Integration Support for Android

The QNX Advanced Virtualization Frameworks support integrating Android into a QNX Hypervisor system with minimal changes to the Android Operating System. This is possible by supporting common Android OS versions and services, adhering to industry standards for virtualization, and allowing existing components to be reused unmodified. There's also a demonstration system that shows how applications in an Android guest can use the virtualization frameworks.

The exact OS integration steps you need to take depend on which virtualization frameworks you're using, which framework capabilities you plan to provide to end users, and the version of Android OS and applications you're using. But there are common integration goals that the virtualization frameworks are designed to support. These include:

support for Android Automotive OS (AAOS)
support for Google Automotive Services (GAS)
reduced need for Android kernel customizations; whenever possible, the Android common kernel (ACK) is used
use of popular VIRTIO standard for as many virtual devices as possible
flexibility of choosing an implementation that meets your performance, latency, and safety requirements; for example, the use of SwiftShader for managing graphics
ability to mix QNX virtualization components with partner-specific virtualization components
support for agent (client) and server software that enables data sharing between the Android guest and the hypervisor host and other guests, but does not require virtualization itself
use of existing Android services for debugging and system analysis, such as ADB and Perfetto

Note: Android uses a Linux kernel. If you plan to use Linux guests, you should ensure they have the same virtualization support as Android guests.

Demonstration system

To help you reach these integration goals, BlackBerry QNX develops a software stack called the Demonstrator, which provides a working example of the virtualization frameworks. The Demonstrator is a reference image consisting of an Android guest and the QNX Hypervisor host. The guest uses Google Trout configuration and contains several applications that use graphics, audio sharing, touchscreen, and other capabilities of the host.

You can download the reference image onto your development system, then transfer the image onto a target board and see the demonstration system run. This allows you to interact with the applications and examine their configurations. Then, you can modify these configurations to change the behavior and support new features for your own Android guest and hypervisor host applications.

Access to the Demonstrator is available to all virtualization frameworks developers but is controlled by myQNX permissions and is not automatically enabled. The Demonstrator software, release notes, and sample videos are available from the project site on the QNX community server (Foundry): https://community.qnx.com/sf/projects/early_access_qnx_advanced_virtua/.

If you do not have access to the project site, talk to your QNX Sales representative to have your myQNX account enabled for access.

The Demonstrator software will vary based on hardware support, Android OS version, VIRTIO version, and feature support. It is designed to be a constantly changing testing environment. All instructions on using the Demonstrator (installing, running, configuring, etc.) are located on the Foundry site.

Note: You don't need the Demonstrator to use the QNX Advanced Virtualization Frameworks product. The Demonstrator is a helpful resource for developing and testing applications, but you can purchase the various frameworks independently and use them to develop your own system without reusing anything from the Demonstrator.