SAN JOSE, Calif., Embedded Systems Conference Booth # 1602, April 3
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In preparation for the Embedded Systems Conference,
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), the creator and leading advocate of
Java(TM) technology, today expanded its offerings for the embedded development
market by releasing two new editions of the Java Platform Standard Edition
(Java SE) -- a reduced-footprint build that uses less than 25 megabytes (MB)
of storage, and a fully supported custom port for PowerPC users. Sun also
announced a new tuning and benchmarking service for optimizing performance of
the Java SE platform for embedded deployments. Sun will also be demonstrating
the early access release of its Sun Java Real-Time System version 2.0 in their
booth at the show.
Java technology is becoming an increasingly utilized platform for modern
embedded systems due to its inherent networking support, display strengths,
and data processing capabilities. Most features of the Java SE platform can be
used now for embedded development, thanks to the increasing capacity of new
hardware. One good example is the new VIA EPIA N-series Nano-ITX mainboard --
which is only 12 centimeters (4.7 inches) square -- yet features a one
gigahertz (1 GHz) processor and up to one gigabyte (1 GB) of memory.
The new reduced footprint -- or "headless" (meaning largely without
graphics support) -- version of the Java SE platform requires only 23 MB of
storage space and is ideal for embedded developers who want to take advantage
of the strong networking, performance, and processing capabilities of Java
technology. The PowerPC version is a stable, supported version of the Java SE
platform designed specifically for the PowerPC processor, which is currently
in wide use among developers for larger-scale (non cell-phone) embedded
devices. For more information on Java SE for embedded development, please
visit: http://java.sun.com/j2se/embedded .
"Intermec is deploying the Java SE platform on our IF5 RFID reader. The
performance and capabilities of the Java SE software made Intermec's choice of
a development platform very easy," said Colin Murphy, principle product
manager at Intermec. "Using Java technology, we have seen a significant
increase in developer productivity, which is helping us get our products to
market sooner."
From a technical perspective, embedded developers using the new versions
of the Java SE platform can leverage resources and sample code available from
http://java.sun.com and http://www.java.net , as well as tap into the millions
of developers working with Java technology across the globe. The Java SE
platform gives embedded developers the ability to deploy applications across
multiple hardware platforms and provides features such as generics, templates,
and just-in-time compilers that are not available with other programming
languages. The Java Native Interface (JNI) provides developers with the
ability to access their legacy C/C++ code libraries directly without requiring
extensive code rewrites. In addition, developers can access a wide range of
free and open-source code and participate along with other Java software
developers in community projects such as the NetBeans(TM) integrated
development environment, Tomcat application server, Apache web server, Derby
database, and others.
It is important to note that the new versions of Java SE do not minimize
the value of the Java Platform Micro Edition (Java ME). Java ME technology
remains a standard front-line platform for traditional embedded development
involving very low processor power and memory (e.g. cell phones, handhelds,
processors embedded in smaller printers, copiers, etc.).
"There are two converging trends happening in the embedded space today:
one is that the power and scale of processing driven by Moore's Law enables
smaller and more powerful platforms for embedded use; and the other is that
more and more 'things' are being connected to the Internet. Together, this
means that the embedded marketplace is rapidly evolving and perhaps even
becoming the mainstream computing environment for this century," said Laurie
Tolson, vice president, Java Platform Group at Sun. "Our announcements today
are another example of Sun listening to feedback from developers in the
community and responding to their requests. These new releases are completely
customer-driven and demonstrate Sun's intent to continue developing our
offerings and helping to drive innovation in this growing large-scale embedded
market."
Tuning and Benchmarking Services
Sun's new tuning and benchmarking services focuses on adjusting the
numerous tunable components in the standard Java Virtual Machine (JVM(TM))
including: stack memory, just-in-time compiler settings, selecting the proper
garbage collector and other settings. Experience has shown that tuning the JVM
in this manner can improve application performance speed anywhere from 25% to
200% -- without requiring any code change by the customer.
"Sun's performance tuning and benchmarking service provided Nortel with
excellent results," said Paul Ensing, Nortel IMS Development Director.
"Without having to change any code in our applications, Sun was able to
recommend significant improvement to our application performance by tuning the
JVM for our specific situation -- using our software running on our hardware.
Furthermore, Sun's experts have helped us evaluate our own Java code to
isolate and remove additional performance bottlenecks."
The JVM Tuning and Benchmarking Service works this way: The customer
provides Sun with an application and environment (either via a loaner system
to Sun or remote access to their on-site system). The customer also provides
Sun with critical performance measures, if any. Sun performs a benchmarking
run with custom and standard benchmarks first; then follows a one- to two-week
tuning process to optimize the JVM for best performance given the application,
processor, memory, and operating system configuration.
Pricing for the JVM Tuning/Benchmarking service is handled on a "statement
of work" basis to provide the most flexibility for the customer. For more
information, see this website: http://java.sun.com/j2se/embedded/ .
Sun at Embedded Systems Conference (ESC)
Sun will be demonstrating the new Java SE for embedded systems at ESC in
San Jose, Calif. April 4-7, 2006 in booth # 1602. In addition, Sun will also
be highlighting the early access release of its Java Real-Time System 2.0,
which will support Java SE 5.0, x86 and x64 platforms and will include an
innovative real-time garbage collector. The early access release will be
demonstrated running on the Solaris(TM) 10 Operating System on a VIA nano-ITX
board and controlling an inverted pendulum control problem.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
A singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer"(TM) -- guides Sun in
the development of technologies that power the world's most important markets.
Sun's philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is at the
forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be
found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at sun.com.
* The terms "Java Virtual Machine" and "JVM" mean a Virtual Machine for
the Java platform.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jacki DeCoster
Sun Microsystems
415-294-4482
jacki.decoster@sun.com
allpress@sun.com
650-786-7737
NOTE: Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, Solaris, NetBeans, JVM
and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun
Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
SOURCE Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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Related links:
http://sun.com
CONTACT:
Jacki DeCoster of Sun Microsystems,
+1-415-294-4482, or jacki.decoster@sun.com, or +1-650-786-7737,
or allpress@sun.com
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