================================================ Genode Labs Newsletter - August / September 2021 ================================================ Content 1. Conquering hardware-accelerated graphics 2. Genode OS Framework 21.08 released 1. Conquering hardware-accelerated graphics ------------------------------------------- Hardware-accelerated graphics is arguably the most complex and - at the same time - least understood corner of operating systems. Even though we experimented with Intel GPUs off-and-on over the years, a clean architectural integration of GPU support into Genode's rigid component architecture seemed out of reach. This year however, we went all-in, making GPU support one of our core missions. Aspiring generality across different hardware, we followed two lines of work in tandem: One line of development was concerned with today's commodity Intel GPUs on PC platforms. It dealt with the challenges of covering all recent GPU generations with our custom low-complexity GPU multiplexer, and untangling the interplay between GPU and display hardware so that each of both functions can be operated with a dedicated sandboxed driver. The second line of development was the exploration of GPUs on ARM platforms, specifically the Vivante GPU as used by the NXP i.MX family. Here, we went for the approach of porting a driver from the Linux kernel instead of pursuing an implementation from scratch. So we could learn the time-tested established patterns of how GPUs are operated and integrated on Linux. Both developments eventually joined for the design of Genode's general GPU interface between applications and GPU driver, and for the application-side driver stack, based on Mesa. We are more than happy to report that this approach of conquering the GPU topic - wide and deep - was a resounding success. Using one unified interface, the upcoming version of Sculpt OS will unleash Intel GPUs on commodity PCs, and the Vivante GPU support is on track to become a regular feature of Genode on i.MX hardware. 2. Genode OS Framework 21.08 released ------------------------------------- The GPU topic outlined above is one of the highlights of Genode version 21.08 released end of August. The second major topic is a re-imagined way of how to port device-driver code from the Linux kernel to Genode components. We condensed more than a decade of experience with porting drivers into new tooling and methodology that cuts the costs of bringing Genode to new hardware by almost an order of magnitude. It plays a key role in our ambition to use Genode on the PinePhone. The release is accompanied with many further improvements such as the modular integration of LTE connectivity in Sculpt OS, user-space network routing, and media playback on the Chromium- based web browser. Genode 21.08 is described in detail in the accompanied release documentation: https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/21.08 About the newsletter -------------------- If you have friends or colleagues who might be interested in our projects, we would appreciate you to forward this email. If you received this newsletter as a forwarded email, you may subscribe to the newsletter here: https://genode-labs.com/newsletter In the case of receiving this newsletter unintended, you can cancel your subscription at any time by replying to this email with the subject set to "unsubscribe". Best regards -- Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske Genode Labs https://www.genode-labs.com/ · https://genode.org/ https://twitter.com/GenodeLabs · /ˈdʒiː.nəʊd/ Genode Labs GmbH · Amtsgericht Dresden · HRB 28424 · Sitz Dresden Geschäftsführer: Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske, Christian Helmuth
