University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Technical Reports (CIS) Department of Computer & Information Science 1-1-2010 XenITH: Xen in the Hand Kyle Super University of Pennsylvania Jonathan M. Smith University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/cis_reports Recommended Citation Kyle Super and Jonathan M. Smith, "XenITH: Xen in the Hand", . January 2010. University of Pennsylvania Department of Computer and Information Science Technical Report No. MS-CIS-10-23. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/cis_reports/932 For more information, please contact [email protected]. XenITH: Xen in the Hand Abstract Usability and portability have been key commercial drivers for increasingly capable handheld devices, which have been enabled by advances in Moore’s Law and well as in wireless systems. The nature of such devices makes them extremely personal, and yet they offer an untapped resource for new forms of peer- to-peer and cooperative communications relaying. Taking advantage of such capabilities requires concurrent resource control of the handheld’s computational and communications capacities. Virtualization platforms, such as the Xen system, have opened the possibility of multiplexing a handheld device in useful and unobtrusive ways, as personal applications can be used while additional services such as decentralized communications are also in operation. The purpose of this project is to experimentally demonstrate the ability of modern smartphone units to support a programmable network environment. We attempt to validate the system with a series of measurement experiments which demonstrate concurrent use of two operating systems, each using computational and network resources, in two virtual machines. Moreover, we demonstrate an acceptable level of user performance while maintaining a MANET using a programmable network router. Comments University of Pennsylvania Department of Computer and Information Science Technical Report No. MS- CIS-10-23. This technical report is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/cis_reports/932 XenITH: Xen In The Hand Kyle Super Jonathan Smith University of Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania [email protected] [email protected] Environment for Network Innovation (GENI) initiative Abstract will impact the most numerous network endpoints; the International Telecommunications Union estimated that the number of cellular subscriptions worldwide would Usability and portability have been key commercial drivers for increasingly capable handheld devices, which reach 4.6 billion by the end of 2009 [1]. have been enabled by advances in Moore’s Law and well The impact of expanding virtualized network as in wireless systems. The nature of such devices makes capabilities to the mobile edge is broad. Being so them extremely personal, and yet they offer an untapped pervasive, cellular phones exist in many locations where a resource for new forms of peer-to-peer and cooperative more traditional networking infrastructure does not. For communications relaying. Taking advantage of such example, according to the ITU, less than 0.5 percent of capabilities requires concurrent resource control of the African villages have a PC-based communications handheld’s computational and communications network, yet more than half of all Africans use mobile capacities. Virtualization platforms, such as the Xen telephony [1]. As such, the creation of mobile ad-hoc system, have opened the possibility of multiplexing a computer networks, using cell phones as intermediate handheld device in useful and unobtrusive ways, as nodes, could provide key network services in developing personal applications can be used while additional nations or remote locations. Moreover, such capabilities services such as decentralized communications are also would be useful in environments where a network in operation. The purpose of this project is to infrastructure does exist, but whose operational abilities experimentally demonstrate the ability of modern have been limited, such as in a disaster recovery scenario. smartphone units to support a programmable network When used as packet relay devices in an emergency, cell environment. We attempt to validate the system with a phones could provide local-area emergency response series of measurement experiments which demonstrate broadcast or emergency responder services. The recent concurrent use of two operating systems, each using disaster in Haiti demonstrates the need for such computational and network resources, in two virtual capabilities. Following the earthquake, the Inveneo machines. Moreover, we demonstrate an acceptable level company, known for providing network services to NGO of user performance while maintaining a MANET using a workers in remote location, setup a temporary network programmable network router. using satellites and WiFi to be used by the aid workers in their recovery efforts [2]. The National Association for Amateur Radio even sent HAM radio equipment to fill the 1. Introduction communications void left by the earthquake [3]. Such networks could potentially be replaced by a MANET Mobile computing and wireless telephony are consisting of cell phone nodes, at least as a short term increasing converging, with many handheld devices, such solution to the communication problems caused by a as the Apple iPhone and the RIM Blackberry, able to natural disaster. assume roles as either cellular telephones or as computers. Finally, the ubiquity of wireless communication A key research question that arises as a consequence of systems is an ever increasing phenomenon, as state and this convergence is whether the strategies such as local governments realize the value of such infrastructures virtualization used for isolation and resource sharing in to all citizens. The Digital Impact Group's Wireless larger cabled computers will be applicable to machines Philadelphia project aims to provide network access to that are limited by size, computational power, and battery underprivileged households and small businesses through life. This question also has great bearing on the extent to a city wide WiFi network. The service is free to anyone which the National Science Foundation's Global This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Award Number CNS-0739347 1 that can access it, and receives approximately 125,000 currently has an alpha release designed to run on the unique users each month. However, the project still does Colibri PXA270, a SODIMM-sized computer module that not cover over half of the city [4]. A low-cost MANET features an Intel Xscale PXA270 processor [8]. The composed of cell phones could extend the reach of these second community project, Secure Xen on ARM, is more wireless access points significantly and allow Wireless mature than the first project and is being developed by a Philadelphia to achieve its ultimate goal of turning team of researchers from Samsung lead by Sang-bum Philadelphia into the nation's most connected city. Suh. Secure Xen has an alpha release as well, intended to run on the Freescale i.MX21 development board, as well 2. Related Research as a patched version of the Goldfish Android emulator. However, the version for the Android emulator currently Despite outnumbering PCs, little research effort has only supports a toy operating system, not a full Linux been put forth to develop virtualization for a cell phone system [9]. platform in the past. A large hurdle to overcome is the fact that cell phones typically operate on ARM-based architectures, while most virtualization software is 3. Experimental Setup designed for the x86 architecture found in almost all PCs The purpose of the experiment is to demonstrate the and server machines. However, recently several effectiveness of virtualizing the wireless network commercial software companies have begun making connection of a resource constrained computing investments in this area. VMWare, a developer of environment, similar to that present on modern virtualization software, has announced plans to release a smartphones. We considered a number of potential version of their product for cell phones in 2012, the experimental setups, rejecting many for various reasons purpose being to allow cell phone users to maintain before deciding on a workable version. First we discuss separate environments for different uses, such as one for those setups that we rejected. personal use and one for work [5]. Moreover, OK Labs, another virtualization specialist, currently offers the OKL4 microvisor, which supports Linux, Android, 3.1. Rejected Experimental Setups Symbian, and Windows embedded operating systems. The OKL4 software is currently in use on the Motorola The first platform we considered for the experiment Evoke, the first commercially available virtualized cell was the HP iPaq hw6945 smartphone device, due to prior phone [6]. Finally, the VirtualLogix company has experience with the device and availability of the units. developed the VLX virtualization system, which can run The device employs the Intel Xscale PXA270 processor, on a variety of ARM-based platforms [7]. and so could potentially be used with the Embedded Xen The development of an open-source virtualization alpha software release. More importantly, the device has solution for an ARM-based platform has been somewhat built-in 802.11b wireless capabilities, making it suitable less successful. The VirtualBox software package,