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doc: update challenges
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Norman Feske
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@ -16,17 +16,6 @@ research projects on Genode.
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Applications and library infrastructure
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#######################################
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:GNU Privacy Guard:
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The [https://gnupg.org/ - GNU Privacy Guard] (GNUPG) is the most widely
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used Free-Software implementation of the OpenGPG standard. It comprises a
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rich set of tools for encryption and key management. For many forthcoming
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application scenarios of Genode such as package management and email
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communication, GNUPG is crucial. Hence, it should be ported to Genode. Such
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a port may leverage Genode's fine-grained component architecture to strongly
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separate network-exposed functionality, the storage of key material, and the
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cryptographic functions.
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:VNC server implementing Genode's framebuffer session interface:
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With 'Input' and 'Framebuffer', Genode provides two low-level interfaces
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@ -50,24 +39,6 @@ Applications and library infrastructure
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integrated in the operating system, i.e., in the form of Genode components
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or a set of Genode VFS plugins.
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:Tiled window manager:
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At Genode Labs, we pursue the goal to shape Genode into an general-purpose
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operating system suitable for productive work. The feature set needed to
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achieve this goal largely depends on the tools and applications daily used by
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the Genode engineers. As one particularly important tool for being highly
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productive, we identified a tiled user interface. Currently, all developers
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at Genode Labs embrace either the Ion3 window manager or the tiled Terminator
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terminal emulator. Hence, we desire to have a similar mode of user
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interaction on Genode as well. The goal of this challenge is to identify the
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most important usage patters and the implementation of a tiled GUI that
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multiplexes the framebuffer into a set of tiled and tabbed virtual
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framebuffers.
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Related to this work, the low-level 'Framebuffer' and 'Input' interfaces
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should be subject to a revision, for example for enabling the flexible change
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of framebuffer sizes as needed by a tiled user interface.
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:Interactive sound switchbox based on Genode's Audio_out session interface:
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Since version 10.05, Genode features a highly flexible configuration concept
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@ -116,6 +87,11 @@ Applications and library infrastructure
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of communicating threads as captured on the running system. The tool should
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work on a selected kernel that provides a facility for tracing IPC messages.
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The underlying light-weight tracing infrastructure is
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[https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/19.08#Tracinghttps://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/19.08#Tracing - already in place].
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The Qt-based tracing tools would complement this infrastructure with
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an interactive front end.
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:Ports of popular software:
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Genode features a ports mechanism to cleanly integrate 3rd-party software.
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@ -127,6 +103,18 @@ Applications and library infrastructure
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have available on Genode is available at
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[http://usr.sysret.de/jws/genode/porting_wishlist.html].
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:Native Open-Street-Maps (OSM) client:
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When using Sculpt OS, we regularly need to spawn a fully fledged web
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browser in a virtual machine for using OSM or Google maps. The goal
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of this project would be a native component that makes maps functionality
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directly available on Genode, alleviating the urge to reach for a SaaS
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product. The work would include a review of existing OSM clients regarding
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their feature sets and the feasibility of porting them to Genode.
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Depending on the outcome of this review, an existing application could
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be ported or a new component could be developed, e.g., leveraging Genode's
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Qt support.
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Application frameworks and runtime environments
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###############################################
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@ -135,18 +123,18 @@ Application frameworks and runtime environments
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[http://openjdk.java.net/ - OpenJDK] is the reference implementation of the
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Java programming language and hosts an enormous ecosystem of application
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software. The goal of this line of work is the ability to run this
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software directly on Genode. The centerpiece of OpenJDK is Hotspot - the
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Java virtual machine implementation, which must be ported to Genode.
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The initial port should suffice to execute simple example programs that
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operate on textual input. Since Genode has the FreeBSD libc readily
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available, OpenJDK's existing POSIX backends can be reused. The next step
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is the creation of Genode-specific native classes that bridge the gap
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between the Java world and Genode, in particular the glue code to
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run graphical applications as clients of Genode's GUI server. Since
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OpenJDK has been ported to numerous platforms (such as Haiku), there
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exists a comforting number of implementations that can be taken as
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reference.
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software.
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Since
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[https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/19.02#Showcase_of_a_Java-based_network_appliance - version 19.02],
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Genode features a port of OpenJDK that allows the use of Java for networking
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applications.
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The next step would be the creation of Genode-specific native classes that
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bridge the gap between the Java world and Genode, in particular the glue
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code to run graphical applications as clients of Genode's GUI server. Since
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OpenJDK has been ported to numerous platforms (such as Haiku), there exists
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a comforting number of implementations that can be taken as reference.
