Operating System Convergence: An Example via the Maru OS Project

Converging multiple form-factors and devices into one cohesive system is not necessarily a new idea; however, there has been a growing interest in achieving the design goal of convergence in recent years. This growing interest is due partly to a desire to maintain only one operating system. Some implementations also include the ability to run both in desktop mode and mobile mode simultaneously. These mobile systems attach to a lapdock or monitor via one or more cables to activate the desktop mode. These converged systems have mobile hardware constraints; however, current system on chip (SOC) improvements may make running these systems much more realistic. Several techniques are available to achieve convergence. This paper attempts to outline these design principles while also presenting an example architecture for using virtualization techniques to achieve operating system convergence. Additionally, this paper proposes a solution to attach the mobile device to the lapdock wirelessly using Bluetooth and Miracast, The virtualization techniques used to achieve this convergence can apply to various form-factors, application ecosystems, and computational platforms.