound multiprocessing (BMP) can help with these migrations. It improves SMP processor affinity. It allows developers to bind all threads (including dynamically created threads) in a process or even a subsystem to a specific processor without code changes. Read More... June 2010		Download

Chris Hobbs chobbs@qnx.com		Protecting Applications Against Heisenbugs Virtually-synchronous replication provides a mechanism that allows developers of mission- and safety-critical applications to reduce the impact of elusive and non-reproducible bugs—commonly known as Heisenbugs—in their applications. Read More... February 2010		Download

Chris Hobbs chobbs@qnx.com		Fault Tree Analysis with Bayesian Belief Networks for Safety-Critical Software The flexibility of Bayesian Belief Networks makes them particularly suitable for presenting a quantified safety case incorporating hard and soft evidence. This paper describes their application to one component of an overall safety assessment of the QNX Neutrino microkernel. Read More... January 2010		Download

Paul Leroux paull@qnx.com		Using Resource Partitioning to Build Secure, Survivable Embedded Systems By providing guaranteed access to system resources, partitioning can ensure the availability of critical services, even when your system experiences a heavy processing load or a denial-of-service attack. Read More... April 2009		Download

Kerry Johnson kjohnson@qnx.com		Software Optimization Techniques for Multi-Core Processors This paper provides examples of multicore optimization techniques and discusses how developers can use visualization tools to characterize multicore behavior and measure performance improvements. The paper explores how developers can use threading models to create multiple concurrent tasks and parallel processing; it also discusses how to minimize lock contention by using mutexes to engineer the optimal level of lock granularity. Read More... February 2008		Download

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