Reader Forum: Understanding mobile virtualization – What, why and what’s next

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Virtualization technology has been around for decades in desktops and servers. Thanks to the explosion and improved processing power of smartphones – and a few innovative techniques – it’s now arrived in the mobile market. In fact, mobile virtualization is forecast to be one of the hottest growth areas for the mobile industry. Research firm Gartner predicted in 2008 that “By 2012, more than 50% of new smartphones shipped will be virtualized.”
What
The fundamental principle for mobile virtualization is the same as traditional computer virtualization. The device hardware is partitioned and virtualized so that it can be shared by several different “guest” operating systems, each running within its own virtual machine. This enables mobile platform suppliers, device manufacturers and service providers to configure multiple execution domains on their smartphones or tablets to run different types of software at the same time or switch between them as needed. For example, users could benefit from a clear and secure separation between work and personal environments, including operating system, applications and data.
Why
Time to market is everything in the highly competitive mobile phone industry. Launching new phones quickly is challenging because manufacturers must integrate huge amounts of complex software on multiple chipsets and mobile hardware platforms, and support multiple operating systems and device drivers across their product families. Mobile virtualization enables manufacturers to reuse existing software across hardware platforms and operating systems easily.
Modem platform suppliers are embracing mobile virtualization for its ability to create smartphones at feature-phone prices by running a high-level operating system such as Android on virtualized feature-phone hardware together with the real time-based modem software, thus making sub-$100 Android devices possible.
Mobile consumers understand that smartphones are sophisticated Internet-connected devices, so they demand greater performance and security. When mobile virtualization software has been integrated onto the chipset “bare metal,” it provides a high level of protection to prevent a security threat in one domain from spreading to another, without compromising performance. If one virtual domain on a mobile phone is for the user’s business e-mail and data, and another is for personal use, malware can’t damage both and one cannot “spy” on the other without authorization.
The 451 Group recently outlined the benefits of mobile virtualization that are driving adoption across the ecosystem. “There’s a benefit to the manufacturer. It’s lower cost in terms of development because you can have software on a number of different devices, and it doesn’t need to be tweaked for each, just for the virtualized environment. … A mobile phone has core features and responsibilities, and that’s voice: being able to work with a carrier network, and that OS is tightly controlled by the carrier and the device vendor. Then you have this virtualized environment open to developers or the user to add and install applications to customize the phone as they want. It’s a sandbox that’s distinct and separate from the core features of the phone, and it won’t disrupt the carrier network.”
What’s next
Mobile virtualization enables the industry to bring advanced, cloud-based mobile services to market faster and more profitably. By combining it with mobile software management, which enables over-the-air management of software in mobile devices throughout their lifecycle, each player in the mobile ecosystem will be able to securely and independently manage different software assets on a mobile phone.
Here’s a glimpse of the future:
–Enterprise management: One phone will support enterprise and personal use in a way that is both highly secure and easily managed over the air. Operators will offer their own “enterprise managed domain” on a smartphone, giving IT administrators full control over business data and applications on the employee’s personal mobile device. Conversely, user privacy will be protected from possible enterprise “spy” software by running a securely isolated “user managed domain.” Coming next: Combined with mobile virtualization, MSM will allow for securely separated software domains to be managed remotely by different entities independent from each other.
–Mobile gaming: New handsets will deliver a mobile gaming experience like that of a handheld gaming device. High-level operating systems are not optimized for gaming, so manufacturers will offer avid gamers a smartphone that won’t sacrifice performance via a special games engine in a separate virtual machine. Coming next: Combined with MSM, the gaming domain will be managed in a separate lifecycle from the phone’s firmware.
–Connected car/the cloud: Cars are starting to include in-vehicle infotainment systems with more features and services. One software domain will run a legacy real-time execution environment controlling the parking sensors, while another runs an entertainment system running on Meego, Android or Linux. Coming next: Service providers delivering entertainment today through other media will reach consumers in their cars. With MSM, these cloud-based services will be independently controlled and managed without affecting the car’s security or performance.
Smartphone sales are forecast to surpass PC and laptop sales in 2012, with sales of more than 450 million units. Mobile virtualization technology is already enabling manufacturers to bring lower-cost smartphones to market faster. Last year, several models from HTC Corp., K-Touch, Coolpad, and Acer delivered the Android user experience at feature-phone price points. The early adopters are benefitting from the ability to reduce costs and achieve faster time-to-market, but that’s just the beginning. The ability to create highly secure virtual domains and run multiple operating systems securely on the same mobile device is driving development of new usage models and capabilities that will enhance the mobile user experience and generate stronger brand loyalty for devices and services.
The future of smartphones is virtually here, and it’s quite bright. Before long, smartphones without mobile virtualization will look like the feature phones of yesterday.