Genode OS Framework release 15.05

With Genode 15.05, our base-hw kernel, which enables the execution of Genode without a third-party microkernel and originally supported the ARM architecture only, has become able to run on the 64-bit x86 architecture. Also, base-hw received support for kernel-protected capabilities and the scheduler got much more flexible. Beside the improvements of our custom kernel, we also introduce preliminary support to run simple system scenarios on top of the seL4 microkernel. With seL4, there is now the prospect of running Genode on top of a formally verified kernel.

At the framework's architectural level, we redesigned the infrastructure for user-level device drivers. With this release, device drivers become subjected to rigid access control with respect to hardware resources. Along with this architectural change, there are massive improvements of the device driver support: a new AHCI driver, new audio drivers ported from OpenBSD, new SD-card drivers, added platform support for i.MX6, and support for message-signalled interrupts on x86-based machines.

Detailed information about features and changes of Genode 15.05 is available in the release documentation at http://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/15.05