Open Kernel Labs
Encyclopedia
Open Kernel Labs is a privately owned company that develops microkernel-based hypervisors and operating systems for embedded system
s. The company was founded in 2006 by Steve Subar and Gernot Heiser
as a spinout from NICTA. It is headquartered in Chicago
, while research and development
is located in Sydney, Australia
.
system software platform for embedded systems that can be used as a hypervisor
as well as a simple real-time operating system
with memory protection
. The OKL4 "microvisor" is based upon the L4
microkernel
. OKL4 is a Type I Embedded Hypervisor
and runs on single- and multi-core platforms based on ARM
, x86 and MIPS
processors.
OKL4 has been deployed on over 300 million devices, mostly mobile phones, both as a baseband
operating system and for hosting guest operating systems. Most notable and visible is the company's design win at Motorola
for the Evoke QA4 messaging phone, the first phone which employs virtualization to support two concurrent operating systems (Linux
and BREW
) on a single processor core.
) and OK:Android (Android).
which originated in the early 1990s at German research Lab GMD, further developed at IBM Watson Research Center, the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, the University of New South Wales
and NICTA. As commercial ventures, OK Labs and OKL4 were launched by NICTA in 2006, with additional investment by Citrix and other venture partners. OK Labs technology continues to benefit from ties to academia and research projects, to NICTA, and to the global open-source community.
In May 2010, FierceWireless names Open Kernel Labs as one of its “Fierce 15” Wireless Companies of 2010.
In January 2010, Mobile Virtualization Pioneer named Open Kernel Labs a Finalist In Red Herring
2009 Global 100 Award.
In September 2008, Open Kernel Labs named Best Product Finalist in Design News Magazine’s 2008 Golden Mousetrap Award.
Embedded system
An embedded system is a computer system designed for specific control functions within a larger system. often with real-time computing constraints. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and mechanical parts. By contrast, a general-purpose computer, such as a personal...
s. The company was founded in 2006 by Steve Subar and Gernot Heiser
Gernot Heiser
Gernot Heiser is a Scientia Professor and the John Lions Chair for operating systems at the University of New South Wales . He is also leader of the at NICTA. In 2006 he co-founded Open Kernel Labs to commercialise his L4 microkernel technology...
as a spinout from NICTA. It is headquartered in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, while research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
is located in Sydney, Australia
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
OKL4 Microvisor
OKL4 is an open sourceOpen source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
system software platform for embedded systems that can be used as a hypervisor
Hypervisor
In computing, a hypervisor, also called virtual machine manager , is one of many hardware virtualization techniques that allow multiple operating systems, termed guests, to run concurrently on a host computer. It is so named because it is conceptually one level higher than a supervisory program...
as well as a simple real-time operating system
Real-time operating system
A real-time operating system is an operating system intended to serve real-time application requests.A key characteristic of a RTOS is the level of its consistency concerning the amount of time it takes to accept and complete an application's task; the variability is jitter...
with memory protection
Memory protection
Memory protection is a way to control memory access rights on a computer, and is a part of most modern operating systems. The main purpose of memory protection is to prevent a process from accessing memory that has not been allocated to it. This prevents a bug within a process from affecting...
. The OKL4 "microvisor" is based upon the L4
L4 microkernel family
L4 is a family of second-generation microkernels, generally used to implement Unix-like operating systems, but also used in a variety of other systems.L4 was a response to the poor performance of earlier microkernel-base operating systems...
microkernel
Microkernel
In computer science, a microkernel is the near-minimum amount of software that can provide the mechanisms needed to implement an operating system . These mechanisms include low-level address space management, thread management, and inter-process communication...
. OKL4 is a Type I Embedded Hypervisor
Embedded Hypervisor
Software virtualization has been a major topic in the enterprise space for quite some time, but has become an important technology for embedded systems only in the last few years. The application of the technology to the enterprise space has been well described elsewhere by companies such as...
and runs on single- and multi-core platforms based on ARM
ARM architecture
ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Holdings. It was named the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that, the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in numbers produced...
, x86 and MIPS
MIPS architecture
MIPS is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies . The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit, and later versions were 64-bit...
processors.
OKL4 has been deployed on over 300 million devices, mostly mobile phones, both as a baseband
Baseband
In telecommunications and signal processing, baseband is an adjective that describes signals and systems whose range of frequencies is measured from close to 0 hertz to a cut-off frequency, a maximum bandwidth or highest signal frequency; it is sometimes used as a noun for a band of frequencies...
operating system and for hosting guest operating systems. Most notable and visible is the company's design win at Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
for the Evoke QA4 messaging phone, the first phone which employs virtualization to support two concurrent operating systems (Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and BREW
Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless
Brew is an application development platform created by Qualcomm, originally for CDMA mobile phones, featuring third party applications such as mobile games. It is offered in some feature phones but not in smart phones...
) on a single processor core.
Paravirtualized Guest OSes
OK Labs also supplies ready-to-integrate paravirtualized guest application operating systems, including OK:Symbian (SymbianOS), OK:Linux (LinuxLinux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
) and OK:Android (Android).
Background
OK Labs and OKL4 are the result of collaboration among academia, business, and open-source development. OK Labs technology is derived from the L4 microkernelL4 microkernel family
L4 is a family of second-generation microkernels, generally used to implement Unix-like operating systems, but also used in a variety of other systems.L4 was a response to the poor performance of earlier microkernel-base operating systems...
which originated in the early 1990s at German research Lab GMD, further developed at IBM Watson Research Center, the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, the University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
and NICTA. As commercial ventures, OK Labs and OKL4 were launched by NICTA in 2006, with additional investment by Citrix and other venture partners. OK Labs technology continues to benefit from ties to academia and research projects, to NICTA, and to the global open-source community.
Awards & recognitions
In July 2010, Open Kernel Labs was recognized 2010 Hottest Companies in the Midwest” by Lead411.In May 2010, FierceWireless names Open Kernel Labs as one of its “Fierce 15” Wireless Companies of 2010.
In January 2010, Mobile Virtualization Pioneer named Open Kernel Labs a Finalist In Red Herring
Red herring
A red herring is a deliberate attempt to divert attention.Red herring may refer to:* Red herring , the informal fallacy of presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but does not address the issue in question....
2009 Global 100 Award.
In September 2008, Open Kernel Labs named Best Product Finalist in Design News Magazine’s 2008 Golden Mousetrap Award.