Congatec x86 Computer-on-Modules Now Include Standard Hypervisor Firmware

Congatec, a leading provider of computer-on-modules, has announced that it will now ship its x86 computer-on-modules with an installed hypervisor as a standard feature. The hypervisor in question is related to RTS Hypervisor from Real-Time Systems, a company owned by Congatec, and is installed as part of the BIOS.

"It uses the same technology as RTS Hypervisor, but it is integrated in the modules," the company explained. "It is not stand-alone software like RTS Hypervisor. Instead, it is a bare-metal hypervisor, also known as a hypervisor type 1, which runs directly on the hardware without the need for a host operating system, unlike type 2 hypervisors such as VMware."

Hypervisors play a crucial role in allowing different blocks of code, such as operating systems, to share the same hardware without any interaction between them. This strict separation enhances security and reliability, as the hypervisor prevents hacking from one block to another and ensures that one code block crashing does not affect others. Hypervisors achieve this by carefully time-sharing and partitioning resources, including multiple cores and memory, between the running programs.

In the case of Congatec, each operating system is assigned to run on its own core or set of cores and I/Os, such as PCIe, Ethernet, or USB. This allows each OS to run independently from one another. The hypervisor provides customers with a software and hardware package that is already qualified to support real-time applications, as the real-time behavior of the modules has already been verified. Currently, the hypervisor can host various operating systems, including Windows 10, Windows 11, Debian, Ubuntu, VxWorks, Xenomai, TenAsys Intime distributed RTOS, QNX Neutrino, and Real-Time Linux. Support for other operating systems can be added upon request.

While the installed firmware does not affect the cost of buying the module, a license fee is due if purchasers choose to use the hypervisor. However, customers can use it for a limited trial time at no cost. The company also offers optional nested virtualization with container and virtual machine (VM) support. Nested virtualization allows running a VM on top of another hypervisor, rather than on physical hardware. This feature enables individual workloads to be decoupled from each other, increasing reliability.

For more information about Congatec's hypervisor-inclusive computer-on-modules, please visit their website.