NEWS

 

ALAMEDA, Calif. – November 7, 2005 – Wind River Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:WIND), the global leader in Device Software Optimization (DSO), today announced comprehensive updates to all its commercial grade, real-time Wind River® VxWorks platforms, the industry’s preeminent device software that scales to power a full range of devices, from the smallest handhelds to the most robust network equipment. Based on Wind River’s proven real-time architecture which enables customers to transition smoothly into new device designs, Wind River VxWorks 6.2 platform now features innovative enhancements including end-to-end device security, system availability, improved scalability, broader hardware coverage and unprecedented unit, integration and field testing via Wind River’s development suite (see today’s related press release). VxWorks 6.2 also delivers device-specific configuration technology that enables developers to save time and cost by building their device software solutions with pre-built, pre-integrated components and configurations best suited for the requirements of their target device.

“Next-generation devices are not only more complex than ever before, with the extensive combinations of applications and services they offer, but they are also ‘connected,’ which adds new parameters and requirements for device manufacturers,” said John Fanelli, vice president of product management, Wind River. “With every device type having unique requirements for performance, power consumption, footprint or security, one-size device software products do not fit all. VxWorks 6.2 is engineered with Wind River’s trusted architecture and offers developers an evolutionary, comprehensive real-time platform for building just the right device software solution easily, with only the necessary components configured in the way a target device requires.”

Because modern devices are increasingly networked and complex as they must support highly sophisticated value-added applications and services to meet market demands, device manufacturers face new requirements and business critical challenges. Engineered with an evolutionary backward compatible architecture specifically designed to support advanced devices, Wind River VxWorks real-time platforms address the emerging needs of device manufacturers: end-to-end security capabilities, system availability and device specific-configuration.

“There is no debating the emergence of advanced devices has driven an imperative need for device software built on evolutionary architectures that have been designed to address the critical issues resulting from today’s connected environment,” said Chris Lanfear, director of the embedded systems software practice at VDC. “Wind River’s VxWorks 6.2 real-time platform meets the needs of this rapidly shifting design paradigm with its combination of proven architecture and new comprehensive commercial grade features that allow device manufacturers to support critical connectivity issues, such as security and system availability. Longer-term, this combination provides customers with a solution that enables future extensibility and support for evolving technology.”

VxWorks 6.2 Commercial Grade Real-Time Platform
The industry’s market-leading and most trusted real-time device software, VxWorks 6.2 platform delivers the commercial-grade quality expected from a Wind River solution, including industry- leading development and run time technology, world-class professional services and global product support delivered via local technology experts, all from one trusted industry expert with over 20 years of experience. Specific enhancements to the VxWorks 6.2-based platform include:

• End-to-End Security
  
  
  
  • Industry-standard, end-to-end security for every class of device: VxWorks platforms provides comprehensive security capabilities that begin at the core OS level for stringent application and device security, extend outward on the network to provide secure wired or wireless connectivity, and enforce secure, authenticated, encrypted and validated data access. In addition, military grade security is provided through DO-178B “safe” and Common Criteria/MILS secure VxWorks platforms.
  
  
  • Secure, open-standard platforms: VxWorks platforms provide a rock-solid foundation for the most demanding applications. Through the support of industry standards, Wind River is able to ensure safe, secure interoperability within a device, as well as across a network of devices. New in this release is enhanced POSIX support for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Software Communications Architecture (SCA) Application Environment Profile (AEP), enabling developers to develop compliant Software Defined Radio (SDR) implementations. This release also includes new security capabilities and updates in network technology for IPv4 and IPv6 networks (such as firewall, openSSL, IPSEC) and web services (such as WS-Security).
  
  
  
  


• System Availability
  
  
  
  • Unit Test and Diagnostics: New in Wind River’s development suite, innovative Unit Test and Diagnostics capabilities enable developers to debug dynamically, as well as insert sensors during development that provide unprecedented visibility into deployed devices, allowing manufacturers to collect information and support devices in the field.
  
  
  • System Resource Availability: System availability is a critical aspect of device design and must be engineered into a product at the beginning of the life cycle. Guaranteeing system uptime requires more capabilities than can be provided by a single feature. VxWorks platforms offer a range of capabilities that enable device availability, including state-of-the-art development tools, real-time behavior, network security, system resource management and fault containment. In addition, for safety-critical and secure applications, guaranteed space and time partitioning is provided through VxWorks ARINC platform.
  
