Embedded systems are becoming powerful enough that virtualization is now both possible and interesting. Xen, as a very tiny microkernel based hypervisor looks like a very good fit for the embedded environment, not to mention that it has been ported to ARM with the number of supported boards in constant increase.
This talk will outline the major strengths of the Xen architecture, when it comes to use Xen on embedded systems. It will also identify and discuss the areas where there is still room for improvement. It will go through preliminary experimental results on assessing some of the typical real-time requirements (such as responsiveness and predictability), for the benefit of everyone out there that would like to build its embedded product on top of Xen.
On the concrete side, we will show how to setup an 'Andorid on Xen' environment, which results from a fruitful collaboration between the Xen community and other interested parties from the Android community. We think this could be very useful as an example for anyone interested in working with us, with the aim of being successful in the embedded virtualization product space. |