2025-10-08 –, Main
Many people are unaware that open-source firmware is being used in embedded systems for the United States Department of Defense (DoD). For obvious reasons, details about this kind of work cannot be discussed publicly, which is why you don't hear much about it.
For the past 8 years SysPro Consulting has been developing boot firmware solutions for Intel-based embedded hardware that has been integrated into various kinds of DoD military equipment, ranging from aircraft to ground vehicles to naval vessels, and more. These boot firmware solutions have been based on open-source projects such as coreboot and Slim Bootloader integrated with Intel's Firmware Support Package (FSP).
Working on boot firmware for DoD programs as a supplier within the U.S. Defense Industrial Base (DIB) comes with many unique challenges and requirements compared to working on boot firmware for commercial products. These firmware solutions commonly include unique / out-of-the-box features and requirements that present complex engineering challenges to implement and support.
This talk will present many of the differences that come with developing boot firmware solutions for embedded military applications, both from an engineering perspective as well as a business perspective.
Jay has over 35 years of low-level software and firmware development experience, ranging from embedded controls systems to specialized device drivers to BIOS and bootloaders. After 12 years working for various employers, Jay founded SysPro Consulting, LLC in 2001, an engineering consulting firm that focuses primarily on providing specialized software engineering expertise to their clientele.
In 2011, SysPro began working with Intel Corporation to support the development of boot firmware solutions for Intel® processors that are an alternative to a traditional UEFI BIOS for embedded applications. After several years of enabling such boot firmware solutions on various hardware designs, SysPro began working with Intel’s customers to provide these services directly to them. In 2017, SysPro began developing alternative boot firmware solutions for systems used in various U.S. DoD programs, and currently government programs are the majority of SysPro’s business.
Jay promotes many of the key advantages of using alternative boot firmware solutions over traditional UEFI BIOS firmware for defense and other embedded systems applications and has written a number of white papers on the subject.