CSR: Small: Driverless Operating Systems

现代操作系统(OS)是我们软件堆栈的基础。大多数操作系统代码由设备驱动程序组成--控制键盘和磁盘等设备的代码--然而驱动程序复杂、停滞不前、编写得很差，并应对大多数操作系统崩溃和错误负责。更糟糕的是，驱动程序框架几十年来没有被重新审查过，阻碍了操作系统的创新。我们正在构建“无人驾驶操作系统”，在这种系统中，驱动程序完全从操作系统中移除。我们正在用商用高速网络(如USB或以太网)取代复杂的低级设备互连(如PCI)。这样，驱动程序就变成了高级的简单服务，在操作系统框架和设备本身之间充当RPC层。我们正在制作两个无人驾驶操作系统的原型。我们的第一个，名为ND，被改造成Linux，是我们探索无人驾驶方法和现代多核硬件之间关系的工具。ND中唯一需要传统中断驱动代码的部分是网络驱动程序；因此，我们可以消除中断上下文代码和同步等复杂性。我们的第二个部分称为BrowserOS，它将驱动程序和框架视为不可信的Web程序。“Web驱动程序”是用JavaScript或编译的Native Client代码编写的，并由浏览器按需下载和执行。Web服务将Web驱动程序推送到客户端，以一种与操作系统无关的方式与客户端设备进行安全交互。我们工作的预期影响是(A)使操作系统更简单、更安全和更健壮，(B)加速Web浏览器和操作系统的融合，以及(C)促进操作系统的新体系结构创新。

Modern operating systems (OSs) are the foundation of our software stacks. Most OS code consists of device drivers -- code that controls devices like keyboards and disks -- yet drivers are complex, stagnant, poorly written, and are responsible for most OS crashes and bugs. Worse, driver frameworks haven't been re-examined for decades, holding back OS innovation.We are building "driverless OSs," in which drivers are completely removed from the OS. We are replacing complex, low-level device interconnects (like PCI) with commodity, high-speed networks (like USB or Ethernet). With this, drivers become high-level, simple services that act as an RPC layer between OS frameworks and the devices themselves.We are prototyping two driverless OSs. Our first, called ND, is retrofitted into Linux and is our vehicle for exploring the relationship between the driverless approach and modern multicore hardware. The only part of ND that needs conventional interrupt-driven code is the network driver; as a result, we can eliminate complexity like interrupt-context code and synchronization.Our second, called browserOS, treats drivers and frameworks as untrusted Web programs. "Web drivers" are written in JavaScript or compiled Native Client code, and are downloaded and executed on-demand by the browser. Web services push Web drivers to clients to interact safely with client-side devices in an OS-agnostic manner.The expected impact of our work is (a) to make OSs simpler, safer, and more robust, (b) to accelerate the convergence of Web browsers and OSs, and (c) to facilitate new architectural innovations in operating systems.