  
  
  


• Device-Specific Configuration
  
  
  
  • Modular scalability out-of-the-box: Not all projects that require an RTOS have the same needs. Consumer devices need very fast boot times, while medical and industrial applications must provide extreme reliability. VxWorks platforms now offers customers four modular configuration choices, ranging from a minimal but fully bootable microkernel (about 35KB, including BSP); to a platform-capable, fully featured operating system that supports industry-specific middleware (800+KB). Companies can start with a run time module configuration and further customize the profile to enable any additional desired functionality. This capability allows developers to create run time environment best suited for the device they are building without sacrificing API support.
  
  
  • Frameworks: VxWorks platforms now include innovative frameworks infrastructures that allow companies to “plug and build” custom capabilities into their RTOS. Using frameworks in the VxWorks platform gives development teams the freedom to determine the behavior of their system, the system’s memory footprint and the size of their ROM. Frameworks presently available include:
    
    
    
    • Power management: enhances ability to control CPU power use
    
    
    • File systems: supports multiple file systems (dosFs, Highly Reliable File System (HRFS, etc.) and enables advanced multimedia functionality
    
    
    • Schedulers: includes the default VxWorks platform scheduler, a POSIX scheduler, and support for customized schedulers, making kernel behavior more customizable than ever
    
    
    • Interconnect: eases the pain of leveraging new backplane interconnect technologies
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Integrated middleware: Wind River VxWorks platforms ship with tested, validated and pre-integrated run time technologies matched to vertical market needs, allowing development teams to invest their time and energy in innovative engineering at the application level, rather than spending them on basic low-level tasks. Modular middleware includes networking, Web services, security, wireless, management and graphics technologies, as well as support for industry-specific run time capabilities.
  
  
  
  


• Additional New VxWorks 6.2 Features
  
  
  
  • Compatibility and easier migration: VxWorks 6.2-based platforms offer seamless backward compatibility with the widely adopted VxWorks 5.x product line. This capability enables manufacturers to move to a more modern, evolutionary operating system, where successful migration of code generally only requires developers to recompile it. Also, projects can migrate as easily as code allowing manufacturers to preserve the value of their intellectual property even as they upgrade their technology platform. Additionally, POSIX compliance enables portability of open-source code to VxWorks and ensures that applications built with VxWorks will remain portable as technologies continue to evolve.
  
  
  • Broad hardware coverage across markets: Through strategic partnerships with leading semiconductor vendors — including, but not limited to, ARM, Broadcom, Freescale and Intel — Wind River offers broad coverage of architectures and processors with VxWorks platforms. Customers have the freedom of choice and can standardize on the VxWorks platform across a broad base of hardware platforms. In addition, Wind River’s solution is highly optimized and leverages hardware-level optimizations in software. Customers and developers benefit from a wide selection of BSPs for the desired application device. VxWorks platforms also includes a Validation Test Suite that enables companies to validate custom modifications to the BSP or underlying operating system.
  
  
  
  

As part of Wind River’s semiannual product release model, the entire line of Wind River VxWorks 6.2-based platform products is being updated: Wind River® General Purpose Platform; Wind River® Platform for Automotive Devices;

About Wind River
Wind River is the global leader in device software optimization (DSO). Wind River enables companies to develop and run device software faster, better, at lower cost and more reliably. Wind River Platforms are pre-integrated, fully standardized, enterprise-wide development solutions. They reduce effort, cost and risk and optimize quality and reliability at all phases of the device software development process, from concept to deployed product.

Founded in 1981, Wind River is headquartered in Alameda, California, with operations worldwide. To learn more, visit Wind River at http://www.windriver.com or call 1-800-872-4977.

Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, the anticipated release and benefits of new products, services and reference designs by Wind River and resulting from collaboration with partners, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, delays in the development or integration of technologies, rapid technological or business changes that adversely affect customer demand or partner strategies, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Wind River reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2005. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Wind River disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

The Wind River logo is a trademark of Wind River Systems, Inc., and Wind River and VxWorks are registered trademarks of Wind River Systems, Inc. Other marks used herein are the property of the respective owners.

Contact Information
Jessica Miller
Global Corporate Communications