In the embedded world, we have all been talking about multicore technology for a long while and we have now seen the first large scale wave of adoption of multicore chips, in particular in telecommunications equipment. Typical applications are those needing massive compute power or high data throughput capabilities. In these projects, one of the challenges HW/SW project teams are facing is how to really take advantage of the hardware, be it for control plane applications or for fastpath/data plane applications. Linux is used in many of these projects with good results, but we now know that Linux needs to be pushed way beyond where it is today in order to meet the needs of fast path applications (performance), power management and security. If Linux can be tuned and optimized for multicore use cases, it will reduce the need for additional technologies such as Hypervisors/Supervisors, Real Time Operating Systems, Bare Metal Executives, reducing the complexity and risk of multicore projects.
Where it gets even more interesting is when multicore goes more mainstream, and in particular when used for hardware consolidation, for example combining one board dedicated to a single function like controlling a robot’s motion with one board doing a different function, such as visualization /UI. Here the complexity stems from the legacy code, having to move, port, migrate or re-develop a lot of existing applications. It can be further compounded when some application are certified (and costly to re-certify), large/complex, or old. This is a world many OEMs have not been gearing up for, with specialized development teams focused on different HW platforms, and different OS environments (Windows, RTOS). We are working with the Open Source community, with the silicon vendors and with our customers to expand the applicability of Linux-based technologies, including virtualization, to help (i) with the transitions for consolidation and migration, (ii) take full advantage of the silicon features, and (iii) make things simpler, faster and cheaper.
