L4 Based Operating Systems

L4Linux

L4Linux is a port of Linux to the L4 µ-kernel. L4Linux runs as an L4 server in user-mode, side-by-side with other L4 applications (e.g. real-time components). It is currently running on x86 and ARM and it is binary compatible with the native Linux kernels.

Mungi Single-Address-Space OS

A single address space operating system (SASOS) on top of L4. The goal of the project is to show that a SASOS can work on standard hardware, can be made as secure as traditional systems, is not inherently less efficient that traditional systems, and that for some classes of important applications it delivers performance advantages over traditional systems.

Iguana

Iguana is designed as a base for the provision of operating system (OS) services on top of the L4 microkernel, presently the Version 4 API as implemented by L4Ka::Pistachio, and we are observing ongoing developments of a security-enhanced L4 API; Iguana's design is meant to be easily adapted to new APIs. It provides the underlying OS for Wombat, our port of Linux to L4.

Iguana borrows many ideas from the Mungi operating system, however it is designed, primarily, for use in embedded systems. The implications of this are:

• Iguana complements, rather than hides the underlying L4 API. It provides services virtually every OS environment requires, such as memory and protection management, and a device driver framework;
• the memory and cache footprints of Iguana are kept small;
• low-overhead sharing of data is supported;
• Iguana attempts to provide the best possible performance on typical embedded processors. In particular, it supports the separation of protection and translation that is a feature of some embedded processors, such as ARM cores, by encouraging a non-overlapping address-space layout.

Wombat

Wombat is a port of Linux 2.6 to run on top of the Iguana L4 based operating system. It is aimed at embedded systems and designed to be cross-platform, currently running on IA32, ARM and MIPS64. Unlike some other Linux ports, it uses the native Linux scheduler to determine scheduling policy of Linux applications.

DROPS

The DROPS project aims at supporting applications with Quality of Service requirements. L4Linux is used for servicing standard Linux applications. Specific real-time applications are served by a set of real-time components running on top of L4.

Perseus

Security critical applications like electronic signatures, online banking, or e-government do not only need secure cryptography, but also a trustworthy platform that reliably separates different applications from each other and that comes with a user interface that ensures that Trojan horses cannot intercept the user authorization (e.g., a passphrase). PERSEUS is an open-source project that shows that this can be achieved with much less programming effort and more flexibility than typically thought.

Hurd/L4

The L4-Hurd project aims to port the current HURD multiserver operating system and use the advantages of L4's fast IPC and slimness. Furthermore, this project could make HURD independend of MACH.

L4minix

L4minix is an experimental/etude porting of Minix on the L4Ka micro kernel for future extension.

E1 Distributed Operating System

E1 is a distributed operating system project based on the concepts of object replication, component model support, and persistence. To provide applications with transparent access to all resources of the computer network, state and functionality of operating syste components and application software are encapsulated by distributed objects.