– The Evolution of an Industrial Linux Platform with the CIP Project –
Author: Takehisa Katayama and Chris Paterson, Renesas Electronics
Introduction: The Challenge of Long-Term Maintenance
The use of Linux in embedded systems has advanced significantly over the past decade. However, in industrial equipment and civil infrastructure, simply adopting Linux was not enough to solve every problem. One of the most significant challenges was long-term software maintenance. In industrial domains, where product lifecycles often extend to 10 or even 20 years, operating systems and middleware are likewise expected to be maintained over the long term. This article looks back on how Renesas addressed this challenge and how it achieved a major strategic shift through the CIP (Civil Infrastructure Platform) Project.
The Launch and Positioning of the RZ Family
Among Renesas’s SoC product portfolio, the RZ/G series was created as an initiative to bring R-Car-class performance and advanced functionality into industrial markets. The RZ/G series has been developed and expanded as a member of the RZ family, which targets industrial applications.
The name “RZ” is derived from “The Zenith of Renesas micro,” reflecting its positioning within the Renesas processor lineup. Within the RZ family, the RZ/G series was designed to provide platform value not only through its hardware capabilities, but also through a Linux-based software foundation built on open-source software.
The Initial Platform Vision and Its Evolution
In the early days of the RZ family’s software strategy, the aim was to provide a comprehensive solution that included not only Linux packages and middleware, but also development environments and the surrounding ecosystem. As our understanding of customer usage patterns and development processes deepened through customer engagement and proposal activities, the value we needed to deliver gradually became more refined. As a result, part of the original concept was eventually streamlined, but this was a part of the process of evolving through trial and error into a more practical and effective form. Through this experience, the importance of a platform centered on a common software foundation became clear, and that way of thinking has since been carried forward into current today’s Common Linux Platform and Inner Source initiatives.
The Distance from OSS: From Use to Participation
Looking back at software development at the time, Linux was indeed being used, but in many cases only at the level of consumption. A development model based on collaboration with the open-source community had not yet been fully established. Yet in embedded Linux, what truly matters is not simply using OSS, but sustaining it over the long term.
An Industry Assumption: The Expected Role of Semiconductor Vendors and its Limits
One important factor here is an implicit assumption in the industry: semiconductor vendors are generally expected to maintain the software for their own devices, especially the Linux kernel. At Renesas, development and contributions to maintain Linux had already continued since the SuperH era, particularly in the automotive domain. In the industrial domain, however, before joining CIP, Linux kernels were maintained in-house, with ongoing work on vulnerability response, backporting, and validation.
However, there was a large gap between product lifecycles and software support periods, and it was not realistic for a single company to continue maintaining software long term on its own. This structural challenge became a major motivation for seeking a more sustainable solution.
Encountering the CIP Project and a Strategic Shift
It was in this context that Renesas encountered the CIP Project. CIP takes an approach of having multiple companies collaborate to maintain Linux over the long term, and it provides Super Long-Term Support (SLTS) kernels with support periods of more than ten years. In addition, based on the upstream-first principle, CIP has established mechanisms to ensure continuous quality and maintainability in close coordination with the broader community.
These characteristics were exactly aligned with the needs of the industrial sector, and Renesas decided to join the CIP Project early in 2017. This decision marked a major turning point in its software strategy in the industrial domain: a shift from simply using OSS to becoming an active participant in community-driven development.
How CIP Transformed Development and Business
Participation in the CIP Project significantly changed the way software was developed. With long-term maintenance supported by a community, the burden of individual backporting work was reduced, improving both development efficiency and quality. Moreover, being able to provide a platform with long-term support created substantial value in the industrial equipment market and helped build customer trust.
Furthermore, the fact that the OSS community itself supports maintenance is important from another perspective as well: it helps reduce dependence on a specific vendor and has become a major benefit for users.
Contributing to OSS and Influencing the Ecosystem
Within the CIP Project, Renesas has not been merely a user, but an active contributor. It has played an important role in sustaining the ongoing operation of the CIP Project through efforts such as helping launch initiatives in the security domain, building up testing infrastructure through activities in the Testing Working Group, and providing reference boards.
In particular, the Testing Working Group has expanded the scope and effectiveness of the CIP Project’s validation activities through collaboration with the KernelCI project. By working with a broader community focused on automated kernel testing, participating in KernelCI governance and technical development, and contributing support for CIP-specific requirements, Renesas has helped strengthen the overall testing infrastructure. These efforts also demonstrate that long-term maintainability is not achieved through isolated work, but through sustained collaboration across a community, and they have enabled continuous, large-scale validation of CIP kernels across a wide range of platforms and use cases.
These activities have also been fed back into internal development, contributing to the establishment of a common platform and the promotion of automation.
Growing Cybersecurity Requirements and the Role of CIP
In recent years, the emergence of the European Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), long-term software maintenance and security response have increasingly become strong regulatory requirements as well. As vulnerability management across the entire product lifecycle and the continuous delivery of patches have become legal obligations, many companies are now working to address them.
In this context, the long-term model provided by CIP is being re-evaluated as a highly practical solution. What is important is that CIP was not created as a response to regulatory compliance but was originally formed to meet the needs of industrial systems. As a result, it has become a foundation that aligns naturally with today’s regulatory requirements.
Conclusion: Moving to a Stage Where OSS Is Used Strategically
Renesas’ engagement with OSS traces back to its upstream activities in the SuperH era and has developed through different stages of maturity across different domains. In the industrial field, there was a period of stagnation, but through initiatives around the RZ family, particularly the RZ/G series, and participation in the CIP Project, those efforts were reintegrated and have now evolved into a stage where OSS is used strategically.
As discussed in this article, CIP kernels play an important role as the software foundation of the RZ/G series. At the same time, the outcomes and knowledge generated through these efforts have also been extended to some other products within the RZ family, making CIP an important pillar supporting Renesas’ industrial Linux platform as a whole. Going forward, Renesas will continue contributing to the realization and broader adoption of Industrial Grade Linux in the industrial domain through collaboration with the OSS community. This is not simply a matter of technological evolution; it is also a practical answer to the question of how to ensure the reliability and sustainability of systems that support society over the long term.