Critical

Critical’s Integration capability addresses enterprise application custom development, renewal and maintenance, N-tier and web-centric applications, shop floor integration solutions, Service Oriented Architecture and Business Process Management. It addresses complex integration and application development problems by using open, standard and state-of-the-art technologies.

The embedded software and real-time engineering area has vast experience in real-time operative systems providing maintenance and support for third-parties open-source RTOS such as RTEMS and for our own developed xLuna Operating System, which is running on the Mars Rover.This engineering area holds a body of knowledge in business specific standards such as DO-178B, ECSS, Galileo SW Standard, EN50128, EC61508 and MISRA.

The C&C expertise in mission control concerns management of all information regarding monitoring and commanding, mission database, data archiving, mission planning and mission performance evaluation. Critical Software’s C&C simulation capabilities are mainly focused on the development, validation and operation of simulators for space, air and ground systems. Taking advantage of Critical’s strong experience in the analysis of C&C operational scenarios, the simulation capabilities have been largely used for operator training and systems validation. In addition, the recognized capability to understand the end-user requirements of C&C problems has been combined with state- of-the-art model-driven design methodologies in order to cost-effectively conceive modern, highly complex and mission critical monitoring and control systems.

As exemplified in the showcase solution Premfire, specially designed for prevention and combat of forest fires, Critical has developed technologies, systems and services in the areas of remote sensing, data processing, fusion and dissemination. These cove the entire data processing chain, from reception of satellite data to end-user products dissemination. The complete processing chain includes payload calibration, image processing and geo-location, combination of data from different sensors and instruments which is distributed to the final consumers.

Critical’s ILS engineering area has developed a series of competences in delivering an integrated, accurate and up-to-the-minute depiction of information on fleet availability and disposition. Our solutions allow the establishment of Performance Based Logistics type contracts, and grant "what if" simulation facilities, allowing users to run different scenarios driven by selectable operational and maintenance parameters.

It covers domains such as telecommunications operations support systems (OSS), network data mediation, telecommunications management network (TMN), HPC , data communication (communications protocol stacks), IP quality of service (QoS), PKI and cryptography, strong authentication systems, network planning, designing & management and network security (routing, IDS/IPS, unified messaging).

Good data is not only helpful in the execution of a corporate performance management strategy, it is essential. Without a rich and accurate historical archive of your business operation you will be forced to make gross assumptions that will minimize the benefits of your strategy. Critical’s Real-time Performance Management (RtPM) area helps companies to measure performance in real-time, by exploiting current market conditions and improve business agility. RtPM engineering area at Critical has delivered totally customisable open solutions for the Energy & Utilities industries, allowing management to have access to raw or aggregated data in real-time, thus enabling the generation of focus-centric reports via a web portal.

Critical’s BI capability helps in setting up data quality strategies and data integration processes for a company information architecture, using scalable BI platforms. Using Business Objects, Microstrategy, Microsoft and Oracle technologies, Critical provides a “single version of the truth” of the data, accessible through dashboards and Balanced Score Cards. 

Critical has also developed a web messenger solution for Telco operators integrating VoIP and Video, and allowing PC-2-PC and PC-2-Phone communication. Also, an On-line Device Portal Toolbox that accelerates the time-to-market of powerful ODP solutions, that can include mobile video, email, SMS trapping and advertisement bundling.

Verification consists of ensuring that the software product is compliant with the requirements, through all phases of the life-cycle. This is accomplished by analysis, inspections and formal evaluations of intermediate and final software items. The software items analysed are selected according to a previously performed criticality analysis, therefore increasing the activity "value for money". Validation consists of demonstrating that the software accomplishes its intended purpose. This is achieved by testing the product in real or simulated environments. The intent of these validation activities is to assess error handling behaviors, safety and security issues, and areas where a failure might cause undesirable effects.

Critical's Reliability, Availability, Maintainability & Safety techniques cover: Schedule Analysis; Hardware Software Interaction Analysis; Code Inspections; Robustness Testing; Stress Testing and Fault Injection; Software Failure Modes; Effects and Criticality Analysis (SFMECA); Software Fault Tree Analysis (SFTA); Hazard Analysis (HA).