Speedy database caches in on Flash

Polyhedra FlashLite is billed as the industry's fastest and most compact Flash-based relational database management system.

Enea describes its latest offering, Polyhedra FlashLite, as the industry's fastest and most compact Flash-based relational database management system (RDBMS).

The SQL RDBMS, featuring a client-server architecture, active queries, and a powerful trigger language that allows "business logic" to be embedded in the database, uses Flash data storage, and delivers 10x the performance of traditional disk-based RDBMSs.

Polyhedra FlashLite's high performance, compact size, and ability to use Flash memory makes it ideal for stand-alone, low-power devices such as feature phones, and disk-less systems such as home gateways and set-top boxes.

"The need for full-featured relational database management systems is no longer limited to disk-based computer systems", said Dr Nigel Day, Product Marketing Manager for Polyhedra.

"Today's mobile devices are experiencing explosive code growth and becoming more computer-like every day".

"As such, they must handle complex data and keep it safe and consistent, even if the device runs out of power at awkward times".

"Flash-based RDBMSs like Polyhedra FlashLite accomplish this while enabling programmers to use existing coding skills".

"Mobile devices are getting smarter every day, running increasingly complex programs and processing increasingly complex data", said J.

Gerry Purdy, PhD, Principal Analyst, MobileTrax.

"Full-featured, Flash-based RDBMSs like Polyhedra give programmers the high-level tools they need to provide secure, low-power, high-speed storage for that data, and typify the industry's move toward higher level, off-the-shelf solutions for device software optimisation".

Polyhedra FlashLite is a transactional RDBMS that provides a secure high-performance data repository for embedded systems applications.

Featuring a small code footprint, Polyhedra FlashLite supports both high-speed NOR and low-cost NAND Flash, and uses a cache-based design that boosts performance by up to an order of magnitude relative to conventional disk- and Flash-based RDBMSs.

Polyhedra FlashLite occupies less than 1Mbyte of RAM for both code and working space, and can use disk or Flash memory for data storage.

Because the code is ROMable, and the cache size is controllable, designers can reduce RAM usage to as little as 200Kbyte if necessary.

The ability to use Flash memory for data storage greatly reduces size, battery requirements, and cost, all key factors for stand-alone, low-power devices such as feature phones.

Polyhedra FlashLite is ACID compliant (atomic, consistent, isolated and durable).

Atomic and consistent means that if any part of a transaction fails, it is rolled back, allowing the database to move from one consistent state to the next.

Consistent and isolated means that each transaction is independent of other transactions, and that the internal state of each transaction is invisible to all other transactions.

Durable means that data integrity is preserved in the event of a system failure.

Polyhedra FlashLite uses a client-server architecture that improves data integrity and resilience by separating the data from the applications that use it, thereby protecting the memory used by the database software from accidental modification.

Polyhedra FlashLite uses standard SQL, an easy-to-use, database-independent data manipulation and query language that supports simple single-table queries as well as complex queries spanning multiple tables.

Polyhedra FlashLite's active, event-driven technology makes databases more robust, simplifies applications, and enhances performance.

Active queries provide a fine-grained SQL push technology that notifies applications of data changes as soon as they occur.

This eliminates the need for polling, thereby reducing processor usage.

Polyhedra FlashLite also lets the database designer set up active, triggered, database-resident code, which enables application-level data integrity rules to be built right into the database.

Embedding "business logic" in the database in this way not only improves the overall 'correctness' of the information in the database, but also improves programmer productivity by reducing the amount of code needed in the applications.

Polyhedra FlashLite is part of the family of Polyhedra RDBMS products, all of which are interoperable and share a common code base.

The flagship product is a fault-tolerant, memory-resident version, which is available in both 32 and 64bit versions.

The Polyhedra family is available for a broad range of operating systems, including OSE, VxWorks, Integrity, Linux, Windows and Unix.

When TCP/IP is used as the transport protocol, Polyhedra's client-server protocol makes it platform independent, allowing remote database interrogation and updates.

This simplifies distributed system design by enabling parts of the system to be spread across multiple platforms.

It also facilitates remote debugging during the application development phase.

A single-user developer licence costs $11,995.

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