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:Android's ART VM natively on Genode:
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@ -155,22 +143,6 @@ Application frameworks and runtime environments
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removed from the trusted computing base of Android, facilitating the use of
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this mobile OS in high-assurance settings.
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:Rust bindings for the Genode API:
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Rust is a low-level systems programming language that ensures memory
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safety without employing a garbage collector. It thereby challenges C++
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as the go-to programming language for high-performance and low-level code.
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Since
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[http://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/16.05#New_support_for_the_Rust_programming_language - version 16.05],
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Genode supports the use of the Rust programming language within
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components. However, to unleash the potential of this combination,
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Genode's API must become available to native Rust code. The intermediate goal
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of this project is the implementation of an example server, e.g., a
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component that provides a terminal-session interface. Thereby, we
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will encounter the problems of bootstrapping and configuration of the
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component, the provisioning of signal handlers and session objects, and
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memory management.
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:Go language runtime:
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Go is a popular language in particular for web applications. In the past,
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@ -222,6 +194,33 @@ Application frameworks and runtime environments
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development is [http://halvm.org - HalVM] - a light-weight OS runtime for
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Xen that is based on Haskell.
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:Xlib compatibility:
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Developments like Wayland notwithstanding, most application software on
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GNU/Linux systems is built on top of the Xlib programming interface.
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However, only a few parts of this wide interface are actually used today.
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I.e., modern applications generally deal with pixel buffers instead of
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relying on graphical drawing primitives of the X protocol. Hence, it seems
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feasible to reimplement the most important parts of the Xlib interface to
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target Genode's native GUI interfaces (nitpicker) directly. This would
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allow us to port popular application software to Sculpt OS without
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changing the application code.
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:Bump-in-the-wire components for visualizing session interfaces:
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Genode's session interfaces bear the potential for monitoring and
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visualizing their use by plugging a graphical application
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in-between any two components. For example, by intercepting block
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requests issued by a block-session client to a block-device driver,
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such a bump-in-the-wire component could visualize
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the access patterns of a block device. Similar ideas could be pursued for
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other session interfaces, like the audio-out (sound visualization) or NIC
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session (live visualization of network communication).
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The visualization of system behavior would offer valuable insights,
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e.g., new opportunities for optimization. But more importantly, they
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would be extremely fun to play with.
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Virtualization
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##############
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@ -237,21 +236,6 @@ Virtualization
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is normally not possible. Also, complex Genode scenarios (like Turmvilla)
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could be prototyped on GNU/Linux.
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:VirtualBox on top of seL4:
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The [https://sel4.systems - seL4 microkernel] is a modern microkernel that
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undergoes formal verification to prove the absence of bugs. Since version
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4.0, the kernel supports virtualization support on x86-based hardware.
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Genode has experimental support for seL4 that allows almost all Genode
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components to be used on top of this kernel. VirtualBox is an exception
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because it closely interacts with the underlying kernel (like NOVA) to
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attain good performance. We have shown that VirtualBox can be executed
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within a protection domain of the NOVA microhypervisor. The goal of this
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project is the application of this approach to the virtualization
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interface of seL4. The result will be a VM hosting environment that
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ensures the separation of virtual machines via the formally verified
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seL4 kernel.
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:Xen as kernel for Genode:
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Using Xen as kernel for Genode would clear the way to remove the
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@ -294,22 +278,25 @@ Virtualization
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the project bears the opportunity to explore the provisioning of the
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KVM interface based on Genode's VFS plugin concept.
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:Hardware-accelerated graphics for virtual machines:
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In
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[https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/17.08#Hardware-accelerated_graphics_for_Intel_Gen-8_GPUs - Genode 17.08],
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we introduced a GPU multiplexer for Intel Broadwell along with support
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for Mesa-based 3D-accelerated applications.
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While designing Genode's GPU-session interface, we also aimed at supporting
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the hardware-accelerated graphics for Genode's virtual machine monitors like
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VirtualBox or Seoul, but until now, we did not took the practical steps of
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implementing a virtual GPU device model.
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The goal of this project is the offering of a virtual GPU to a Linux guest
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OS running on top of Genode's existing virtualization and driver
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infrastructure.
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Device drivers
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##############
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:Isochronous USB devices:
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Genode's USB driver supports bulk and interrupt endpoints. Thereby, most
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USB devices like USB storage, user input, printers, and networking devices
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can be used. However, multi-media devices such as cameras or audio
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equipment use isochronous endpoints, which are not supported. The goal
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of this line of work is the support of these devices in Genode. The topic
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touches the USB driver, the USB session interface, an example implementation
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of a USB client driver (using the session interface) for a device of choice,
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and - potentially - the enhancement of Genode's USB-pass-through mechanism
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for VirtualBox.
