First open source Xen hypervisor for MIPS64 processors
The Xen hypervisor provides secure infrastructure virtualization that enables multiple instances of the same or different operating systems on a single processor such as the Netlogic’s XLP and XLP II multi-core, multi-threaded processors.
Service providers, data centers and enterprises are increasingly embracing virtualization to increase hardware processing utilization and efficiency, unify networking and server farms, and reduce complexity and total cost of ownership. Each operating system will not only run completely independently, but also securely so that the software running on one operating system is protected from that on another operating system. Multiple applications, therefore, can run on a single processor, but operate completely independently from each other. This allows developers the opportunity to create compact, multi-function systems solutions that take full advantage of multi-core processors while minimizing power consumption. For example, a base station can be designed to provide both 3G and LTE services with a single processor, ultimately reducing the cost and complexity of the hardware, while enhancing the flexibility and capability of the system solution.
The flagship XLP processor family in 40nm operates at up to 2GHz and delivers cache-coherent scalability of up to 128 NXCPUs, while the next-generation XLP II processor family is designed for up to 2.5GHz and scalability up to 640 NXCPUs in a 28nm process. The Xen hypervisor is a thin software layer that resides between the operating system and the processor, thus providing an abstraction layer that allows each processor to run as multiple virtualized processors. As a unique open-source technology, the Xen hypervisor is developed collaboratively by a broad community of OEMs, software and application providers, and semiconductor vendors.
“We are pleased to spearhead and pioneer the all-important virtualization efforts for MIPS64 multi-core communications processors. Because our embedded multi-core processors are designed to deliver the highest performance per core, they lend themselves particularly well to virtualization techniques by our leading customer base,” said Chris O’Reilly, vice president of marketing at NetLogic Microsystems, now a subsidiary of Broadcom. “Our Xen hypervisor extends our technology leadership and helps our customers and partners create new and innovative solutions with our revolutionary XLP and XLP II processor families.”
The Xen hypervisor will be submitted to the open source community in the first quarter of 2012.
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