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Designed for a small footprint, the L4Re hypervisor, which is maintained by Kernkonzept, can run on the hardware virtualization technology in MIPS CPUs. The aim of this is to provide more efficient context switching and to make better use of CPU cycles.
According to Imagination, hardware virtualization, typically used in data-centre CPUs, can now be used for secure running of multiple operating systems in IoT designs in automotive and industrial system.
The L4Re operating system works with systems that need to consolidate multiple applications with differing security, safety, or real-time requirements.
Running on the OmniShield-enabled MIPS CPUs, the hypervisor makes it possible for multiple isolated tenants or guests to run on the same host, authorising access to on-chip resources, prioritizing use of shared resources, allocating and managing service interrupts from external sources.
Jim Nicholas, EVP MIPS Processor IP, Imagination, writes:
“Open source technologies like L4Re, where entire communities are responsible for developing and maintaining the code, can lead to inherently more reliable systems. We’re seeing a great deal of interest in L4Re for MIPS.”
Michael Hohmuth, CEO, Kernkonzept, adds:
“The collaboration is enabling us to take the L4Re operating system into new areas. This technology is already quite strong in areas including government and military. Now it’s making its way into embedded markets such as Wi-Fi routers, cable set-top boxes, home gateways, and automotive where MIPS CPUs have a strong presence.”
The open source prpl Foundation, with its members Imagination and Kernkonzept, worked to create a demonstration vehicle to demonstrate hardware virtualization.
The demonstration builds on prpl’s proof-of-concept demonstration earlier this year of its prplSecurity framework, which is a collection of open source APIs providing hardware-level security controls.
The new open source hypervisor demonstration features several domains including two instances of OpenWrt, the Linux distribution used in many home gateways.
