The idea is to pick specific virtualization topics, separately from the AVPS specification writing, and to do deep-dive investigations. 

We did something similar with Graphics Virtualization a while back, where we had a series of sessions that invited experts in the graphics frameworks as well as hardware vendors speaking about their specific silicon technologies.  This gave everyone involved a big boost in understanding of the area.

Brainstorm list: 

(Next step is voting/prioritizing on these.)

 Talk to your colleagues/experts in each area (not virtualization experts necessarily, but subject experts).  Make them part of prioritization activity, have them tell us if they would like to attend a specific deep-dive on a topic.

Hardware/virtual devices:

• Crypto / Security
  • Trusted Execution Environments
  • NXP accelerator blocks?
• Ethernet AvB / Time Sensitive Networking
  • NXP accelerator blocks?
• Clock synchronization, real-time clock abstraction (probably a good topic for the AVPS)
• Automotive networks, in particular CAN
• Accelerators   
  • Tensor-Processing Units
  • DSPs (is that discussion done in AVPS or is there more?)
• Camera
• PCI 
  • used for example for inter-chip communication and peripherals
  • Automotive working group exists within PCI v6 work
• Future interconnects: CCIX (pronounced :C-six"), CXL, Gen Z and other alternatives, NVidia alternative, ... 

Platforms and environments

• Google's Trout platform (likely subdivided into areas of interest)
• Virtualization for Microcontrollers / small cores

Aspects of hypervisor implementation and software stack in general

• CPU scheduling reporting HV<->VM, e.g. kernels do not get accurate information about system load.  Steal time reporting.  The time while a VM was not scheduled, even though it should run (= Steal time).
•  IPC
  • Communication between different guests.  Does it affect the Virtual Platform or is it just run transparently on virtual socket?
  • One specific use case is inter-cpu communication. Particularly in the case of converged SoCs, e.g. comms between app on RT and general purpose CPU.
  • Are there standard choices?  Are there many vendor-specific proposals, like  IC-COM?
• Go through operating system kernel special needs for each popular OS choice.
• e.g. RTOS support? (VIRTIO might not apply?  Or does it?)
• Timer paravirtualization
• Solution to steal time issue.
• A spec from Arm ("Arm para-virtualized time" DEN0057A ) covers how to report steal time.

Analyzing virtual platform characteristics and general areas

• Real-timeish stuff
  • What are the special considerations we need to work out to support real-time demands?
• Impacts from safety certification, ASIL?
  • Look into Linaro presentation, Xen progress, etc. for some starting ideas.  Also input from ELIZA project?

Proposals for invititations

OPTEE maintainer Renesas.  OPTEE related topics - Volodomyr Babchuk

TSN - Torsten (Renesas)

IPC - Thomas (Renesas)

PCI - Stephen's Renesas colleague.

Harald (OpenSynergy) works on CAN Virtio

Someone on NXP for TEE and Networking?

Bernard (Arm) on various topics, including CCIX, CXL