Designing Efficient Java Runtime Systems

Pennsylvania State Univ University Park, University Park PA

Investigators

Abstract

The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is the corner stone of Java technology, and its efficiency in executing the portable Java bytecodes is crucial for the success of this technology. Interpretation, Just-In-Time compilation, and hardware realization are well known solutions for implementing the JVM, and previous research has proposed optimizations for each of these techniques. However, each technique has its pros and cons and may not be uniformly attractive for all hardware platforms. Instead, an understanding of the architectural implications of JVM implementations with real applications can be crucial to the development of enabling technologies for efficient Java runtime system development on a wide range of platforms (from resource-rich servers to resource-constrained embedded systems). Towards this goal, this proposal examines architectural issues, from both the hardware and JVM implementation perspectives. The key to an efficient Java virtual machine implementation is the synergy between well-designed software, an optimizing compiler, supportive architecture, and efficient runtime libraries. This research will essentially provide an insight into this hardware -software interaction and contribute a set of tools, software and hardware methodologies, and architectural features that will be vital for supporting efficient JVM implementations over a spectrum of devices. The results from this research will also be useful for providing efficient implementations in other object-based and dynamically compiled languages and environments.