Congatec, a provider of embedded and edge computer technology, sees an increasing need for safety - from industrial manufacturing and collaborative robotics to autonomous vehicles for factory floors, railways and roads. In all of these applications, there is also a trend towards hardware consolidation, which means that mixed-critical applications have to be operated on functionally secure embedded multicore systems in order to be able to handle several safety and non-safety-critical tasks in parallel. X86-based embedded multicore platforms offer a solid foundation for such applications, which is why Congatec is now qualifying them for certification according to FuSa standards such as IEC 61508 and ISO 13849.

Cost savings for OEMs

"FuSa-capable hardware and hardware-related software are fundamental building blocks for any safety-critical application and require a detailed look at all their components. OEMs that use a Computer-on-Module as an application-ready building block - including all relevant software components such as bootloader, hypervisor and BSP - that is already certifiable for functional safety can save a lot of time and money. All they have to do is qualify the customer-specific carrier board and corresponding adaptations for certification," says Konrad Garhammer, CTO at Congatec, summarizing the customer benefits of the company's investment in functional safety.

A first safety implementation

An initial solution for such FuSa building blocks could be seen in a live demo at the trade fair. A FuSa demo application based on the RTS hypervisor and integrated real-time Linux runs on the conga-MA7 COM Express Mini module prepared for functional safety, which integrates the FuSa-qualified Intel CPU x6427FE with Safety Island support. This FuSa demo is intended to demonstrate that Congatec is already well advanced with the qualification of the first Computer-on-Modules based on Intel Atom x6000 E processor technology, with further modules to follow.

OEMs can now start implementing Congatec's functional safety qualified modules and BSPs as well as their own software components into their application platforms. Congatec will also support OEM customers with all customization requirements in compliance with their specific certification requirements - be it the selection of components and their implementation on carrier boards, OS and hypervisor support or the implementation of I/O drivers.

In order to qualify Computer-on-Modules for safe operation, all components and the entire BSP must be prepared for FuSa certification - including the safety manuals and all other necessary documentation. All organizational processes and documents created during development and testing - such as FMEDA (Failure Modes, Effects and Diagnostic Analysis) and the verification and validation process (V&V) - must also be brought into line with the certification requirements and checked by external experts. Congatec intends to provide all of this with immediate effect.