(PR excerpt) — TimeSys Corp. announced today that the latest version of its JTime real-time Java Virtual Machine (JVM) software development kit (SDK) is the first embedded Java development environment to fully comply with the Real-Time Specification for Java (“RTSJ” — see further discussion, below).

TimeSys says JTime, which is offered as part of a TimeSys SDK that includes TimeSys TimeStorm (a Java/C/C++ integrated development environment), TimeSys Linux/Real-Time (a Linux-based RTOS runtime environment), and an Ahead-of-Time compiler, is a Sun Microsystems-certified JVM which targets the performance and real-time requirements of embedded systems.

JTime provides “completely predictable, real-time operation,” and is already being used by Boeing, MKS Instruments, NASA's Jet Propudsion Laboratory (JPL), and Siemens AG, the company added.

Chris Lanfear, embedded software market analyst at Venture Development Corporation (VDC), believes the new TimeSys JTime SDKs will help accelerate the adoption of Java for embedded systems by providing an RTSJ-compliant JVM along with a packaged embedded Linux development environment. “The adoption of Java technology in the traditional embedded market has been limited by two primary factors: the inability to predictably control the correct execution of applications; and the lack of professional tools for embedded Java development,” Lanfear said.

Real-time performance benchmarks

According to TimeSys, an independent third-party has completed extensive testing of JTime's real-time capabilities, including assessment of the performance and determinism of systems using JTime in comparison to a C++ implementation on the same hardware.

The benchmarks not only exceeded the research team's expectations in terms of compile times for development, but also execution testing for throughput, determinism, latency, memory use, duration of operation, and scalability, the company said.

Benefits for embedded systems

“TimeSys' delivery of the first RTSJ-compliant JVM and libraries will enable the embedded systems industry to begin embracing Java for its many benefits of developer productivity and code reusability and to gain the advanced real-time scheduling and programming features of the RTSJ; all with the performance, predictability, and stability of their current applications,” said Dr. Greg Bollella, a Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems Laboratories and Lead Designer of the Real-Time Specification for Java. “This is, indeed, a critical and important step in the adoption of the Real-Time Java Platform for embedded and real-time systems development.”

“JTime brings Java programming full-circle back to the embedded industry with a reliable and stable real-time JVM,” observed TimeSys CEO Larry Weidman. “Embedded developers with apprehensions about Java's performance and predictability capabilities can now experience all the benefits of Java programming for embedded applications and have confidence that their applications will meet their performance requirements across multiple platforms under heavy loads.”

“Our early access customers are using JTime on top of our Linux RTOS to develop applications for which Java would never have been considered because the performance and reliability just wasn't there,” added Weidman. “These customers are, for the first time, able to benefit from the use of Java in large scale, mission-critical, distributed applications in power plant control, industrial automation, and military avionics.”

Support for other Linux distributions

Although JTime is tightly integrated with TimeSys Linux/Real-Time, it also works with other Linux distributions such as Red Hat 7.2 and MontaVista Linux, the company said. Additionally, future versions of JTime are planned to work with other embedded Linux distributions.

However, TimeSys pointed out that although the use of JTime with Linux distributions other than TimeSys Linux/Real-Time (including TimeSys Linux GPL) will add significant benefits to embedded Java applications, such combinations may not be fully RTSJ-compliant due to the RTSJ requirement that the JVM be used in conjunction with a “full-featured” real-time operating system (RTOS).

About the RTSJ

Standard Java is considered too unpredictable to meet the timing and behavior requirements of most embedded systems because of its unbounded garbage collection, inability to handle sporadic events and periodic tasks, lack of built-in priority inversion avoidance, and imprecise thread control.

To extend the capability of Java technology to support the predictable behavior required by advanced embedded systems, an expert group was formed under the Java Community Process (JCP) to fulfill Java Standards Request 1 (JSR-000001) and develop the Real-Time Specification for Java. TimeSys played an important role in the development of the RTSJ, represented on the expert group by three of TimeSys' senior engineers. TimeSys also developed and hosts both the Reference Implementation (RI) and Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK). Continuing that leadership role, TimeSys' JTime Java Virtual Machine is the first Sun-certified JVM that meets all of the requirements of the Real-Time Specification for Java (RTSJ), providing an ideal Java platform for developing predictable, reliable and scalable embedded systems.

The RTSJ calls for additions to the Java platform to support the predictability and reliability requirements of advanced embedded and real-time systems, including industrial automation and process control systems, avionics and aerospace applications, military command, control and communications (C3) systems, and other mission-critical applications in which a missed deadline can lead to severe or catastrophic failure, causing significant loss and even death.

The RTSJ requires the use of no-heap real-time threads to run above the garbage collector, the addition of support for periodic events and timers, asynchronous interrupt exceptions, asynchronous events, and sporadic scheduling, and deadline miss detection. These features allow real-time and embedded systems developers to have more control over the scheduling, priority, timing and execution of processes and tasks within their systems; thereby enabling them to develop predictable, reliable and stable systems in Java.

TimeSys played an active role in the development of the RTSJ, and was represented on the RTSJ Expert Group by TimeSys vice president of technology, Dr. Doug Locke, TimeSys distinguished engineer, Dr. Peter Dibble, and Carnegie Mellon University professor and TimeSys cofounder, Dr. Raj Rajkumar.

TimeSys also developed the official Reference Implementation (RI) of the RTSJ, which has been downloaded from the TimeSys Web site more than 2,000 times since its posting in November 2001. TimeSys also developed and hosts the Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK) for use in testing implementations of the RTSJ. Dr. Doug Locke is currently the Maintenance Lead for the RTSJ.

Availability

TimeSys' JTime and JTime SDKs will begin shipping later this month. The first platforms to be supported are Pentium and Pentium-class processors. TimeSys will begin delivering JTime for PowerPC-based platforms in April; other processor architectures, including MIPS, SH, ARM and XScale, will follow.

 
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