Hybrid VMM Partitioning Micro-Hypervisor and Service VMs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing virtualization platforms face challenges in portability and reliability due to their reliance on specific architectures, such as hypervisor-based and host-based systems, which limit guest VM access to hardware and suffer from stability issues and portability constraints.
Innovation Solution
A hybrid virtual machine monitor (VMM) architecture is introduced, partitioning functionality into a micro-hypervisor and service virtual machines (SVMs), allowing deprivileged service provision and enhanced security, reliability, and availability by separating privilege levels and using hardware virtualization support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a hypervisor-based VMM architecture is used, then full control over underlying platform and hardware access is achieved, but device complexity and portability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the VMM functionality into two distinct parts: a minimal privileged hypervisor component that handles only essential hardware virtualization, and service virtual machines that run at deprivileged levels. This segmentation allows the core hypervisor to remain simple and portable across different platforms, while service functions can be selectively implemented or removed based on platform-specific requirements, thereby improving portability without sacrificing functionality.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a hosted VMM architecture is used, then stability is improved by relying on hosting OS, but control over guest VMs and scheduling is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different privilege levels to different VMM components based on their specific functional requirements. The hypervisor portion operates at the highest privilege level (ring -1 or root mode) to maintain direct control over hardware and guest VM scheduling, while service virtual machines operate at deprivileged levels. This localized privilege assignment allows each component to have the appropriate level of control and stability it needs, rather than uniformly elevating or reducing privileges across the entire system.
3Reliability
If deprivileged service virtual machines are used, then security and reliability are improved, but device complexity increases due to partitioning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism where the privileged hypervisor acts as a mediator between the deprivileged service virtual machines and the underlying hardware/platform. Service VMs can request hardware access or privileged operations through controlled interfaces provided by the hypervisor, which validates and executes these requests. This intermediary approach allows service VMs to remain deprivileged (improving security and reliability) while still accessing necessary platform resources through the hypervisor's mediation, without requiring complex direct access mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
In some embodiments, the invention involves a system to deprivilege components of a virtual machine monitor and enable deprivileged service virtual machines (SVMs) to handle selected trapped events. An embodiment of the invention is a hybrid VMM operating on a platform with hardware virtualization support. The hybrid VMM utilizes features from both hypervisor-based and host-based VMM architectures. In at least one embodiment, the functionality of a traditional VMM is partitioned into a small platform-dependent part called a micro-hypervisor (MH) and one or more platform-independent parts called service virtual machines (SVMs). The micro-hypervisor operates at a higher virtual machine (VM) privilege level than any SVM, while the SVM and other VMs may still have access to any instruction set architecture (ISA) privilege level. Other embodiments are described and claimed.