Aonix Proves Hard Real-Time Java™ Technology Reaches Run-time Efficiency of C, Class Details More Information

Prerelease version of JRTK™ VM demos at Embedded Systems Conference

Embedded Systems Conference, San Francisco, CA, March 7, 2005

Aonix®, a provider of complete solutions for safety- and mission-critical applications, will host the first demonstration of hard real-time Java using a precommercial release of JRTK, a hard real-time Java solution immediately meeting the needs of applications such as network-centric warfare, future combat systems and low-level telecommunications control-plane software. As a hard real-time solution also targeting the broader military & aerospace, transportation, energy and medical markets, JRTK delivers efficient, small footprint execution, matching the footprint and run-time efficiency of C. Using CaffeineMark, an industry-standard Java benchmark, Aonix will show that JRTK is able to achieve the performance of C and run at approximately twice the speed of traditional Java.

JRTK, a hard real-time mission-critical subset of the Real-Time Specification for Java (RTSJ) as defined by the Java Community Process, includes many efficiencies over standard Java offerings. No garbage collection is used on objects in the real-time heap. A standard subset of Java libraries is restricted with each library’s time and memory resources clearly defined. Partitioning clearly separates soft real-time components from hard real-time components to ensure hard real-time schedules as well as program reliability and robustness.

In “High Assurance Java for Mission-Critical Systems,” Dr. Kelvin Nilsen, Aonix CTO and key contributor to Open Group Technical specifications, will outline the scalable Java approach to safety-critical and mission-critical development, based on standardization activities hosted by the Open Group. The hard real-time Java technologies are designed to provide the high performance, small memory footprint, hard real-time determinism and simplicity required for the development of DO-178B certified software in commercial and military avionics applications. Nilsen will guide software engineers who need to apply high-level benefits of the Java language to low-level mission-critical software in how to create architectures using the safety-critical specification and combine safety-critical components with traditional Java components in high-assurance mission-critical systems. The two-part class takes place on Thursday, March 10 from 11:15-12:45 and 2:00-3:30.

“JRTK is the first Java technology to match the efficiency of C and offer true compliance with hard real-time constraints, while preserving the portability and scalability benefits that make Java such a popular programming language,” noted Nilsen. “This new technology will offer the same developer productivity benefits to the hard real-time community that traditional Java has brought to the non-real-time domain. Typical Java development offers a two-fold increase in developer productivity and a five- to ten- fold savings in software maintenance costs in comparison to C/C++ development.”

The JRTK hard real-time product complements the capabilities of the industry-leading PERC™ soft real-time Java platform. PERC focuses on large, dynamic, complex, soft real-time components. In contrast, JRTK addresses the needs of low-level components with demanding throughput, hard real-time, and severe memory constraints. JRTK is based on the standard for safety-critical Java being developed within the Open Group’s Real-Time and Embedded Forum.

The design of JRTK has benefited from years of supporting soft real-time development with the PERC VM. In the past, Aonix has played an active role in helping PERC customers integrate high- performance, hard real-time capabilities written as C components into their PERC applications. With availability of JRTK, these customers can, for the first time, apply traditional Java strengths to the development and maintenance of their performance- and hard real-time critical components as well. In 2003, the U.S. Navy commissioned a study to investigate the efficiency and scalability benefits of the JRTK architecture. In that study, a JRTK prototype was shown to ease the cost of development and maintenance and offer much higher performance than the alternative approaches of integrating C-language components using JNI (Java Native Interface) or writing low-level components using the full RTSJ.

The JRTK product is the newest member of the Aonix family of fast and small real-time executives to support mission- and safety-critical development. It builds on the combined strengths and experience of existing PERC and Ada development tools.

Shipping and Availability
Precommercial evaluation release of the JRTK product will be available second quarter 2005. First commercial shipment is planned for third quarter 2005. Pricing has not yet been determined.

About Aonix

Aonix offers mission- and safety-critical solutions primarily to the military and aerospace, telecommunications and transportation-related industries. Aonix delivers the leading high-reliability, real-time embedded virtual machine solution for running Java™ programs deployed today and has the largest number of certified Ada applications at the highest level of criticality. Our unique modeling solution features UML™ 2.0 profiles and MDA™ tailored for the mission- and safety-critical space. Aonix products include PERC®, RAVEN™, and Ameos™. Headquartered in San Diego, CA and Paris, France, Aonix operates sales offices throughout North America and Europe in addition to offering a network of international distributors. For more information, visit www.aonix.com.

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