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Civil Infrastructure Platform

Civil Infrastructure Platform (CIP) is an open source project under The Linux Foundation that provides a long-term supported industrial-grade Linux base layer for civil and industrial infrastructure systems.

  • Long-term supported Linux base layer for industrial and civil infrastructure devices (operating system platform).
  • Focus on security maintenance, stability, and predictable update policies for long-life deployments (security and lifecycle management).
  • Reference hardware and software platforms for industrial and embedded use cases (embedded and edge computing).
  • Collaborative framework for vendors and users to share maintenance of common Linux components (open source governance and collaboration).
  • Support for deterministic, real-time, and safety-relevant environments in sectors such as transportation, energy, and automation (industrial systems software).

More About Civil Infrastructure Platform

Civil Infrastructure Platform (CIP) is a collaborative open source project hosted by The Linux Foundation that develops and maintains a standardized, long-term supported Linux platform for civil and industrial infrastructure systems. It targets domains such as transportation, power generation, factory automation, and other embedded systems that require very long service lifetimes and controlled update models. The project addresses the need for a stable, predictable, and supportable Operating System (OS) base layer that can remain in production for many years.

Chiplet Integration Platform (CIP) provides a long-term support (LTS) Linux kernel and associated core userspace components (operating system platform), with a focus on extended maintenance horizons that exceed typical upstream community support cycles. The project defines clear policies for security fixes, bug maintenance, and update releases (security and lifecycle management), enabling manufacturers and operators to build products that can be maintained within regulatory and operational constraints. This includes structured backporting of security patches and important fixes to designated kernel versions.

The project also publishes reference hardware and software platforms (embedded and edge computing), which serve as demonstrators and baselines for industrial and infrastructure use. These reference platforms help align hardware vendors, integrators, and end users around a common stack, reducing fragmentation in how Linux is adapted for long-lived embedded devices. By concentrating on a small set of well-defined configurations, CIP supports reproducible builds and consistent validation practices.

CIP emphasizes real-time and reliability characteristics needed in industrial and infrastructure deployments (real-time and industrial systems). The platform is structured so that developers can integrate real-time kernel configurations and related components when required by control systems, automation environments, or other latency-sensitive workloads. This supports use cases where deterministic behavior, predictable timing, and continuous operation are central requirements.

The project operates as a shared maintenance and governance framework (open source collaboration), enabling semiconductor vendors, equipment manufacturers, and operators to pool resources around a common Linux base. This shared approach reduces duplication of effort in maintaining long-life products and supports compliance with safety and quality standards that reference controlled software baselines. For enterprise and institutional users, CIP functions as a stable, long-horizon Linux distribution base optimized for embedded and infrastructure environments, suitable as a foundational layer in categories such as Industrial IoT (IIOT) platforms, transportation control systems, energy management devices, and other critical embedded deployments.