Java Platform Adaptation for On-Board Computers

Abstract: Embedded devices such as Mobile phones, PDA’s etc. are getting more and more common in everyday life and professionally. The gain in mobility is lost in hardware power such as CPU speed, memory and battery life to mention a few. To be able to run software on those devices the common strategy has been to use a stripped down version of the software language. One of these languages is Java where Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) is a subset of the Java language. The purpose of this document is to provide details on the implementation of the full Java language, namely Java 2 Standard Edition 1.5, on embedded devices. With a full J2SE implementation the possibilities of using existing application or porting applications to Java will be broader. This research investigates the most common used environments and virtual machines that are used in the market today. The different JVM’s are compared to each other and listed with positive and negative aspects regarding adaptation to an embedded device. Interviewing some costumers interested in this Thesis work has provided useful information on the usage and needs of the Java software language. The target device for this Thesis is the CCP XS embedded computer manufactured by CC Systems. CCP XS typically uses the Windows CE operating system and comes equipped with 256Mb RAM memory. By the use of PERC Virtual Machine, PVM, I have demonstrated that J2SE can execute with acceptable performance on the CCP XS. A demo application written shows that execution of J2SE code, using feature not available in J2E, is possible on the device.