Sharing IO devices using hardware virtualization method for component-based industrial controllers

The following requirements for industrial controllers have become tough to achieve due to intensifying international competition: supporting a variety of IO interfaces, multifunction expandability, high performance processing and low development cost. We describe an advanced component-based architecture that overcomes these challenges. A component is defined as a combination of software and hardware. We developed ldquoUbiCube,rdquo which is the prototype of the concept, and we tested it as a home network controller. Unfortunately, we found that sharing IO devices among components increased software development costs. To solve this problem, we developed a hardware virtualization method that enables a component to use a particular device on another component directly. This enables building the desired controllers rapidly.