Skip to main content

Linux devices: OK labs demo open virtualization

Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs) markets OKL4, a completely open source virtualizing microkernel originally developed at NICTA (National Information/Communication Technology, Australia), an Australian government-sponsored think tank. NICTA first supplied the microkernel (then known as "L4") to phone chip giant Qualcomm (story). OK Labs later supplied its commercialized OKL4 version to Toshiba for use in Toshiba's W47T phone, distributed by Japan's second-largest mobile carrier, KDDI.

OK Labs subsequently partnered with FST this summer, in a deal aimed at porting the FancyPants GUI stack directly to OKL4's POSIX-compliant real-time execution environment. However, the technology being showcased at the ARM devcon appears to be featuring two instances of FancyPants running under two instances of Linux, both running as guest OSes on the OKL4 microkernel.

According to OK Labs, OKL4 provides virtualization, high performance IPC (inter-process communications), and support for user-level device drivers. These features are claimed to reduce handset costs, and to improve reliability and security with less impact on performance than similar approaches.

In a statement, OK Labs President Steve Subar said, "The OpenMoko smart phone makes obvious the benefits of how OKL4 is being deployed to decrease cost while improving functionality and performance."


Link

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Security: VMware Workstation 6 vulnerability

vulnerable software: VMware Workstation 6.0 for Windows, possible some other VMware products as well type of vulnerability: DoS, potential privilege escalation I found a vulnerability in VMware Workstation 6.0 which allows an unprivileged user in the host OS to crash the system and potentially run arbitrary code with kernel privileges. The issue is in the vmstor-60 driver, which is supposed to mount VMware images within the host OS. When sending the IOCTL code FsSetVoleInformation with subcode FsSetFileInformation with a large buffer and underreporting its size to at max 1024 bytes, it will underrun and potentially execute arbitrary code. Security focus

Virtualization: GlassHouse hopes to cash in with its IPO!

GlassHouse Technologies Inc. on Tuesday registered to raise as much as $100 million in an initial public offering that, despite the company's financial losses, could prove a hit with investors drawn to its focus on "virtualization" technology. The Framingham, Mass., company offers consulting services for companies that use virtualization software to improve the performance of corporate servers and cut costs in their data centers. GlassHouse also provides Internet-based data storage. "Software-as-a-service," or SaaS, companies and vendors of virtualization products have proved popular among investors in recent years as corporate customers seek alternatives to conventional packaged software. GlassHouse, with roots in both sectors, will test the strength of that interest, said Peter Falvey, managing director with Boston investment bank Revolution Partners. "It will be a bit of a bell weather," he says. "It's not as though it's the 15th SaaS m...