Angel: resource unification in a 64-bit microkernel

The appearance of 64-bit processors allows a new approach to microkernal design. From our experience with a message passing microkernel MESHIX, we discovered that a multi-address space, POSIX architecture is unsuitable for general parallel applications development. Angel was therefore designed to provide a more flexible environment. Central to these aims is a simplification of resources. This is achieved through the use of a single address space holding all data and processes, and which absorbs communication to remove the distinction between local and remote machines. The result is a kernel scalable to massively parallel machines whilst maintaining the shared variable paradigm.< >