IBM deal boosts embedded Java support

QNX Software Systems has strengthened its relationship with IBM as an authorised global reseller of selected IBM Websphere embedded technologies.

QNX Software Systems has strengthened its relationship with IBM as an authorised global reseller of selected IBM Websphere embedded technologies.

The company has also updated its support for IBM WebSphere Studio Device Developer (WSDD) v5.6, an integrated development environment for building and deploying high-performance Java applications in medical instruments, in-car telematics units, industrial control systems, and other smart devices based on the QNX Neutrino real-time operating system (RTOS).

As an authorised reseller of IBM WebSphere technologies, QNX has also unveiled support for three further packages.

WebSphere Micro Environment v5.6 is a production-ready Java powered environment certified to meet several Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) specifications, including CDC, CLDC, MIDP and Foundation Profile.

WebSphere Custom Environment v5.6 is a highly configurable platform for telematics systems and other applications that do not require J2ME compliance.

IBM Service Management Framework is an implementation of the OSGI services platform implementation that allows users to seamlessly deploy new or upgraded functionality on their remote devices Along with WSDD, these form part of IBM's recently announced Workplace Client Technology, Micro Edition family of products, aimed at extending enterprise applications to server-managed client devices.

"Our commitment to supporting Java technology, like our commitment to Posix, reflects the deep value we place on industry standards and the benefits they bring to embedded developers - benefits such as increased productivity, greater code reuse, and vendor independence", said Steve Furr, OS Product Manager at QNX Software Systems and coauthor of the real-time specification for Java.

"By adding IBM WebSphere Studio Device Developer v5.6 to the portfolio of QNX-supported Java solutions, we make it easier than ever for developers to combine the portability of the Java programming language with the proven reliability of the QNX Neutrino RTOS".

To provide customers with an exceptionally rich and well-rounded Java technology portfolio, QNX also works closely with technology partners that specialise in real-time Java solutions, such as Aicas and Aonix.

QNX users can, as a result, leverage the portability and platform independence of Java while targeting hard real-time systems for the defence, medical, telematics and industrial automation markets.

Like the QNX Momentics development suite, WSDD is built on Eclipse technology, providing QNX developers with a familiar development environment and compatibility with a variety of third-party plug-ins.

And, like QNX Momentics, it provides tools that help make the most of resource-constrained embedded systems, including a SmartLinker to reduce memory usage, a MicroAnalyser to pinpoint bottlenecks and a choice of just-in-time and ahead-of-time compilers to improve application performance.

Using WSDD, users can build and test applications for WebSphere Micro Environment v5.6 and WebSphere Custom Environment v5.6, both of which are optimised for the QNX Neutrino RTOS.

Java applications running in these environments can leverage the same advanced services that QNX Neutrino provides for native applications, including priority-based scheduling, distributed processing, symmetric multiprocessing and the QNX Photon microGUI, a full-featured embeddable windowing system.

"By combining IBM WebSphere Studio Device Developer with the QNX Neutrino RTOS, developers can build efficient, network-deployable software that will run across a broad range of devices and processor architectures", said Bruce Morse, Vice-President, Business Development, IBM Pervasive Computing.

"Together, IBM and QNX will continue to bring Java applications into control systems, telematics units and other mission-critical devices".

"We are glad to build on this relationship by adding QNX as an authorised reseller of IBM WebSphere Studio Device Developer".

QNX support for WebSphere Studio Device Developer v5.6, WebSphere Micro Environment v5.6 and WebSphere Custom Environment v5.6 is slated for commercial release in June 2004.

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