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Java embeds itself in the control market

Interest grows In Java for embedded systems of all kinds

By Rick Cook, JavaWorld.com, 01/01/98

Page 2 of 7

One of the things feeding this growth is the increasing use of 32- and 64-bit processors in embedded systems. IDC estimates there will be 250 million of them in use in embedded applications by 2000. By other estimates, 32- and 64-bit processors will be the fastest-growing segment of the embedded processor market. Of course, these are the processors that are best-suited to running Java and that can benefit most from Java.

According to a recent survey by Electronic Engineering Times magazine, nearly half again as many companies reported using 32-bit processors in their designs as reported using them in last year's survey. The same survey reported an increasing interest in advanced languages, such as Java, which is now more popular for embedded applications than any language except assembly, C, and C++. Note, though, that Java proponents may make too much of this. Assembly language still leads by far, with roughly two-thirds of the survey respondents using it. C and C++ has less than half as much use as assembly, and Java has less use yet. On the other hand, most survey respondents are working with smaller, 8- and 16-bit microprocessors (which don't support advanced languages well), and Java is ahead of a number of traditional embedded systems languages such as Forth.

Networking: A LAN in your auto?

The other big trend in embedded systems is networking. Although many devices are still standalone, more and more of them can communicate with other systems. If it seems odd to think of a local area network in your car, keep in mind that there are already an average of 16 microcontrollers/microprocessors in the average new car, and Motorola, which is a major player in the market, predicts that by 2000 there will be 35 microcontrollers/microprocessors per new car. Some of them, such as the ones controlling the engine and the transmission, need to communicate very closely. As a result, automakers are hard at work on automotive LANs.

The trend toward networking is especially pronounced in areas like automation, where connecting "islands of automation" (as they are known in the business) has been the biggest goal of the last decade.

Factories have tended to automate piecemeal, concentrating on the parts of the production process where automation would produce the biggest or quickest returns. Now companies have to tie together these previously automated parts and integrate them into factory-wide automation systems. Since the pieces were installed at different times -- often using equipment from different vendors -- this is a challenge.

One important benefit of networked embedded systems is the ability to download upgrades or fixes across the 'Net to the individual systems. Traditionally, the software has been burned into ROM, meaning that a software upgrade required replacing the chip. Today products such as modems from US Robotics and others use rewritable memory technologies such as flash memory and accept upgrades over phone lines.

The importance of embedded software

Which brings us to embedded software -- and Java. The software component of the typical product has grown sharply in the last several years. Today it can easily be the dominant part of a product in terms of development time and expense -- even more dominant in embedded systems than in the desktop. Not only is every embedded system a new application, but reusability has been limited, and often the target hardware isn't available until late in the design cycle.

 

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