Mobile virtualization
Mobile virtualization is a technology that enables multiple operating systems or virtual machines to run simultaneously on a mobile phone or connected wireless device. It uses a hypervisor to create secure separation between the underlying hardware and the software that runs on top of it. Virtualization technology has been used widely for many years in other fields such as data servers (storage virtualization) and personal computers (desktop virtualization).
In 2008, the mobile industry became interested in using the benefits of virtualization technology for cell phones and other devices like tablets, netbooks and machine-to-machine (M2M) modules.[1] With mobile virtualization, mobile devices can be manufacturered more cheaply through the re-use of software and hardware, which shortens development time. One such example is using mobile virtualization to create low-cost Android smartphones.[2] Semiconductor vendors such as ST-Ericsson have adopted mobile virtualization as part of their low-cost Android platform strategy.[3]
Another use case for mobile virtualization is in the enterprise market. Today, many consumers carry two mobile phones: one for business use and another for personal use. With mobile virtualization, mobile phones can support multiple domains/operating systems on the same hardware, so that the enterprise IT department can securely manage one domain (in a virtual machine), and the mobile operator can separately manage the other domain (in a virtual machine)[4].
In the connected world where devices with legacy operating systems such as televisions and entertainment systems are looking to be connected to the internet, mobile virtualization will enable both the legacy OS and the web-focused OS (e.g. Android) to coexist on the same hardware. One of the benefits of mobile virtualization is that both operating systems can coexist in a seamless manner to the user. For example pressing one button on remote control will access a feature that is part of the legacy OS and pressing another button will access the web.
Mobile virtualization can support mobile devices using a single-core or a multi-core processor. In September 2010, ARM announced[5] that it would support a mobile virtualization extension in its ARM Cortex A-15 processor.
References
- ^ "Virtualization Goes Mobile", Bloomberg BusinessWeek - April 22, 2008, retrieved 2008-04-22
- ^ "Low cost Android: crossing the $100 barrier", VisionMobile Blog - February 7, 2010, retrieved 2010-02-07
- ^ "VirtualLogix VLX Virtualization Software Selected by ST-Ericsson for Low-Cost Android-Ready Smartphone Platform", TMCnet - February 18, 2010, retrieved 2010-02-18
- ^ "VMware foresees mobile virtualization in 2010", Cnet News - May 21, 2009, retrieved 2009-05-21
- ^ "ARM Unveils Cortex-A15 MPCore Processor to Dramatically Accelerate Capabilities of Mobile, Consumer and Infrastructure Applications", ARM News Release - September 8, 2010, retrieved 2010-09-08
External links
- Mobile Virtualization News at Virtualization.net
- Green Hills Software
- OK Labs
- Red Bend Software
- VirtualLogix
- VMware
- B Labs