aJile Licensing IP to Accelerate Java

By Michael Foley

(04/22/01, 10:20:51 PM EDT)

aJile Systems has begun licensing its Java technology-based processor design as a semiconductor IP core for system-on-chip (SoC) designers. The Java IP core uses Java bytecodes as its native instruction set and acts as an accelerator to Java applets and applications.

aJile's processor core, called JEMCore, enhances Java performance by eliminating the need for a software interpreter and Java Virtual Machine (JVM). aJile's hard-coded, 32-bit JVM executes Java bytecodes as its native instruction set. Using deterministic, time-sliced scheduling and memory protection, aJile processors and IP cores are specifically designed for real-time secured and networked embedded applications.

The aJile hardware, with 100% Java technology software drivers, delivers a 320 x 240 pixel, 18-bit full-color display running at 45 frames per second. Conventional microprocessors, which must consume several execution cycles translating Java bytecodes into their native instruction set, are typically capable of only 120 x 160 pixel, gray-scale graphics at a sluggish 2 frames per second. aJile enables cellular phone and set-top-box users to enjoy a richer, more interactive multimedia experience.

The JEMCore processor is implemented in 25K gates and 32K ROM, which occupies less than 1mm(2) in a 0.25micronm CMOS process, and consumes less than 1mW/Mhz at 100 MHz. In a 0.18 micronm CMOS process, the JEMCore IP block occupies less than 0.5mm(2), and consumes less than 0.5mW/Mhz of power running up to 170 MHz. The JEMCore can be used as either a main processor or a co-processor. A RISC processing unit, which typically requires 100K gates, can reduce power consumption by as much as 75% by using JEMCore IP as an on-chip Java technology-based co-processor for Java-intense applications.

The flexible JEMCore IP offers system designers the opportunity to implement multiple JVMs on their SoC device for safe downloading of dynamic applets. The aJile IP core can be expanded to two independent JVMs by synthesizing an additional 10K gates. The JEMCore also allows designers to implement new instructions as custom extended bytecodes to increase the performance of frequently used algorithms.

aJile's IP is delivered with a complete set of collaterals, including a data sheet, micro-architecture description, verification guide, a cycle-accurate micro-architecture simulator, development system, and validated RTL model in VHDL. The JEMCore comes bundled with Sun's Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) Java technology runtime system, optimizing application builder, debugging tools, and evaluation board.