LynxSecure hypervisor now at v. 6.0; runs on ARM v8 architecture
The initial port for LynxSecure 6.0 will be available on the Xilinx Zynq Ultrascale+ MPSoC. LynxSecure 6.0 adds support for the ARMv8-A architecture to existing Intel x86 support, offering both the virtualization and hardware protection capabilities that allow LynxSecure to offer real-time performance while maintaining the highest levels of security. LynxSecure supports the 64-bit architecture of Armv8-A, and allows for both 32 and 64-bit virtualized guest OSs to run without modification. LynxSecure fully supports multi-core ARM SoCs by offering core-to-guest OS affinity, support for multi-core guest OSs, and core sharing across multiple guest OSs, enabling developers to take full advantage of multi-core systems.
Lynx adds, “LynxSecure 6.0 brings a whole new development paradigm to ARM-based designers, allowing the mixing and matching of runtime environments on multi-core ARM-based SoCs. Developers can run safety-critical OSes and applications next to general purpose OSes on a single SoC without compromising the performance, safety or features of either, because LynxSecure 6.0 offers true security separation between these different environments and the devices that they use.”
LynxSecure takes advantage of the MMU, SMMU, and virtualization capabilities found on ARM Cortex-A processors to fully isolate OSs and applications, and allows access only to the devices allocated to them. This isolation allows for efficient security to be built into the next generation of connected devices by separating the “connected” domain from other critical computing domains and protecting the system from IT-borne threats.
ARM comments, “Optimizations for Armv8-A in LynxSecure Separation Kernel Hypervisor enable the partitioning of specific functions. Now developers can safely consolidate traditionally separate hardware systems onto one physical SoC, resulting in performance, energy efficiency and cost benefits in automotive applications.”
The first SoC supported by LynxSecure 6.0 is the Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC, which contains four Cortex-A53 cores, as well as FPGA fabric. LynxSecure’s ability to run different environments of mixed criticality on the same SoC is, Lynx comments, “very synergistic” with Xilinx’s approach of hardware separation between the FPGA fabric and the on-chip processor cores and it offers developers the most flexible approach to supporting critical computing functions.
Lynx Software Technologies; www.lynx.com
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