Dresden, January 2024 – Kernkonzept GmbH launches the L4Re Micro Hypervisor that was first shown to the public at embedded world 2023 on ARMv8-R as an Autoware demonstrator. The addition to the L4Re Hypervisor Family provides a scalable solution that supports both AArch32 and AArch64, as well as MPU-based systems. More detailed information has a newly published whitepaper.
The automotive industry is grappling with a significant shift as software plays an increasingly vital role in defining product value. In response to the industry’s evolving needs, Kernkonzept developed the L4Re Micro Hypervisor that addresses the challenge posed by the proliferation of electronic control units (ECUs) and the growing importance of safety-critical software functions conforming to ISO 26262 standards.
As the number of individual ECUs in vehicles continues to rise, automotive software developers explore centralized computing as a means to manage costs, weight, and physical space requirements. The open-source, microkernel-based L4Re Micro Hypervisor provides a practical response to those problems, as it allows for the consolidation of multiple ECUs into so-called “zonal controllers”.
“In the automotive industry, virtualization technology has become a must-have for ensuring the necessary separation capabilities based on individual workloads. Kernkonzept plays a vital role in this landscape, and the L4Re Hypervisor stands out as a unique selling proposition. Its scalability, ranging from high-performance CortexA processors to the real-time CortexR52 implementation, is a feature that I find particularly noteworthy”, says Bernhard Rill, Arm Director Automotive Partnerships.
Car manufacturers, but also a variety of other industries, will benefit from several key advantages the new L4Re Micro Hypervisor offers:
- Cost Efficiency: By consolidating multiple ECUs into “zonal controllers”, the L4Re Micro Hypervisor significantly reduces the average cost per function, providing a cost-effective approach for the automotive industry.
- Space and Weight Optimization: Streamlining computing resources leads to reduced physical space requirements and weight, offering practical benefits in the design and manufacturing of vehicles.
- Virtualization Solutions for Shared Resources: With an increasing number of applications sharing computing resources, the L4Re Micro Hypervisor provides an optimal virtualization solution, ensuring non-interference and safety in real-time critical environments.
- Freedom from Interference: The hypervisor’s ability to partition a shared system ensures freedom from interference between different safety-related functions, aligning with industry best practices for safety and real-time critical applications.
- Seamless Integration: Leveraging the L4Re Operating System and Hypervisor Framework allows for seamless deployment of applications with minimal changes across the entire ARMv8-R spectrum, providing users with flexibility and adaptability.
“The L4Re Micro Hypervisor sets a new standard in virtualization technology, offering a safe upgrade path and minimizing efforts and time for certification. Its versatility, from small safety-critical systems to cloud server virtualization scenarios, makes it a valuable solution for industries relying on ARMv8-R technology”, says Dr.-Ing. Adam Lackorzynski, CTO of Kernkonzept.
Kernkonzept has recently published a comprehensive whitepaper exploring the diverse applications of the L4Re Micro Hypervisor in the automotive industry for virtualization on MPU-based processors. Authored by CTO Adam Lackorzynski and Senior Software Engineer Jan Klötzke, key contributors to the development of the software, this whitepaper provides valuable insights into the capabilities and potential of the L4Re Hypervisor. The document is available for download on Kernkonzept’s official website.
