Implementation and evaluation of real-time Java threads

Abstract

Java has many benefits such as security in distributed environments, reusability of code, and portability because it is architecture neutral. From those characteristics, Java is beginning to be used in many new environments. Even though Java provides various advantages, it still has problems which must be solved. One issue is that there are often real-time constraints that should be met in those applications. Current Java execution environment and language specification cannot satisfy those requirements. Our research focuses on the current limits of the Java language and its execution environment, and to seek the possibility for real-time using Java and the technologies we have available today. To investigate issues in real-time Java, we have implemented a prototype real-time Java environment which provides real-time Java threads and a real-time synchronization mechanism. Then we evaluated its performance. The results indicate that timing requirements are better met and unbounded priority inversion is avoided in our system.