The past several Linux kernel cycles has seen Loongson engineers working on implementing more kernel features for LoongArch , the MIPS-derived and RISC-V-inspired architecture out of China for domestic PCs. The performance of LoongArch CPUs so far still aren't competitive to x86_64 or Arm hardware but at least slowly are becoming more practical with more features being wired up. The latest milestone is the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) virtualization support appearing ready ahead of Linux 6.7.

The Loongson Git branch of the Linux kernel has queued up all of its initial KVM support code into loongarch-next ahead of the Linux 6.7 merge window opening up in about one month. This KVM support has been in the works for a number of months but appears to be finally ready to cross the finish line.

This set of patches get all of the basic KVM support code in place for this Chinese CPU architecture. This KVM support depends upon LoongArch's virtualization extensions and is the first means of virtualization supported for LoongArch.

Given the current levels of LoongArch CPU performance, the KVM virtualization support isn't likely too practical today but will become more important as the performance improved and if Loongson is to make a competitive splash in the server landscape for cloud/virtualization.