Guide to Embedded Systems Architecture - Part 3: Transport layer (UDP) and embedded Java and networking middleware examples

The type of applications in a Java-based design is dependent on the Java APIs provided by the JVM. The functionality provided by these APIs differs according to the Java specification adhered to, such as inclusion of the Real Time Core Specification from the J Consortium, Personal Java (pJava), Embedded Java, Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) and The Real Time Specification for Java from Sun Microsystems. Of these standards, pJava 1.1.8 and J2ME's Connected Device Configuration (CDC) standards are typically the standards implemented within larger embedded devices.

PJava 1.1.8 was the predecessor of J2ME CDC, and in the long term may be replaced by CDC altogether. There is a PJava 1.2 specification from Sun, but as mentioned J2ME standards are intended to completely phase out the pJava standards in the embedded industry (by Sun). However, because there are JVMs on the market still supporting pJava 1.1.8, it will be used as a middleware example in this section to demonstrate what networking middleware functionality is implemented via the JVM.

The APIs provided by pJava 1.1.8 are shown in Figure 10-18. In the case of a pJava JVM implemented in the system software layer, these libraries would be included (along with the JVM's loading and execution units) as middleware components.

In the pJava 1.1.8 specification, networking APIs are provided by the java.net package, shown in Figure 10-19.

The JVM provides an upper-transport layer API for remote interprocess communication via the client-server model (where the client requests data, etc. from the server). The APIs needed for client and servers are different, but the basis for establishing the network connection via java is the socket (one at the client end and one at the server end). As shown in Figure 10-20, Java sockets use transport layer protocols of middleware networking components, such as TCP/IP discussed in the previous middleware example.

Of the several different types of sockets (raw, sequenced, stream, and datagram, etc.), pJava 1.1.8 JVM provides datagram sockets, in which data messages are read in their entirety at one time, and stream sockets, where data is processed as a continuous stream of characters. JVM datagram sockets rely on the UDP transport layer protocol, while stream sockets use the TCP transport layer protocol. As shown in Figure 10-19, pJava 1.1.8 provides support for the client and server sockets, specifically one class for datagram sockets (called DatagramSocket, used for either client or server), and two classes for client stream sockets (Socket, and MulticastSocket).