Leonardo Case Study on Multi-Core Processor Architectures

This case study details Leonardo's approach to maintaining technological advantage in the aerospace and defense sectors through the use of Wind River's VxWorks real-time operating system (RTOS). The document outlines the challenges faced by Leonardo in updating software for electronic systems that have long service lifetimes while adapting to new multi-core processor architectures. It describes how Leonardo is leveraging VxWorks to create a common application runtime environment that supports both commercial and safety-critical applications. The study explains the integration of VxWorks APIs, which facilitate application portability across different architectures, and highlights the support provided by Wind River's Professional Services for hardware compatibility and safety certification. The results show that Leonardo has successfully developed applications on the multi-core processors and is progressing with system integration, while also working on DO-178C certification evidence packages to ensure compliance with safety standards.