Benchmarks test handset Java performance

The EEMBC is allowing anyone who registers online to download its GrinderBench benchmarks to a cellphone to test the performance of common tasks enabled by Java.

In a move to share its mobile Java benchmarks with the vast community of Java-enabled cellphone users, the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC) is allowing anyone who registers at www.grinderbench.com to download EEMBC's GrinderBench benchmarks to a cellphone to test the performance of common tasks enabled by Java.

EEMBC's GrinderBench mobile Java benchmarks are a rigorous set of algorithms that test how well a phone plays computationally intensive games, interacts with the Internet, displays photo images, encrypts messages and performs other functions enabled by Java virtual machines (JVMs).

The suite was developed by EEMBC, a nonprofit consortium, with the involvement of companies including ARM, Freescale, IBM, Intel, Motorola, Nokia, Sun, Symbian, Tao Group, and Texas Instruments.

EEMBC's easy-to-use www.grinderbench.com website provides instructions for how to download and run the benchmarks, as well as a growing library of benchmark scores obtained by EEMBC and its member companies for a wide range of popular mobile phones.

"The preliminary data we've seen is already quite revealing", said EEMBC President Markus Levy.

"Some phones have outstanding Java performance and will make game-playing a joy".

"Other phones have such poor Java performance, it's stretching the facts to claim that they can run Java-based programs".

Most EEMBC benchmark suites are designed to show the performance of processors in embedded system applications, whereas GrinderBench scores reflect the performance of an entire J2ME implementation, including the JVM, operating system, accelerators or processors, and memory subsystems.

Users who run the benchmarks on their cellphones will obtain separate scores indicating Java performance in five applications.

"With several different Java benchmarks now on the loose, GrinderBench stands as a thoroughly engineered, tested, and certifiable standard for measuring the performance of Java implementations", Levy said.

"Compared with the alternatives, GrinderBench may be somewhat less exciting to run; it won't bring up any fancy images on your cellphone display, nor does it make cool sounds".

"But under the hood, there's a lot of processing going on, making this a very powerful benchmark".

Although anyone with a Java-enabled mobile phone can now experience GrinderBench, EEMBC rules specify that only the consortium or its members can publish the resulting scores.

This policy is intended to ensure that only valid and reliable Grindermark scores are published.

EEMBC created GrinderBench to give service providers, mobile phone and PDA manufacturers, JVM developers, and the chip industry a reliable means of measuring and predicting Java performance and thus the ability to improve their products.

For users in these and related categories, EEMBC offers a GrinderBench licence that provides access to the benchmark source code, allowing the licensee to profile and observe directly the workload of the benchmarks and identify specific strengths and weaknesses in a J2ME implementation.

The source code is also useful for evaluating other Java-equipped products such as set-top boxes and in-car entertainment systems.

Companies can also obtain access to the GrinderBench source code by becoming a member of the EEMBC board of directors or its Java subcommittee.

A single-user licence for the GrinderBench benchmark software costs $800 for commercial users.

GrinderBench may be licensed individually or in combination with other EEMBC benchmark software, which includes benchmark suites designed to measure processor performance in digital imaging and entertainment, telecomms, networking, office automation and automotive/industrial applications.

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