Can VxWorks and Linux Run Simultaneously on MPSoC?

The Xen hypervisor project began at the University of Cambridge in the 1990s and became open source in 2002. Today, it is one of the most popular open-source hypervisors, usable in cloud computing. Xilinx and DornerWorks have applied this virtualization platform on the Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC, allowing Xen to shine. It ensures security, multifunctionality, and multi-OS performance on ARM platforms while reducing system size and power consumption. Today, I will take you through the advantages of the Xen platform.

First, let’s look at the application scenarios of Xen and then extend our discussion to Zynq. Wind River has just published a blog describing how to run VxWorks and Linux simultaneously on the ARM Cortex-A53 processor. To run VxWorks and Linux on the same system, developers need to provide a hybrid software system that combines the strengths of both operating systems, allowing VxWorks to manage urgent tasks while Linux handles human-computer interaction and connects to cloud platforms. The blog describes the application scenario where VxWorks runs on a platform with signal processing and spectrum analysis capabilities, highlighting its real-time performance. The analysis results are integrated into a JSON data stream, which then flows through a virtual network into the Ubuntu system. The Apache2 HTTP server in Ubuntu creates images using Node.js and Chart.js, sending the results to the browser, as shown in Figure 1, which describes the block diagram of VxWorks and Linux running simultaneously on Xen.

Figure 1: Running Xen on ARM platform, managing Ubuntu and VxWorks simultaneously

Running Wind River’s real-time operating system VxWorks alongside Linux on the Xen hypervisor is a win-win situation. The Xen hypervisor is an open-source virtualization platform from the Linux Foundation. DornerWorks has also released a version of the Xen hypervisor called Virtuosity (previously known as the Xen Zynq allocation manager), which can run on the ARM Cortex-A53 processor core inside the Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC. Therefore, Wind River and DornerWorks have collaborated to create a Xen hypervisor solution specifically for the VxWorks and Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC ZCU102 eval kit platform. DornerWorks announced that it will provide the Xen hypervisor to the Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC, helping Zynq’s industrial applications to develop better, especially for signal acquisition and parallel processing algorithms that require high performance.

Virtuosity is specifically tailored for Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ and can be easily downloaded from DornerWorks’ website. It can be easily booted from the Xilinx Zynq board, and users can follow the manual to install Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and VxWorks. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Are you eager to get a Zynq to try it out?