Lab of Microkernel-Based Operating Systems

Content

The goal of this practical course is to apply the principles of constructing a microkernel-based operating system. The task, a pong-game for two players, is based on the L4Re mikrokernel. During this lab, we will develop various servers required for this.
Starting point is a Pong-Server already providing the game ground, a ball and the paddles in a demo mode. Clients that allow us to control the paddles from a keyboard have to be developed. For these clients to work, a set of services has to be implemented, including:

• memory management
• keyboard driver
• graphical console

This practical exercise is part of the course Microkernel-Based Operating Systems, which teaches the theoretical foundations to understand the principles used here. As a preparatory course, we offer the Complex Lab on Systems Programming.

You will find the source code for this lab in our Git repository.

Schedule and Slides

• October 14, 2025: Introduction
• November 18, 2025: SessionsAndMemory, Debugging
• November 25, 2025: Graphical Console @ APB 3105
• January 6, 2026: Keyboard Driver

Organization

• During the semester we will have regular consultations to discuss the solutions to the individual steps.
• The course is held in hybrid mode and will already start in the first lecure week. Please subscribe to the mailing list for further updates.
• Less timeslots than available will be used, and those used will be shorter then a lecture slot. The lab mostly consists of work at home.