Intel will add platform virtualization technology to its high-end chipsets in 2005, and to higher volume chips in 2006, according to a story at ExtremeTech. The technology — codenamed “Vanderpool” — may interest embedded developers, especially if it can simultaneously run Linux alongside legacy RTOSes (real-time operating systems).

Vanderpool was originally due in 2006, but has been pushed ahead on Intel's release roadmap, according to Mark Hachman, author of the ExtremeTech article. According to Hachman, Intel has already demonstrated Linux and Windows running on the same system, with users able to toggle quickly between the two environments.

If Vanderpool can run Linux simultaneously alongside legacy RTOSes, it may prove useful in certain embedded devices and systems. Telecommunications and consumer electronics developers, in particular, are attracted to Linux for its wealth of applications and drivers, yet they often need to support data plane and signal processing applications that require the high determinism of a hard real-time operating system. Current software approaches to platform virtualization include Jaluna's OSware, which recently garnered €12M in venture funding, and the open source Xen and Adeos projects.

Read the complete ExtremeTech article for more details about Vanderpool and the related “Silvervale” project:

 
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