An Explicit Binding Model for Runtime Extensible Operating Systems

Operating system design has traditionally followed a philosophy in which the system is structured as a fixed set of abstractions and mechanisms. This approach, however, is now showing its limitations in the face of new application areas; particularly those which demand extensibility and configurability. In this paper, we describe aspects of the design of a runtime extensible operating system called DEIMOS. DEIMOS is unique in that it does not define a kernel entity. Instead, both traditional kernel abstractions (i.e. memory model, concurrency model and inter process communication) and application specific services (e.g. file systems and device drivers) are encapsulated as objects which can be loaded, configured and unloaded on demand (i.e. at run time) under the jurisdiction of a base system component called the Configuration Manager. 1. Introduction DEIMOS (Dynamically Extensible Incrementally Modularised Operating System) is an enabling technology for the production of bespoke appl..