Java software stack requires less than 200Kbyte ROM

ARM Ltd is upgrading its mobile Java software stack, turning it into a turnkey Java virtual machine (JVM) for cellphones. The company introduced its software at the JavaOne Conference in San Francisco amid claims that the programming language is seeing broadening use, especially in consumer electronics.

ARM is joining the game with its multitasking software stack optimized for its hardware. The company claims its code requires less than 200Kbyte ROM, 25 percent less than the stacks of some competitors, and a RAM heap of less than 3Mbyte. Vodafone, by contrast, requires a 5Mbyte RAM heap.

The software also includes a runtime optimizer targeted to generate the highest performing Java code for a Jazelle accelerator. It also lets users customize the stack to meet their needs.

On the mobile front, ARM claims it shipped 260 million copies of its ARM Java software targeted at mobile phones. Cellphone makers such as Sony Ericsson and Nokia already develop their own multitasking JVMs for the handsets, which aim to handle simultaneously tasks such as voice over IP, 3D games, music download and playback, email and instant messaging.

According to Chris Porthouse, senior product manager at ARM, Oxford Semi, a network-attached storage systems device maker, and Japan's Access Ltd, a software company that serves makers of iMode handsets, announced they will license the new ARM JVM.

Separately, ARM announced Korea's Pantech and one unnamed U.S. cellphone maker is licensing its Swerve 3D graphics software. Swerve is a high-end graphics application programming interface for Java that rides on top of the lower-level OpenGL ES API. Swerve is based on the JSR-184 standard co-developed by ARM, Nokia, Motorola and Vodaphone.

- Rick Merritt
EE Times