How can we make Linux functionally safe for automotive?

The automotive computing world, like many other industries, is going through a transformation. Traditionally discrete computing systems are becoming more integrated, with workloads consolidated into systems that look remarkably more like edge systems than embedded devices. The ideas driving this shift come from open source, but will Linux be part of this future, given that the existing standards for functional safety do not currently accommodate Linux-based operating systems?

Red Hat safety expert Gabriele Paoloni will present our safety methodology to the Automotive Linux Summit as an update to the presentation given at the recent ELISA Workshop. This methodology outlines the path Red Hat is taking toward creating an in-vehicle OS that incorporates modern ideas around workload orchestration, secure process isolation, and consolidation of mixed-criticality workloads, field-updatable and continuously certified for functional safety. We recognize that this is a huge task, but we believe it to be possible by adhering to these development pillars:

• Open methodology development within ELISA

• Participation in the ISO 26262 update process

• Open code development within the CentOS Automotive SIG

ELISA (Enabling Linux in Safety Applications) is a vital part of the Linux universe, and it provides a community where those of us who care deeply about functional safety can address the challenges of certification and create solutions to resolve those challenges. ELISA is the cornerstone open source community for functional safety, and automotive is a big focus as the industry is clamoring for transformation and advanced computing facilities within the car. Red Hat recognizes that value and has emerged as a leader in the community.

ISO 26262 was originally developed in a time when automotive computing was managed through Electronic Control Units (ECUs), black boxes that had a deterministic output when given specific inputs. The standard is notably lacking support for pre-existing complex systems, including Linux. Red Hat is a member of an ongoing effort to update ISO 26262, known as ISO-PAS 8926, which has been accepted as a new working item proposal to the ISO committee.

Finally, Red Hat continues its commitment to work transparently as well as upstream first by forming an automotive special interest group (SIG) within CentOS. This Automotive SIG meets twice a month to collaboratively discuss automotive issues, including safety, and to produce a reference automotive OS based on CentOS Stream. We hope you will join us on this journey.