KBox: A KVM-based Virtual Platform Simulation Support for Discrete-Event Simulation System

Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) automatically synchronizes its internal clock to the host processor. This makes it impossible to integrate with discrete event simulation models using non-real-time clock. There is a need for KVM-based virtualized execution framework that could: (i) synchronize to non real-time clock in the simulation framework; (ii) integrate with virtual environment models in the discrete event simulator; (iii) perform time accurate whole-system simulation to test and validate runtime software systems. To fulfill this need, Intelligent Automation, Inc. (IAI), along with its academic collaborator University of Southern California, Information Science Institute (USC-ISI), proposes to develop a KVM-based virtual platform simulation support for Discrete-Event Simulation systems. The key innovation of this proposal includes design and development of: (1) KVM-based virtual processor subsystem using modified KVM module for automated synchronization to non real-time clock in the simulation system; (2) Time-As-A-Service (TAAS) subsystem to provide controllable time source for all KVM virtual machines during simulation time; (3) Discrete Event Simulation (DES) interface module to integrate KBox with the state-of-the-art DES frameworks. Approved for Public Release |21-MDA-10789 (21 Apr 21)