Network services are often deployed using appliances or devices (e.g., set-top boxes or PDAs) where not only space, but also protection and security are at a premium. Going forward, it is expected that, in future pervasive computing environments, network services will involve deeply embedded devices that monitor or control physical processes. This page gives an overview of my previous work in embedded systems.

Pebble: A component-based system for embedded applications

Pebble is based on the notions of hardware-protected domains and portals. Threads migrate through portals to different domains. Portal traversal is fast because it does not involve scheduling. Portal installation in a domain implies authorization to traverse the portal. When a portal is installed, it is specialized to the given client and server entry point. For example, when a client opens a file, the file server might create in the client's domain a portal specifically for reading that given file. Consequently, many run-time checks can be avoided. Portal data passing is also optimized:

• The Pebble Component-Based Operating System, in Proceedings of the 1999 USENIX Annual Technical Conference, USENIX, Monterey, CA, June 1999, pp. 267-281 (copyright notice).
• Pebble: A Component-Based Operating System for Embedded Applications, in Proceedings of the Workshop on Embedded Systems, USENIX, Cambridge, MA, March 1999 (copyright notice).
• Building Appliances out of Components using Pebble, in Proceedings of the 9th SIGOPS European Workshop, ACM, Kolding, Denmark, September 2000, pp. 211-216 (copyright notice).

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