PHOENIX, 20 Nov 2006. Software developer DDC-I in Phoenix has joined the Safety-Critical Java Expert Group (JSR 302), which is in place to create a subset of real-time Java suitable for safety-critical applications requiring certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The Java software community first addressed the real-time limitations of Java when it convened the Real-Time for Java Expert Group (RTJEG) in 1999, which developed the Real-Time Specification for Java (RTSJ).
This specification, an extension of The Java Language Specification and The Java Virtual Machine Specification, enhances real-time responsiveness by introducing mechanisms for pre-emotive scheduling and priority inversion avoidance, and providing tools that allow tasks to avoid garbage collection delays.
The Safety-Critical Java Expert Group will further refine the RTSJ, making it suitable for safety-critical applications with the most demanding testing requirements. In particular, the Safety-Critical Java Expert Group will trim the RTSJ spec to enable conforming safety-critical applications to run without requiring a garbage collector or heap.
Experts say they believe that trimming the RTSJ spec also will help software developers meet the rigors of FAA certification to DO-178B level A.
"Java provides an excellent environment for software development. Until now, however, Java has just been too big and complex for safety-critical applications," says Bob Morris, president and chief executive officer of DDC-I.
"As a member of the Safety-Critical Java Expert Group, we will be drawing on our expertise with Ada to create a real-time Java spec that is optimized for safety-critical applications," Morris says. "We believe that our Ada expertise and extensive experience with the FAA certification process will enable us to provide valuable assistance in creating a Java spec that meets the extreme certification demands of avionics and other safety-critical applications."
For more information contact DDC-I online at www.ddci.com.
