From V to Vanguard: The Evolution of a Distributed, Object-Oriented
Microkernel Interface
Ross S. Finlayson, Mark D. Hennecke, and Steven L. Goldberg
Apple Computer, Inc.
Abstract
The Vanguard operating system kernel was designed and implemented as a
research testbed for distributed applications and higher-level
operating system services. Using the design of the V-System as a
starting point, we developed an extensible set of operating system
services, organized in an object type hierarchy. We also implemented
a modular OS (micro)kernel that implements these services. An
important part of any microkernel design is its exported interface, as
the design of this interface affects the ease with which programmers
can develop higher-level operating system services on top of the
kernel. In this paper we describe several notable features of the
Vanguard microkernel interfacein particular, its process and object
model, its object identification scheme, and its use of group
communication. We show how these features lead to a simple yet
powerful interface that avoids the need to provide an excessive number
of operations.
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