Notes: 2026-06-23 CC VirtIO subgroup

[Julianus Larson]

Hi,

Thanks for joining yesterday's meeting. See the AI notes below and find Sumit's slides attached.

Best regards,

Julianus Larson

Attendees:
Sumit Semwal
Edgar Iglesias
Bill Mills
Viresh Kumar
Randy Linnell
Arve Hjønnevåg
Alex Bennée
Don Harbin
Alice Wang
Armelle Laine
Julianus Larson

Quick recap

This was the second meeting of the Virtio subgroup in the virtualization working group, focusing on the Virtio Message implementation and related topics. Sumit presented the current state of Virtio Message, noting that Bertrand from ARM had posted V2 of the spec with demos for FFA and AMP implementations, and discussed the need for transport changes and validation across all three implementations (FFA, AMP, and loopback). The project is currently paused due to funding status uncertainty, with ARM sponsoring the spec development and interest from Qualcomm, Google, and AMD. Armelle from Google requested more concrete financial details and a clear process for multi-party funding contributions, leading to discussions about creating a four-way meeting with AMD, Google, and Qualcomm to agree on costs and sponsorship terms. The group also discussed testing-related enhancements, with Edgar from AMD expressing interest in compliance tests and safety/certification requirements, while Arve from Google noted their interest in testing for SOC communication but emphasized the need for tests that could be integrated into their automatic testing systems. Additional topics covered included VSOC and memory sharing interests from both Google and AMD, and potential Virtio Media and KVM device support, though specific implementation details and collaboration approaches were left for future discussions.

Next steps

Bill

• Review and potentially adjust the cadence or structure of the separate Virtio Message public readout meetings, in coordination with Core Collective.

Sumit

• Send out detailed cost/effort numbers for Phase 1 of Virtio Message work to AMD, Google, and Qualcomm representatives, and coordinate a four-way meeting to discuss funding commitments.
• Work with Don to create a single slide/process overview for the sponsorship and funding process, and share with relevant parties.
• Move forward discussion on testing/compliance enhancements for Virtio (including Virtio Message) via email, and clarify specific areas of interest and scope (e.g., which backends/drivers, compliance interfaces).
• Create and maintain a list of safety/robustness/real-time requirements for Virtio Message, and assess if protocol changes are needed for these use cases.
• Survey and coordinate with attendees to determine optimal meeting times for future technical meetings, especially to accommodate Arve and other key contributors.

Summary

Vertex Message Status Update Meeting

Sumit began the meeting by discussing the current state of Vertex Message and proposed showing a slide set to outline the top-level status. He suggested delving deeper into Vertex Message and addressing other topics of interest from the kickoff meeting. 

Virtio Message Project Funding Discussion

The meeting focused on discussing the Virtio message project and funding arrangements. Sumit provided an update on the current state of the project, including Bertrand's V2 spec and the need for transport changes across implementations. Armelle from Google requested more details on the next steps for financial contributions, and Don explained the process for submitting sponsorship through Core Collective. The group agreed to work on providing a concrete cost estimate and template for the sponsorship agreement, with Sumit planning to share a detailed proposal with AMD, Google, and Qualcomm for further discussion.

Virtio Development Discussion Updates

The team discussed several areas of interest for Virtio-related development, including testing enhancements, VSOC and memory sharing, and safety/robustness requirements. Edgar confirmed AMD's interest in testing and VSOC implementations, while Arve from Google noted their interest in testing that could be integrated into their automatic testing system. The group also explored Virtio Message's potential for safety certifications, with Edgar explaining how it helps address certification requirements by eliminating pause issues in PCI access. Sumit proposed continuing these discussions via email rather than waiting for the next meeting in two weeks.

Meeting Schedule and Attendance Adjustments

The team discussed meeting attendance and timing concerns, particularly regarding Arve's inability to attend meetings once the summer ends due to scheduling conflicts with the early time slot. Sumit agreed to consider moving the meeting time to accommodate more participants globally, potentially separating technical meetings from general updates. Bill mentioned plans to continue regular public readouts every 2-3 months and work with CORE Collective on implementation.