Kyma Systems Selects Imperas Virtual Platform Tools for Hypervisor Development

Imperas M*SDK used for KVM development supporting MIPS hardware virtualization instructions

Oxford, United Kingdom -- June 4, 2014 - Imperas Software Ltd. (www.imperas.com), the leader in high-performance software simulation, announced today that Kyma Systems has been successfully using the Imperas M*SDK™ for virtual platform-based development of hypervisors. M*SDK enabled porting of the KVM hypervisor to support Imagination Technologies' latest MIPS cores with virtualization extensions. The OS- and CPU-aware tools included with M*SDK also enabled more comprehensive and faster testing of the hypervisor.

The KVM hypervisor is included with standard Linux distributions. Initially, Kyma ported KVM to the MIPS32® Release 2 architecture using trap and emulate technology. With the transition to the MIPS32 Release 5 architecture, including the addition of hardware virtualization extensions to the MIPS cores such as the Warrior P-class P5600 and M-class M5150 families, KVM for MIPS needed to be re-developed to take full advantage of those virtualization instructions.

"As a small company, schedules and quality are what drives our success," said Sanjay Lal, president and CEO of Kyma. "The Imperas tools made it possible for us to develop the KVM hypervisor within the required schedule, with outstanding quality."

"Imperas is a key member of the MIPS ecosystem," said Tony King-Smith, EVP of marketing for Imagination Technologies. "We are delighted to see that Kyma is using Imperas' tools to bring the KVM hypervisor to the latest MIPS32 Release 5 architecture. This helps enable our broad MIPS developer ecosystem, including the recently announced prpl open source foundation, to take advantage of the hardware virtualization features in the architecture."

The key to the Imperas tools is the ToolMorphing™ technology, which combines the software simulation engine with the processor core model to create a highly integrated and effective software development environment. The simulation engine enables full controllability and observability of software execution on the processor core, and does this with minimal overhead and no instrumentation or modification of the software source code. Coupling the M*SDK tool suite with the Open Virtual Platforms™ (OVP™) processor core models - over 125 are available in the OVP Library at no additional charge to Imperas users - creates a powerful and flexible software test solution.

"Meeting software schedules and ensuring quality are key for embedded systems success, across the full range of markets from mobile to networking to microcontroller segments," said Simon Davidmann, CEO of Imperas. "With M*SDK we are providing our users with the tools they need to achieve higher software quality and greater engineering efficiency."

About Imperas
Imperas Software was founded in 2008 to develop and deliver embedded software development systems. The company’s comprehensive product line enables the rapid creation of high-performance virtual platforms and the efficient development of embedded software utilizing those platforms. Imperas’ technology allows for software engineering schedules to be significantly reduced while improving the quality of products relying on embedded systems. In 2008 Imperas founded the Open Virtual Platforms (OVP) consortium to improve the availability of open model libraries and virtual platform infrastructure. Leading communications, automotive, consumer electronics and embedded processor companies rely on Imperas for the development of their electronic products. The company’s corporate headquarters is located near Oxford, UK and it maintains support and sales organizations in Silicon Valley, California and Tokyo, Japan. For more information about Imperas, please go to www.imperas.com.

About Kyma Systems
Kyma Systems is a boutique system software consulting firm based in Silicon Valley, specializing in embedded systems software development with expertise in the networking, storage and wireless markets. For more information on Kyma Systems please visit www.kymasys.com.