How ScioTeq certified a cockpit display file system for DO-178C with Tuxera EdgeFS

Cockpit displays with no room for data loss

ScioTeq develops and manufactures visualization and computing systems for avionics, air traffic control, and defense and security, from its headquarters in Kortrijk, Belgium, and five further locations worldwide. Its cockpit displays fly on crewed and uncrewed aircraft, which puts their software under DO-178C, the standard that governs airborne software. The display environment ScioTeq was building sits at Design Assurance Level D, the entry classification, and every component in it has to be certifiable, the file system included.

A file system in that environment has two jobs. It has to survive power loss without corrupting data, and it has to come with the evidence, the documentation and the traceability, that lets an auditor certify it. The file system ScioTeq chose is Tuxera EdgeFS™, in its EdgeFS CERT option for safety-critical applications. It was called Reliance Assure™ when the project began, and earlier coverage of this work, including Tuxera’s own announcement, uses that name.

The search for a certifiable file system

ScioTeq first spoke to Tuxera in 2021 and then searched the global market for a high-performance file system that met DO-178C requirements. It found no standalone product with both the resilience it needed and the documentation to certify it, which left building one in-house. The benchmarks settled that question.

ScioTeq: “ScioTeq evaluated several benchmarks, including read and write speeds, power fail-safety, and data resilience, and realized that we could never meet our schedule if we would develop our own file system in a DO-178C environment, surely not when targeting the equivalent performance of EdgeFS CERT. That’s why joining forces with Tuxera was the preferred strategy, providing a high-quality solution aligned with our MOSArt roadmap.”

In 2024 ScioTeq chose EdgeFS CERT as the best fit, and the file system is now fully integrated into its DO-178C DAL D environment for cockpit displays.

Built for aviation safety

EdgeFS CERT began life under ISO 26262, the functional safety standard for road vehicles, developed within the Automotive SPICE framework. Tuxera adapted it for aviation by meeting the documentation and compliance requirements specific to DO-178C, and each line of code was written for traceability from the start. As far as Tuxera can establish, that makes EdgeFS CERT the only independent power fail-safe file system certifiable for DO-178C environments.

In aviation, building in-house is the default, because it keeps full control over safety and reliability, so trusting an off-the-shelf component takes time. Once ScioTeq had seen the capability and the documentation behind EdgeFS CERT, the benefits were clear: a compliant file system and a partner to support it, without the cost of developing and maintaining a legacy system of its own.

Toward DAL B certification

Tuxera and ScioTeq are now working toward DAL B certification, a more stringent level for safety-critical systems, and are exploring a certifiable networking stack for DO-178C environments. The ScioTeq integration has opened safety-critical aviation as a market for Tuxera, and other customers are now asking about DAL B and DAL A, the highest level.