Towards a lightweight embedded virtualization architecture exploiting ARM TrustZone

Virtualization has been used as the de facto technology to allow multiple operating systems (virtual machines) to run on top of the same hardware platform. In the embedded systems domain, virtualization research has focused on the coexistence of real-time requirements with non-real-time characteristics. However, existent standard software-based virtualization solutions have been shown to negatively impact the overall system, especially in performance, memory footprint and determinism. This work in progress paper presents the implementation of an embedded virtualization architecture through commodity hardware. ARM TrustZone technology is exploited to implement a lightweight virtualization solution with low overhead and high determinism, corroborated by promising preliminary results. Research roadmap is also pointed and discussed.