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:Sound on the Raspberry Pi:
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The goal of this project is a component that uses the Raspberry Pi's
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@ -318,18 +305,6 @@ Device drivers
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backend, the new driver will make the sound of all SDL-based games
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available on the Raspberry Pi.
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:Framebuffer for UEFI and Coreboot:
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By moving away from the legacy BIOS boot mechanism, it is time to
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reconsider closely related traditional approaches such as the use of
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the VESA BIOS extensions for accessing the frame buffer. On UEFI or
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Coreboot systems, there exist alternative ways to initialize and
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access the framebuffer in a hardware-independent way. On the course of
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this project, we will explore the available options and create dedicated
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Genode driver components that use the modern mechanisms.
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For reference, the current state of Genode's UEFI support is documented
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in [https://github.com/genodelabs/genode/issues/2242 - Issue 2242].
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:Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK):
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Genode utilizes the network device drivers of the iPXE project, which
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@ -357,8 +332,22 @@ Platforms
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Genode functionality such as its native GUI, lwIP, and Noux, many protocol
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stacks can effectively be removed from the Linux kernel.
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The goal of this project is to evaluate how small the Linux kernel can get
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when used as a microkernel.
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In 2018, Johannes Kliemann pursued this topic to a state where Genode
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could be used as init process atop a customized Linux kernel.
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[https://lists.genode.org/pipermail/users/2018-May/006066.html - His work]
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included the execution of Genode's regular device drivers for VESA and
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PS/2 as regular Genode components so that Genode's interactive demo
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scenario ran happily on a laptop. At this time, however, only parts of
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his results were merged into Genode's mainline.
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The goal of this project is to follow up on Johannes' work, bring the
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[https://github.com/genodelabs/genode/pull/2829 - remaining parts] into
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shape for the inclusion into Genode, and address outstanding topics, in
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particular the handling of DMA by user-level device drivers. Further down
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the road, it would be tempting to explore the use of
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[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seccomp - seccomp] as sandboxing mechanism
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for Genode on Linux and the improvement of the Linux-specific implementation
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of Genode's object-capability model.
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:Support for the HelenOS/SPARTAN kernel:
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@ -381,34 +370,30 @@ Platforms
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kernel is used for Mac OS X, it could represent an industry-strength
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base platform for Genode supporting all CPU features as used by Mac OS X.
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:Linux process containers for supporting Genode`s resource trading:
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:Genode on the Librem5 phone hardware:
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Even though the Linux version of Genode is primarily meant as a development
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platform, there exist interesting opportunities to explore when combining
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Genode with Linux, in particular Linux' process containers.
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Linux process containers provide a mechanism to partition physical resources,
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foremost CPU time, between Linux processes. This raises the interesting
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question of whether this mechanism could be used for a proper implementation
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of Genode's resource trading on Linux.
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[http://lwn.net/Articles/236038/ - Process containers introduction...]
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Even though there exists a great variety of ARM-based SoCs, Genode
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primarily focuses on the NXP i.MX family because it is - in contrast
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to most SoCs in the consumer space - very liberal in terms of
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good-quality public documentation and reference code, and it scales
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from industrial to end-user-facing use cases (multi-media).
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The [https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/ - Librem5] project - with its
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mission to build a trustworthy mobile phone - has chosen the i.MX family as
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the basis for their product for likely the same reasons that attract us.
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To goal of this work is bringing Genode to the Librem5 hardware.
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For the Librem5 project, Genode could pave the ground towards new use cases
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like high-security markets where a regular Linux-based OS would not be
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accepted. For the Genode community, the Librem5 hardware could become an
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attractive mobile platform for everyday use, similar to how we developers
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use our Genode-based [https://genode.org/download/sculpt - Sculpt OS] on our
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laptops.
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Optimizations
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#############
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:Low-latency audio streaming:
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Genode comes with an audio streaming interface called 'Audio_out' session.
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It is based on a shared-memory packet stream accompanied with asynchronous
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data-flow signals. For real-time audio processing involving chains of Genode
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components, streams of audio data must be carried at low latency, imposing
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constraints to buffer sizes and the modes of operation of the audio mixer and
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audio drivers. The goal of this project is to create a holistic design of the
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whole chain of audio processing, taking thread-scheduling into account. A
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particular challenge is the mixed output of real-time (small buffer, low
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latency) and non-real-time (larger buffer to compensate jitter, higher
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latency) audio sources.
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:De-privileging the VESA graphics driver:
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The VESA graphics driver executes the graphics initialization code provided
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