Memory Protection Scheme: Nooks Architecture vs. Mondrian Protection Scheme

1.0 Abstract In recent times, there is a big explosion of embedded devices like PDAs and digital cameras in the consumer market arena. In order to incorporate these new devices into the computer systems a large number of device drivers have been written by different vendors. One way to define device drivers is to view them as an extension to the operating system kernel. Today the preferred way to add features to the operating system kernel is extending the kernel by loading unsafe object code and linking it directly to the kernel. In a recent study of FreeBSD operating system, new device drivers account for 38% of the growth [4]. According to recent studies the largest problem for OS reliability are the device drivers. According to a study at Stanford University, Linux drivers have 3 to 7 times as many bugs as the rest of the kernel [1]. The purpose of this research is to compare and contrast two new techniques named as Nook’s Architecture and Mondrian Memory Protection system and assess their strengths and weakness in solving the device driver problem