Patent ID: 7272831

Claim:
A system comprising: a hardware platform including a residual fixed function hardware device represented by a hardware component of a soft device; a first virtual machine, coupled to the hardware platform, the first virtual machine including a driver of the soft device, the soft device driver controlling the residual fixed function hardware device; a second virtual machine, coupled to the hardware platform, the second virtual machines utilizing the soft device when needed, the soft device being independent of an operating system run by the second virtual machine; and a virtual machine monitor (VMM), coupled to the hardware platform and the first and second virtual machines, to present the first virtual machine to the second virtual machine as an external or internal device, and to emulate communication between the first and second virtual machines using a virtualized connectivity means linked to the driver of the soft device, wherein the VMM emulates communication between the first and second virtual machines by trapping accesses of one of the virtual machines to the virtualized connectivity means, and redirecting the accesses to another of the virtual machines via the virtualized connectivity means.