Cloud platforms and embedded computing - The operating systems of the future

Abstract

The discussion on how to effectively program embedded systems has often in the past revolved around issues like the ideal instruction set architecture (ISA) or the best operating system. Much of this has been motivated by the inherently resource-constrained nature of embedded devices that mandates efficiency as the primary design principle. In this paper, we advocate a change in the way we see and treat embedded systems. Not only have embedded systems become much more powerful and resources more affordable, we also see a trend towards making embedded devices more consumable, programmable, and customizable by end users. In fact, we see a strong similarity with recent developments in cloud computing. We outline several challenges and opportunities in turning a language runtime system like the Java Virtual Machine into a cloud platform. We focus in particular on support for running multiple tenants concurrently within the platform. Multi-tenant support is essential for efficient resource utilization in cloud environments but can also improve application performance and overall user experience in embedded environments. We believe that today's modern language runtimes, with extensions to support multi-tenancy, can form the basis for a single continuous platform for emerging embedded applications backed by cloud-based service infrastructures.