Product category:
Design and Development Software
News Release from: Aonix | Subject: Perc Pico
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 08 April 2008
Java development environment works with
VxWorks
Hard-real-time technologies work together to help in the design of complex mission- and safety-critical software within large teams where modular design is essential.
Aonix Perc Pico is now available for use with Wind River's VxWorks RTOS and Wind River Workbench development suite The joint offerings of such hard-real-time technologies provide developers with the resources they need to design complex mission- and safety-critical software within large teams where modular design is essential
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 27 Feb 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Software increases Java coding options
PERC Pico components used in conjunction with the PERC Ultra virtual soft real-time product make it possible to address all levels of the embedded real-time application.
Environment eases embedded Java development
PERC Pico is the first development environment for Java developers truly geared toward the creation of resource-constrained and deeply embedded hard-real-time applications and components.
With Perc Pico, the same Java language advantages of portability, scalability and modularity can be designed into applications from top to bottom, thereby streamlining application development, debugging and ongoing program maintenance.
Perc Pico, the first development environment geared toward the creation of resource constrained and deeply embedded hard-real-time applications and components, is based on the emerging Java Specification Request (JSR-302) for development of hard real-time safety-critical code.
Perc Pico allows Java developers to write low-level Java code such as device drivers and interrupt handlers, telecommunications control plane, and signal processing for multimedia.
Further reading
Virtual machine serves hard-real-time tasks
A precommercial "proof of concept" release of PERC Pico technology is available now for qualified developers.
Java development embraces multiprocessing
Although Java code does not have to be rewritten to take advantage of symmetric multiprocessing, changes will enable it to efficiently run on multiple processors concurrently.
Software showcases unmanned plane research
QinetiQ chose PERC because PERC enables existing Java code and libraries to be used in an embedded environment while providing the necessary support for soft real-time operation.
It offers a memory footprint measured in hundreds of kilobytes in comparison to the tens of megabytes required for other Java solutions as well as boasting performance, latency, and determinism comparable to C.
Perc Pico 1.1, complete with Eclipse plugins, offers Java application developers plug-and-play access to the power and hard real-time characteristics of the VxWorks RTOS and easy-to-use Workbench Eclipse-based development toolset.
Perc Pico analyser, a new memory-use analysis tool, enables developers of real-time Java systems for the first time to statically analyse memory requirements and memory footprint implications associated with source-code changes without resorting to traditional test and debug activities.
Perc Pico tools enforce programming disciplines that enables the Perc Pico analyser to calculate the stack memory requirements for running threads.
This kind of analysis and enforcement is extremely beneficial to development of deeply embedded, real-time systems where memory allocation and predictability are essential.
"Perc Pico is a perfect match for the application needs of many VxWorks users", says Gary Cato, Aonix Director of Marketing.
"Our customers build some of the most demanding applications where access to world-class tools and execution environments is an absolute must".
"The combination of Aonix and Wind River solutions meets their stringent application requirements".
"Most of our customers focus on hard real-time, safety-critical issues", notes Rob Hoffman, General Manager of Aerospace and Defense at Wind River.
"Prior to Aonix's Perc Pico, Java technologies have not been able to address these needs effectively or efficiently".
"We're excited by the potential that this product represents and delighted to be the first RTOS supported by Perc Pico".
Using Perc Pico components in conjunction with the Perc Ultra soft-real-time solution makes it possible to address all levels of the embedded real-time application from high-level application complexity to the lowest levels of hardware.
Perc Ultra is the leading virtual machine for embedded and real-time execution of Java programs.
Perc Ultra has been deployed in hundreds of thousands of real-time devices, demonstrating millions of hours of highly available operation.
Perc-based applications span multiple market segments, including aerospace, defence, industrial automation, robotics and telecommunications.
Until now, Perc Ultra programmers have resorted to mixed-language development using a Java Native Interface (JNI) and C to access low-level services of the underlying platform.
The mixing of C and Java code introduces a performance handicap, adds to the costs of software maintenance, and compromises the security benefits typical with Java language use.
For the first time, developers can now code their entire application in the Java language, avoiding the mix of low-level C code in their Java applications.
This top-to-bottom Java solution eliminates awkward and performance-robbing interchanges via the JNI, one of the most frequent points of failure in mixed-language embedded Java applications.
This is the first of many expected ports of Perc Pico to commercial RTOS platforms.
Perc Pico is available now for VxWorks targeting the PowerPC Architecture as well as Windows and Linux/x86 platforms and is readily portable to all major processor architectures for both RTOS and bare-board platforms.
Perc Pico development tools are available with flat project-based pricing starting at US $25,000 for an unlimited number of developers.
It is also available with special bundling discounts when licensed together with Perc Ultra.
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