Exploring embedded systems virtualization using MIPS virtualization module

Abstract

Embedded virtualization has emerged as a valuable way to increase security, reduce costs, improve software quality and decrease design time. The late adoption of hardware-assisted virtualization in embedded processors induced the development of hypervisors primarily based on para-virtualization. Recently, embedded processor designers developed virtualization extensions for their processor architectures similar to those adopted in cloud computing years ago. Now, the hypervisors are migrating to a mixed approach, where basic operating system functionalities take advantage of full-virtualization and advanced functionalities such as inter-domain communication remain para-virtualized. In this paper, we discuss the key features for embedded virtualization. We show how our embedded hypervisor was designed to support these features, taking advantage of the hardware-assisted virtualization available to the MIPS family of processors. Different aspects of our hypervisor are evaluated and compared to other similar approaches. A hardware platform was used to run benchmarks on virtualized instances of both Linux and a RTOS for performance analysis. Finally, the results obtained show that our hypervisor can be applied as a sound solution for the IoT.