Live Workload Migration Across Mismatched Embedded Hosts
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Live migration of virtual machines in embedded systems, such as those in vehicles, faces challenges due to differences in hardware configurations, safety integrity levels, and input/output requirements, making it difficult to select a suitable target host and maintain operational continuity.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that determine workload data and configuration data for active workloads, allowing the selection of a target host based on hardware support requirements and configuration data, and utilize tunneling agents to access uncommon I/O, enabling seamless migration of workloads from a source host to a target host.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If live migration is performed between embedded systems with different hardware configurations, then operational continuity is maintained, but compatibility issues arise due to differences in safety integrity levels, processor extensions, and I/O requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces tunneling agents as intermediary software components that run on both source and target hosts. These agents create virtualized access paths that allow the migrated workload to access I/O devices on the target host as if they were directly connected, thereby bridging the hardware compatibility gap between different embedded systems with varying I/O configurations
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes the I/O access parameters by redirecting I/O operations through tunneling agents. When a workload is migrated, the I/O mapping information is updated to point to the tunneling agents on the target host, which then forward these operations to the actual physical I/O devices, effectively adapting the I/O interface to match the workload's requirements regardless of the underlying hardware differences
2Productivity
If traditional live migration methods are used in embedded systems, then migration can be performed, but system downtime occurs due to hardware configuration mismatches
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring tunneling agents on potential target hosts before migration occurs. The system evaluates candidate hosts and pre-establishes the tunneling infrastructure, so that when migration is initiated, the target host is already prepared to immediately accept the workload and its I/O operations without requiring post-migration configuration or causing extended downtime
3Adaptability or versatility
If embedded systems with different safety integrity levels are used for migration, then resource utilization is improved, but safety requirements may not be met
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the system evaluates the safety integrity level requirements of the workload being migrated and compares them against the capabilities of candidate target hosts. This feedback loop ensures that only hosts meeting the required safety integrity level are selected as migration targets, thereby maintaining safety requirements while still allowing flexible resource utilization across the embedded system fleet
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are systems and methods for performing live migration from a source host to a target host. In one example, a processor of the system is configured to determine workload data for active workloads utilizing the source host and available live migration candidate hosts and select the target host from the live migration candidate hosts based on the workload requirement information and configuration data of the live migration candidate hosts. Once selected, the system will determine and execute a migration routine for migrating the active workloads from the source host to the target host.