Intel® x86 Architecture Distribution of Trusty* OS

Trusty* is a set of software components that support a trusted execution environment (TEE) on client devices. It originated from the Android* Open Source Project (AOSP) where a reference implementation is provided based on the Arm TrustZone*.

Trusty TEE Overview

Intel® x86 Architecture Distribution of Trusty* OS is the hardware virtualization-based Trusty solution for x86 systems from Intel. It has a fully compatible design and maximum reuse of Trusty.

The complete environment includes:

• The Trusty operating system that runs on a processor intended to provide a TEE
• Services and APIs including a little kernel (LK)
• Drivers for the Android kernel (a Linux* kernel)
• Libraries for Android software and trusted applications
• Intel® Kernel Guard Technology (Intel® KGT) hypervisor to create two virtual machines (VM) for Android and the Trusty operating system

Intel KGT on GitHub*

Trusty and the LK provide support for virtual address space and privilege isolation. They work in an event-driven model by the request from the Android world.

• Trusted applications are isolated with Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT) for IA-32, Intel® 64 and Intel® Architecture (Intel® VT-x)
• Intel provides a hardware abstraction layer, x86 adaptation layer, and virtual machine monitor (VMM)

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can develop their own Android client applications and corresponding Trusty applications and services.