Evolution of the PikeOS Microkernel

The PikeOS microkernel is targeted at real-time embedded systems. Its main goal is to provide a partitioned environment for multiple operating systems with different design goals to coexist in a single machine. It was initially modelled after the L4 microkernel and has gradually evolved over the years of its application to the real-time, embedded systems space. This paper describes the concepts that were added or removed during this evolution and it provides the rationale behind these design decisions.