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e-clips: virtualization, virtual prototypes, and more ... |
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After the explosive initial public offering (IPO) of VmWare (VMW), it seems that everyone wants in on the buzz about "virtualization," even in embedded systems. From a different semantic direction, especially "ESL" in the EDA space, talk is much about "virtualization" in terms of virtual prototyping of hardware to speed up the design process, and enable hardware / software co-design. What is which? Which is what? Both are exciting, and this month we seek to straighten out the "virtues" of virtualization for embedded systems designers.
contents:
- virtualization: virtualizations and os issues
- virtualization: the virtues of prototyping
- conference calendar
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virtualization: virtualizations and os issues |
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Virtualization, as most everyone now knows, refers at a general level to the abstraction of hardware (especially microprocessors) from the software, in such a way as to enable either a single core to "appear" to the software as if it were multiple cores, or multiple cores to "appear" as if they were a single. Its great promise is to enable more efficient usage of hardware resources, and also to vastly reduce power consumption. On the server (VmWare) level it promises huge gains in efficiency, and no less at the embedded level.
A few companies have thus jumped at virtualization as a huge embedded software opportunity. First and foremost, VirtualLogix appears as the market leader in this new category. That company has an excellent primer on the topic, here, and has flavors of virtualization for digital multimedia, mobile handsets, and network infrastructure. Even better is VLX Developer, an Eclipse-based graphical environment, which helps users configure, build and optimize their virtualized platforms.
Other leading companies are Trango Virtual Processors and Open Kernel Labs. Trango enables processor secured virtualization for major 32/64 bit RISC architectures : ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, SH, configurable cores and FPGA soft-cores. Open Kernel lab's OKL4 microkernel is presently supported on ARM v4/v5 (ARM9 and XScale cores), ARM v6 (ARM11 cores), x86 in 32- and 64-bit versions as well as MIPS32 and MIPS64. That company also has an "open source" portal for product exploration at http://portal.ok-labs.com/.
Besides better hardware performance, one of the major uses of virtualization is to allow a real-time operating system and a general purpose OS (think Windows or Linux) to run side-by-side on an application. The application can have its cake, and eat it too: have the full features of a GPOS and the real-time performance of an RTOS. Virtualization technologies can make this possible, and so many RTOS companies are keenly interested. SYSGO, for example, has announced PikeOS 2.2, its powerful and efficient paravirtualization real-time operating system (PVOS) based on a separation microkernel. This version provides improvements aimed more specifically at the aerospace and defense market. Indeed, many of the vendor interviews in our forthcoming 2nd edition of Insiders' Guide: Selecting an Embedded RTOS focus on virtualization as the hottest OS topic in a long time. Look for the new Guide in January, 2008.
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virtualization: the virtues of prototyping
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Hardware prototyping really has its origins in the ASIC / SOC space where the designs are so complex, time-to-market pressures so intense, and the cost of post-deployment failures so high, that design teams have been forced to migrate to ever-more sophisticated design and verification EDA tools. The semantic problem is that "virtualization" in this sense means abstraction from hardware but not for the real product but rather for an early design prototype.
One very intriguing company in the space is Virtutech, whose product, Simics, is a flexible and scalable software infrastructure that enables early development, faster testing and the ability to manage development projects better. Recently, the company partnered with Freescale to jointly create highly advanced simulation models for a host of current and future multi-core processors. The first product supported is the MPC8572E - a high performance, dual-core processor now shipping in sample quantities. Release here; free 45-day evaluation, here. The company offers choices beyond the Power Architecture, and in a recent briefing, assured eg3.com that their goal is to reach beyond ASICs into many embedded applications, even those with smaller tool budgets.
Another market leader in the prototyping space is VaST Systems Technology Corp. The company's solutions are OSCI SystemC-compliant and are used for architecture, hardware, and software design. Like Virtutech the company has partnered with Freescale to facilitate better prototyping. It has a cool marketing demo / video and a wonderful technical paper archive on the subject. If you are in the automotive electronics area, don't miss their online presentations here.
Both Virtutech and VaST have published a "manifesto" that has eleven major points on virtual prototyping for embedded software, here. In the final analysis the semantic confusion over virtualization originates in the goal of abstracting away from hardware to allow for better software, whether at the prototype or application level.
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conference calendar: upcoming events |
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12/3/2007, Orlando: Agile Development Practices Conference (3 stars)
12/4/2007, San Jose: ConfigCon 2007 (4 stars)
12/4/2007, Hong Kong: Mobility World Congress (3 stars)
12/5/2007, Grenoble: IP 07 - IP Based Design (4 stars)
12/5/2007, Dallas: Home Access Points and Femtocells Conference (3 stars)
12/10/2007, Cambridge: Wireless Broadband Forum (3 stars)
12/12/2007, Tokyo: Tronshow Japan (3 stars)
1/7/2008, Las Vegas: International CES - Consumer Electronics Show (5 stars)
1/11/2008, Las Vegas: International Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE) (4 stars)
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- > To browse all 'conferences', click here.
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