Scenix Announces Java Programmable Virtual Machine for Embedded Applications; Features Smallest Memory Requirement For An Integrated Virtual Machine.

Business Editors and High Tech Writers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2000

Scenix, a leader in providing solutions for embedding the Internet, today introduced a virtual machine (VM), optimized for embedded applications, that is programmable in Java(tm). Intended for use with the company's SX Series communications controller chips, the VM occupies less than 4K 12-bit words of on-chip program memory. As the industry's smallest fully integrated Java-programmable virtual machine, it easily meets the basic embedded requirements of small memory footprint and high performance.

A virtual machine is a software implementation of a microprocessor, and Scenix is a leader in implementing functions as software modules for the creation of &uot;software systems on a chip.&uot; As with the company's Virtual Peripheral(tm) modules, the Scenix VM can be stored in the on-chip flash memory of an SX Series chip and executed as needed to run compiled Java code.

The Scenix VM allows developers to write and deploy embedded Java applications using the SX Series communications controller as easily as they would with workstation-based applications. The PC-based integrated development environment (IDE) allows the designer to communicate with a VM resident on an SX Series chip for source-level debugging, variable inspection, and setting multiple user-defined breakpoints.

&uot;With its 'write-once, run-anywhere' capability, Java is ideal for embedded applications, and its popularity continues to increase&uot; said Bulent Celebi, president and CEO of Scenix. &uot;As a leader in the movement to embed the Internet in everyday things, it is important that we support Java, both running the byte code and providing a development environment for designers. The Java-programmable VM and its associated IDE let us achieve both objectives in an easy-to-use and cost-effective manner.&uot;

The Scenix virtual machine is based on the Java(tm)Card specification published by Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:SUNW), with modifications to optimize performance in memory-constrained embedded applications. A fully JavaCard-compliant implementation is being developed, and will be released at a later date.

The JavaCard specification differs from &uot;standard edition&uot; Java in that functions not required in resource-constrained embedded applications have been eliminated, including garbage collection, multithreading, floating-point capabilities and long data types. In the Scenix VM implementation, the use of strings has been added so that operations do not need to be done serially, and &uot;native methods&uot; have been included that can call routines written in assembly language.

The Scenix VM occupies 3K words of memory. It runs on a 50 MHz, 50 MIPS (million-instructions-per-second) Scenix SX52BD controller, which has 256 bytes of SRAM and 4K 12-bit words of flash program memory on-chip. The high performance level of the controller lets the VM execute Java byte code at up to a 1 MIPS rate, and the 1K of remaining memory can be used to implement other functions. For example, the IPMI (intelligent platform management interface) specification requires multiple I2C ports, a configuration that is not available as a single chip with an all-silicon implementation. With the Scenix approach, I2C Virtual Peripheral software modules can be loaded into an SX chip together with the virtual machine to create the necessary configuration.

Price and Availability

The Scenix Java-programmable virtual machine is available from Scenix now for a one-time license fee of $25,000.

Scenix

Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Scenix provides communications software and controllers for embedded applications, with a market emphasis on embedding the Internet in everyday things. Scenix is the leading supplier of Virtual PeripheralTM software modules, which are functions that are conventionally realized in hardware. The company's software system-on-a-chip approach reduces time to production and system cost, while providing greater flexibility, compared to traditional design approaches.

Recognition includes:

-- &uot;Investor's Choice&uot; award, December 1999, as one of the top 10 privately held companies at the Technologic Partners &uot;Technology Outlook Conference&uot;

-- &uot;50 Hot Products of 1999&uot; by EDN Europe for the SX-Stack TCP/IP network protocol stack

-- &uot;100 Hot Products of 1998&uot; by EDN for the 100 MIPS SX Series communication controller

-- &uot;10 Top Processor List of 1998&uot; by Electronic News for the 100 MIPS SX Series communication controller

Additional information on Scenix and its products can be found on the Web at www.scenix.com.

Note to Editors: Virtual Peripheral is a trademark of Scenix Semiconductor, Inc. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.