Using Virtualization to Build the Next Mobile Phone

VirtualLogix brings its virtualization software to the mobile phone. In this example a mobile phone designer used one chip for both the baseband access and the operating system thus reducing the number of chips in the phone. This starts to look a little bit like software defined radio where more and more of the functionality of the phone moves from hardware into software.

The mobile phone is rich with features with varying requirements – some features require security, others require ease of use, and so on. Virtualization solves the problem by customizing each feature with its own virtual machine. Chips are reused, software is customized, and the entire unit goes to the next level of efficiency. Check out this blog post on the subject.

Another benefit of virtualization for the mobile phone is the ability to gather up any application regardless of the OS in which it is written and bring it together into a single phone. In this article the author shows how one can take Blackberry applications and run them on the iPhone using virtualization techniques.

If virtualization can optimize and speed the build out of a mobile phone, then it could certainly help optimize and build out a measurement and automation system. Given the rise of Linux and the need to combine it with legacy Windows-based device drivers, virtualization can become rather attractive.

Best regards,
Hall T.