Publications Real-Time Virtualization
Surgical Software-less I/O Virtualization
4th International Workshop on Real-Time and IntelliGent Edge Computing, 2025, Irvine, CA, USA
Abstract
Virtualizing I/O devices presents unique challenges compared to other system resources. Traditional approaches rely on software-based abstraction layers, which can be particularly complex to develop and often fail to provide guests with efficient access to the underlying hardware. The most common solutions involve dedicating an I/O device exclusively to a single guest or modifying/patching the guest software to utilize hardware-level I/O multiplexing. This paper introduces I/O Softwareless Nano-Virtualization (IO-SNV), a novel approach that achieves efficient and transparent I/O virtualization with minimal overhead and no software modifications. IO-SNV operates entirely at the hardware level, leveraging programmable logic to dynamically virtualize I/O devices while maintaining high performance. We present the conceptual model, a proof-of-concept implementation, and an evaluation of its feasibility. Our promising results demonstrate that IO-SNV can provide seamless I/O virtualization while preserving device access efficiency, making a compelling alternative to existing software-centric solutions.
Code and hardware artifacts
Cite this paper
@inproceedings{Light_Virt_RAGE25,
title = {{Surgical Software-less I/O Virtualization}},
author = {Ciraolo, Francesco and Nicolella, Mattia and Carpanedo, Patrick and Hoornaert, Denis and Caccamo, Marco and Mancuso, Renato},
booktitle = {4th International Workshop on Real-Time and IntelliGent Edge Computing},
year = 2025,
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {Irvine, CA, USA},
doi = {10.1145/3722567.3727847},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3722567.3727847}
}
TY - CONF AU - Ciraolo, Francesco AU - Nicolella, Mattia AU - Carpanedo, Patrick AU - Hoornaert, Denis AU - Caccamo, Marco AU - Mancuso, Renato TI - Surgical Software-less I/O Virtualization T2 - 4th International Workshop on Real-Time and IntelliGent Edge Computing PY - 2025 PB - Association for Computing Machinery CY - Irvine, CA, USA DO - 10.1145/3722567.3727847 UR - https://doi.org/10.1145/3722567.3727847 AB - Virtualizing I/O devices presents unique challenges compared to other system resources. Traditional approaches rely on software-based abstraction layers, which can be particularly complex to develop and often fail to provide guests with efficient access to the underlying hardware. The most common solutions involve dedicating an I/O device exclusively to a single guest or modifying/patching the guest software to utilize hardware-level I/O multiplexing. This paper introduces I/O Softwareless Nano-Virtualization (IO-SNV), a novel approach that achieves efficient and transparent I/O virtualization with minimal overhead and no software modifications. IO-SNV operates entirely at the hardware level, leveraging programmable logic to dynamically virtualize I/O devices while maintaining high performance. We present the conceptual model, a proof-of-concept implementation, and an evaluation of its feasibility. Our promising results demonstrate that IO-SNV can provide seamless I/O virtualization while preserving device access efficiency, making a compelling alternative to existing software-centric solutions. ER -
%0 Conference Paper %A Ciraolo, Francesco %A Nicolella, Mattia %A Carpanedo, Patrick %A Hoornaert, Denis %A Caccamo, Marco %A Mancuso, Renato %T Surgical Software-less I/O Virtualization %B 4th International Workshop on Real-Time and IntelliGent Edge Computing %D 2025 %I Association for Computing Machinery %C Irvine, CA, USA %R 10.1145/3722567.3727847 %U https://doi.org/10.1145/3722567.3727847 %X Virtualizing I/O devices presents unique challenges compared to other system resources. Traditional approaches rely on software-based abstraction layers, which can be particularly complex to develop and often fail to provide guests with efficient access to the underlying hardware. The most common solutions involve dedicating an I/O device exclusively to a single guest or modifying/patching the guest software to utilize hardware-level I/O multiplexing. This paper introduces I/O Softwareless Nano-Virtualization (IO-SNV), a novel approach that achieves efficient and transparent I/O virtualization with minimal overhead and no software modifications. IO-SNV operates entirely at the hardware level, leveraging programmable logic to dynamically virtualize I/O devices while maintaining high performance. We present the conceptual model, a proof-of-concept implementation, and an evaluation of its feasibility. Our promising results demonstrate that IO-SNV can provide seamless I/O virtualization while preserving device access efficiency, making a compelling alternative to existing software-centric solutions.
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"DOI": "10.1145/3722567.3727847",
"abstract": "Virtualizing I/O devices presents unique challenges compared to other system resources. Traditional approaches rely on software-based abstraction layers, which can be particularly complex to develop and often fail to provide guests with efficient access to the underlying hardware. The most common solutions involve dedicating an I/O device exclusively to a single guest or modifying/patching the guest software to utilize hardware-level I/O multiplexing. This paper introduces I/O Softwareless Nano-Virtualization (IO-SNV), a novel approach that achieves efficient and transparent I/O virtualization with minimal overhead and no software modifications. IO-SNV operates entirely at the hardware level, leveraging programmable logic to dynamically virtualize I/O devices while maintaining high performance. We present the conceptual model, a proof-of-concept implementation, and an evaluation of its feasibility. Our promising results demonstrate that IO-SNV can provide seamless I/O virtualization while preserving device access efficiency, making a compelling alternative to existing software-centric solutions."
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F. Ciraolo, M. Nicolella, P. Carpanedo, D. Hoornaert, M. Caccamo, and R. Mancuso, “Surgical Software-less I/O Virtualization,” in 4th International Workshop on Real-Time and IntelliGent Edge Computing, 2025, doi: 10.1145/3722567.3727847.
Ciraolo, F., Nicolella, M., Carpanedo, P., Hoornaert, D., Caccamo, M., & Mancuso, R. (2025). Surgical Software-less I/O Virtualization. In 4th International Workshop on Real-Time and IntelliGent Edge Computing. Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3722567.3727847