Release of the hypervisor for embedded devices ACRN 1.2, developed by the Linux Foundation

Linux Foundation Organization presented specialized hypervisor release ACRN 1.2, designed for use in embedded technology and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The hypervisor code is based on Intel's lightweight hypervisor for embedded devices and spreads under the BSD license.

The hypervisor is written with real-time readiness in mind and suitability for use in mission-critical systems when running on resource-constrained hardware. The project is trying to carve a niche between hypervisors used in cloud systems and data centers and hypervisors for industrial systems with tight resource sharing. ECUs, dashboards, and automotive information systems are cited as examples of using ACRN, but the hypervisor also lends itself well to consumer IoT devices and other embedded applications.

ACRN provides minimal overhead and consists of only 25 thousand lines of code (for comparison, hypervisors used in cloud systems have about 150 thousand lines of code). At the same time, ACRN guarantees low delays (low latency) and adequate responsiveness when interacting with equipment. Virtualization of CPU resources, I / O, network subsystem, graphics and sound operations is supported. For joint access to resources common to all VMs, a set of I / O mediators is provided.

ACRN refers to hypervisors of the first type (runs directly on top of the hardware) and allows you to simultaneously run multiple guest systems that can run Linux distributions, RTOS, Android and other operating systems. The project consists of two main components: hypervisor and related device models with a rich set of I / O mediators that share device access between guest systems. The hypervisor is controlled from the service OS, which acts as a host system and contains components for translating calls from other guest systems to the equipment.

All changes in ACRN 1.2:

• Ability to use firmware Tianocore/OVMF as a virtual bootloader for a service OS (host system) capable of running Clearlinux, VxWorks and Windows. Supports verified boot mode (Secure boot);
• Container support Kata;
• For Windows guest systems (WaaG), a mediator has been added to access the USB host controller (xHCI);
• Added Always Running Timer virtualization (ART).

Source: opennet.ru