Lukas Beierlieb · 3 min read
Cyberus at Embedded World: A Virtualized Arcade Machine
Cyberus Technology is bringing virtualization to life at Embedded World with a unique demo: an arcade machine running on modern hardware through CtrlOS, our long-term stable NixOS. See how we extend the lifespan of legacy embedded systems without modifying their software. Visit us at the S.I.E. booth (Hall 3 / Booth 3-238) from March 11–13 to experience it firsthand!
Cyberus Technology will be present at the Embedded World Exhibition at the booth of our partners S.I.E. from March 11th to 13th. Embedded World is the leading trade fair for embedded systems. We present CtrlOS, our long-term stable variant of NixOS and KronoCore — technologies that enable embedded systems manufacturers to keep their devices reliable and secure for decade-long life cycles.
It is a challenge to showcase operating system and hypervisor technology to a broad audience with varying levels of technical background. We have chosen an old arcade machine as demonstrator. We extend its lifetime with virtualization technology. Have a look at our virtualized arcade machine in the following two pictures, and read on to learn more about the machine’s story.
When Legacy Systems Outlive Their Hardware
Our arcade machine is an embedded system, which had been offering its game to players for the last few decades. Unfortunately, the machine’s original hardware recently failed. Because the company that manufactured the system hardware discontinued production many years ago, it does not offer replacement parts.
Modern replacement hardware is needed. However, none of the available modern hardware offerings is compatible with the arcade software, which was developed decades ago.
A rewrite is economically infeasible, the know-how is not present anymore, and — in more serious use-cases — it could even be impossible due to existing certifications of the old software. Thus, another solution is needed.
KronoCore enables to run the original software unchanged. It emulates legacy hardware on modern systems without the original software even noticing the change.
Keeping Legacy Systems Alive With Virtualization
KronoCore can bridge the gap between the incompatible hard- and software with virtualization technology. The legacy software can run without modifications in a virtual environment that offers emulated versions of the legacy hardware components.
We can also consolidate hardware with this approach. Additional services can run alongside the original game software. We demonstrate this with a service that tracks active play time. In a networked scenario it could also report the data to the operator. The system can transmit the virtual display’s output over the network for live-streaming events. An intrusion detection system can detect and report attacks.
Our arcade machine demonstrates such add-on functionalities with two additional services. The system collects performance data, which the user can view in a designated dashboard. Further, a second virtual machine runs a modern operating system, which we configured to display an informative presentation for our visitors at the fair.
CtrlOS: A long-term stable NixOS
The KronoCore virtualization runs on top of CtrlOS, our long-term support release of NixOS. CtrlOS system images are built from declarative system descriptions and are fully reproducible, i.e., system vendors describe the intended state of a system (as opposed to the steps necessary to get to that state) and the systems ensures that this state is always active. This approach improves auditability and maintainability of such a system.
This feature makes CtrlOS a great choice for new embedded devices!
Come Visit Us at Embedded World!
If you attend Embedded World, be sure to visit us at the S.I.E. booth in Hall 3 / Booth 3-238 and experience our arcade machine first-hand.