As more and more processors with multi-core architectures are deployed in embedded systems, embedded virtualization emerges as a substantial consideration in the software system design. Virtualization enables the abstraction of underlying hardware and offers the support of running multiple operating systems and services inside separate virtual machines on top of the multiple processor cores. This enables workload consolidation of tasks which was previously accomplished by using multiple discrete processors running multiple operating systems. Thus workload consolidation enables developers and system designers to reduce not only the total production/BOM cost, but also maintenance and operational costs through innovative new use cases such as enabling the convergence between OT and IT applications running on a single multi-core system.
This presentation describes the basic concept of virtualization for workload consolidation in embedded systems. Then it describes system design consideration by taking the focus of using virtualization in safety-critical relevant applications such as avionics, industrial, and automotive. The presentation will also present a sample implementation of a type 1 Hypervisor-based software platform which enables consolidation between safety certified applications and non-safety applications running on a single multi-core system