Hypervisor by Chronos Specifications Hypervisor is an astronomical hub. It is the connection between the user s computer, smartphone or tablet and your observatory appliances. Hypervisor is a Linux-based appliance like Android OS and Apple IOS. The architecture is open, and this is a huge advantage from the user s perspective. You can be a novice or an advanced user, and Hypervisor will be your companion. To use Hypervisor IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO INSTALL ANY SOFTWARE IN YOUR LOCAL PC OR TABLET. You only need a web browser with JavaScript enabled. You can however, have more powerful functionalities using a remote terminal, an X11 Client or an ASCOM driver in Windows. We divide the main features in Hypervisor into two types: hardware capabilities and software capabilities. Hardware Capabilities Hypervisor comes with a full set of interfaces and technologies that allows connection with networks, industrial interfaces, observatory support boards and telescopes and their accessories. Hypervisor is based on a dual-core microprocessor with 2GB RAM that is available in either commercial or military specifications. Specifications Dual-core Intel Atom microprocessor 1.66GHz 2 GB RAM VGA output up to 2048x 1436 pixels resolution. LVDS up to 1366x768 pixels Two SATA ports up to 300MB/s
1 SSD HD 128GB Watchdog Timer support Two 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ-45 Ethernet connections Wireless connection 802.11 g/b/n (master and client) Up to 6 USB 2.0 port One RS422/RS485 port Up to 4 RS232 ports 8 bit GPIO One mini-pcie interface One parallel port One PS2 keyboard/mouse port High Definition Audio, Line-in, Line-out, Mic-in Additional custom Hypervisor configurations using in-place LED panels, standard military grade MIL-STD-810F and DO-160D certifications, as well as an IP54 rating for protection against dirt, dust and water may be requested. Software Capabilities Hypervisor is an extension of the ChronosMount HDxxHPO product line offering superior control of the mount because of its Linux operating system. With Hypervisor between your application computer and the mount hardware, you can extend the hardware capabilities of the mount and isolate it from the shortcomings so typical of Windows. Unguided imaging up to 3 minutes at 5 arc-seconds peak-topeak RMS. Higher speed slewing with more accuracy
Higher speed non-sidereal tracking Improved mount status and control Identical interface with every ChronosMount model for payload capacities of 250 lb. to 1000 lb. (HD32HPO, HD50HPO and HD65HPO) Hypervisor software is based on Linux with a full set of applications from webcentric support to astronomical libraries and industrial support applications. The heart of Hypervisor is a proprietary code developed by ChronosMount, Inc. (CMI) fully written in C++ that is a process controlling Hypervisor functions and exposing the ChronosAPI. It is important to note that Hypervisor has an open architecture in software too. Apart from the proprietary ChronosAPI code, everything else is open to user modification, including enhancing security and installing or developing new software. The main software tools available are as follows: ChronosAPI This is a set of functions which allows any application, local or remote, to control appliances or Hypervisor s networks. It exposes the functions through a TCP/IP connection with a user-defined port and through a directly compilation using it as a library. The functions control appliances for an observatory including the Chronos mount commands, Dome commands etc. The diagram below shows current hierarchy of the main objects in the infrastructure. Hypervisor may have any number of sites.
Using a browser interface, or connected directly to a TCP/IP connection from a Windows or Linux computer, Hypervisor provides a wide range of observing capabilities, whether driving a single CMI mount, connected to multiple CMI mounts, or when multiple Hypervisors are connected together in a network (local TCP/IP or across the Internet). If multiple mounts and / or multiple observatory appliances are connected, they can be directed in tandem (all point at the same object), or separately and independently, depending on the observing and object s requirements.
For customers who wish to develop their own control software, either because of preference, or because of the demands of a specific project, Hypervisor, along with its application programming interface, allows a programmer to: Integrate ASCOM compatible software and appliances with custom built hardware and software For Windows users who wish to migrate to a Linux platform, Hypervisor provides an easy-to-use path while maintaining existing Windows components Continue using Windows applications and hardware plus all of the Hypervisor applications to expand system capabilities Use a CMI mount with an astronomical server inside with all Linux software like Apache, Tamcat, MySQL (LAMP) and much more Develop custom software using the ChronosAPI Connect directly to the CMI hardware using RS-422 Take advantage of the CMI mount geometry: no meridian flip, no counterweights (no rebalancing for payload changes), software compatibility for payloads from 50 pounds to 1000 pounds. Hypervisor comes loaded with configured software: Webserver interface where user can control Hypervisor and appliances Forum, Adminstration, Picture Gallery, Wiki and other common web features available as a server Apache Tomcat Astronomical IRAF EPICS industrial spec RTS2 Observatory controller
Amateur tools like Cartes du Ciel, Guide 9 and Stellarium Optionally full catalogs like GSC and NOMAD. USB over IP allows you to forward USB wireless connections to remote computers as if the USB was connected locally OpenMPI for Grid computing capabilities ASCOM drivers INDI drivers Device drivers with support for Telescopes, CCDs, Webcams etc. MySQL and Postgres databases Eclipse based developing environment Computer languages like C++, FORTRAN, Java, Python etc. X11 remote support SSH and FTP servers Hypervisor uses the latest generation extensible format option ext4. It can support volumes with sizes up to 1 exbibyte (EiB) and files with sizes up to 16 terabytes (TiB). Ext4 uses a performance technique called allocate-on-flush, also known as delayed allocation. That is, ext4 delays block allocation until it writes data to disk. (In contrast, some file systems allocate blocks before writing data to disk.) Delayed allocation improves performance and reduces fragmentation by using the actual file size to improve block allocation. One of the main advantages is that it can be extended with external storage. The Hypervisor software can be run on an external tower compatible with Ubuntu v12 or higher should higher processing power be required, especially should the user decide to run their own applications in addition to those supplied. Hypervisor can also be supplied for other Linux platforms such as Red Hat, SUSE, etc. Hypervisor uses a distributed architecture to minimize the impact of one unit s processing capacity.