The VirtualMetrix (VMX) OS-enhancing technology is a blend of configurable components with very low overhead (0.5% typical, 16kB-64kB memory footprint). At the core is the partition of the execution environment into “performance and high-availability domains” applied equally to single and multi-core systems.
The key element of the VMX OS-enhancing technology is a proprietary, patent pending "Performance Management (PerfMan)" architecture providing un-paralleled energy consumption reduction, higher hardware performance and automatically guaranteed deadlines for real-time applications. The implementation vehicle is a small (Thin) kernel running independently of the main OS. Both the OS and its applications can communicate with the Thin Kernel via a very fast secure IPC (Inter Process Communication).
The Thin Kernel provides very fast response for real-time applications while guaranteeing real-time deadlines are met to the limit of the underlying hardware. High-availability is implemented by early detection of “crash execution patterns” while providing alternative limited execution support for critical applications to run in "safe mode" while the main OS is being restarted from a catastrophic failure.
For a more in-depth description of the technology, please see the article "Performance management: A new dimension in operating systems - By Val Popescu" , published in the Embedded Design Magazine (April 2010 issue).