A Virtualization Architecture for Next Generation In-Car Infotainment Applications

Despite the demand for an increasingly rich infotainment environment in cars, the pressure for reduced space, weight, and cost remains steadfast. Although a PC-like environment with office and internet applications is desired, incompatible requirements, including real-time performance, fast start-up times, and bullet-proof security cannot be achieved with legacy PC operating systems alone. A real-time, secure microkernel with virtualization technology can be used to enable these incompatible requirements on a single computer, thereby keeping size, weight, and cost in check. Applications requiring fast start-up, real-time, or security can be run directly on the microkernel, while multiple legacy PC operating systems and applications, can be run in their own virtual environments.