ARM and Oracle Engineer Deeper Java SE

A new agreement announced this week sees Oracle team up with British chip architecture company ARM (Advanced RISC Machines) to optimize the existing Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE) for ARM 32-bit platforms and to add Java SE support for ARMv8 64-bit platforms.

Of perhaps more interest to embedded market developers more than anyone else, the firms' efforts will provide ARM architecture support
for markets including datacenters, network infrastructure and, as mentioned, embedded computing applications.

This agreement will focus on delivering throughput and efficient scalability for ARM-based multi-core systems.

The firms say that this news "reflects the increasing applicability" of the combination of ARM and Oracle technology in server and network infrastructure.

There are also applications here for emerging applications in the machine-to-machine (M2M) market, such as industrial control, factory automation, and single-board computers.

Oracle's position is that its Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is used as a component for high-throughput Java applications in enterprise servers and embedded systems — so, as far as Oracle is concerned, its technology helps to increase the performance of ARM-based multi-core systems.

Additional areas for cooperation include improving boot-up performance, power savings, and library optimization, all of which are essential for designs used in the enterprise and embedded markets.

"The long-standing relationship between ARM and Oracle has enabled our mutual technologies to be deployed across a broad spectrum of products and applications," commented Henrik Stahl, vice president, Java Product Management, Oracle. "By working closely with ARM to enhance the JVM, adding support for 64-bit ARM technology and optimizing other aspects of the Java SE product for the ARM architecture, enterprise and embedded customers can reap the benefits of high-performance, energy-efficient platforms based on ARM technology."

"The industry has reached a significant inflection point as enterprise infrastructure, including servers and network routers, is now able to leverage high-performance, energy-efficient ARM technology," said Ian Drew, chief marketing officer and executive vice president, Business Development, ARM. "A diverse, optimized software ecosystem must be in place to support these systems. This extended relationship with Oracle to enhance Java SE is an important step in growing the ARM ecosystem, which is enabling businesses and consumers worldwide to discover new levels of energy efficiency and advanced performance."