Device driver virtualisation

Abstract

Device Drivers have evolved from primitive platform-dependent assembly language real-mode applications to more standardized programs written according to device driver models specified by modern operating systems. The USB protocol and architecture has standardized device control even further, both in terms of communication between the driver and the device, as well as the interface of the driver with the operating system. This has led to the increase in popularity of third parties developing device drivers. However, due to various reasons this standardization has not simplified driver development as much as similar standardization and sandboxing architectures used in application development. The main reason for this limitation is the heavy dependency of device drivers on the underlying hardware and software platform - especially the operating system. This has led to serious drawbacks concerning device driver interoperability among different operating systems and hardware platforms, as well as kernel stability. A number of existing solutions for this problem are based on virtualization techniques, and are mainly concerned with providing a virtualised platform on which the drivers execute. Throughout this dissertation this problem will be analyzed together with existing solutions. Further on, a new approach for improving driver interoperability and platform stability will be suggested. This approach is based around a device driver interpretation method, and platform interface adaptation mechanisms based on standard virtualisation technologies that are applied depending on the driver's contents, and the platform's characteristics.