Genode and Android

[Norman Feske]

Hello Steven,

thanks for your interest in Genode!

> If one wanted to run Android OS on ARM hardware with Genode
> underneath, what are the available options?   On x86, Virtualbox
> ought to be up to the job, but without something like the
> (seemingly offline) L4Android port, the options for virtualizing
> Android on Genode appear limited.   Has anyone tried this recently,
> and if nothing off the shelf will do it now, what path looks most
> promising?

In principle, there are two options:

First, one could run Genode in the "normal world" of ARM TrustZone as
exemplified in the scenarios described in [1] and [2]. The feasibility
of this approach pretty much depends on the target device.
Unfortunately, most devices on the market are locked down with respect
to TrustZone.

Second, one could leverage ARM's virtualization extensions as we
described in [3]. Our virtual-machine monitor is rather limited though.
It is able to boot a simple Linux system but in order to run a full
Android system, one would need to supplement the ability to pass-through
peripheral devices to the guest or to provide virtualized device models
for the devices expected by Android.

Admittedly, we haven't observed much interest in running Android on top
of Genode so far. Hence, we haven't pursued either direction in the
recent past.

[1] http://genode.org/documentation/articles/trustzone
[2] http://genode.org/documentation/articles/usb_armory
[3] http://genode.org/documentation/articles/arm_virtualization

Best regards
Norman

-- 
Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske
Genode Labs

http://www.genode-labs.com · http://genode.org

Genode Labs GmbH · Amtsgericht Dresden · HRB 28424 · Sitz Dresden
Geschäftsführer: Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske, Christian Helmuth