QNX gaining popularity in aerospace and defense systems

Harris Corporation is deploying the QNX Neutrino RTOS in the Harris Falcon III line of tactical radios.

The Harris Falcon III radios include multiband, multimission radios in vehicular, handheld, and "manpack" configurations. The Falcon III AN/PRC-152(C) handheld radio recently became the first and only radio to be certified as fully compliant with version 2.2 of the Software Communications Architecture of the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS SCA). The Software Communications Architecture (SCA) provides the overall blueprint for building JTRS software defined radio systems. JTRS is a program of the U.S. Department of Defense.

When evaluating the QNX Neutrino RTOS for the Falcon III family, Harris looked at several criteria, including reliability, realtime performance, and support for the industry-standard POSIX application programming interface (API). POSIX serves as a cornerstone of the Software Communications Architecture (SCA), which is the JTRS program's interoperability standard.

"POSIX support is a central element for SCA certification, so QNX's long-standing commitment to POSIX weighed heavily in our decision," said Thomas Kenney, Vice President of Product Line Management, Harris RF Communications. "QNX's technology was important to the recent certification of the operating environment of our AN-PRC-152(C) as fully compliant with Version 2.2 of the Software Communications Architecture."