Open Kernel Labs

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Open Kernel Labs
Type Private
Founded 2006
Headquarters Chicago, Il, USA
Key people Steve Subar, founder and CEO, Gernot Heiser, founder and CTO
Products OKL4 microkernel-based hypervisor
Website ok-labs.com

Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs) is a privately owned company that develops microkernel-based hypervisors and operating systems for embedded systems. The company was founded in 2006 by Steve Subar and Gernot Heiser as a spinout from NICTA. It is headquartered in Chicago, while research and development is located in Sydney, Australia. The company was acquired by General Dynamics in September 2012.[1]

Products

OKL4 microvisor

OKL4 is an open source system software platform for embedded systems that can be used as a hypervisor as well as a simple real-time operating system with memory protection. The OKL4 "microvisor" is based upon the L4 microkernel. OKL4 is a Type I hypervisor and runs on single- and multi-core platforms based on ARM, x86 and MIPS processors.[2]

OKL4 has been deployed on over 1.5 billion devices,[3] mostly mobile phones, both as a baseband operating system and for hosting guest operating systems. Most notable and visible is the company's design win at Motorola for the Evoke QA4 messaging phone, the first phone which employs virtualization to support two concurrent operating systems (Linux and BREW) on a single processor core.[4]

Paravirtualized guest OSes

OK Labs also supplies ready-to-integrate paravirtualized guest application operating systems, including OK:Symbian (SymbianOS), OK:Linux (Linux) and OK:Android (Android).

Background

OK Labs and OKL4 are the result of collaboration among academia, business, and open-source development. OK Labs technology is derived from the L4 microkernel which originated in the early 1990s at German research Lab GMD, further developed at IBM Watson Research Center, the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, the University of New South Wales and NICTA. As commercial ventures, OK Labs and OKL4 were launched by NICTA in 2006, with additional investment by Citrix and other venture partners. OK Labs technology continues to benefit from ties to academia and research projects, to NICTA, and to the global open-source community.

Awards & recognitions

In July 2010, Open Kernel Labs was recognized 2010 Hottest Companies in the Midwest” by Lead411.[5]

In May 2010, FierceWireless names Open Kernel Labs as one of its “Fierce 15” Wireless Companies of 2010.[6]

In January 2010, Mobile Virtualization Pioneer named Open Kernel Labs a Finalist In Red Herring 2009 Global 100 Award.[7]

In September 2008, Open Kernel Labs named Best Product Finalist in Design News Magazine’s 2008 Golden Mousetrap Award.[8]

References

  1. ↑ General Dynamics acquires NICTA start-up Open Kernel Labs. NICTA, September 12, 2012.
  2. ↑ "FrontPage - Developer". Okl4.org. 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2014-02-02. 
  3. ↑ "Open Kernel Labs Software Surpasses Milestone of 1.5 Billion Mobile Device Shipments" (Press release). Open Kernel Labs. January 19, 2012. 
  4. ↑ "A Google Company". Motorola. 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2014-02-02. 
  5. ↑ Lead411 launches "Hottest Companies in the Midwest" awards
  6. ↑ FierceWireless' Fierce 15 - 2010
  7. ↑ Mobile Virtualization Pioneer Open Kernel Labs Named a Finalist In Red Herring 2009 Global 100 Award
  8. ↑ Design News Magazine’s Golden Mousetrap Award Recognizes an Embedded Virtualization Company for the First Time Ever

External links

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