NEWS BRIEFS

Santa Clara, CALIF. — Intel Corporation announced that it is placing an Open Runtime Platform (ORP) into the open source community as a research platform for advancing e-Business applications. E-Business applications are typically compiled to an intermediate computer language rather than the traditional executable used for PC applications. This intermediate language gives these applications a flexibility that enables different platforms to cooperate in completing an electronic transaction. To execute these programs, a platform must offer a runtime platform that compiles the intermediate language.

The explosion in demand for e-Business applications has made the need for tools to help programmers develop portable applications imperative. As the use of e-Business systems increases, the need for users to be able to access them from anywhere also increases. Programmers are asked to develop processes that can perform transactions on platforms, from the largest servers to the smallest PDA. In a large server that may require running millions of transactions a day, the system memory must be managed efficiently and throughput maximized. On a small PDA that rarely runs more than one transaction at a time, responsiveness is paramount. Intel’s Open Runtime Platform allows the right parts to be selected and assembled in a manner appropriate to a given task. This modularity enables researchers to quickly prototype new components and optimize their behavior.

“We believe that the open source availability of this modular runtime platform will accelerate computer language research improving the stability, portability and performance of software applications,” said Fred Pollack, Director of Intel’s Microprocessor Research Lab (MRL). “Working with both academia and the open source community will allow us to bring together leading technologies and demonstrate their viability in future products.”

Further, an e-Business programmer must develop processes that interact with existing applications. The Open Runtime Platform enables research to support both new and traditional languages in a portable runtime environment, with the objective of greatly simplifying the task of developing e-Business systems.

The modular ORP system incorporates a fast, code-generating just-in-time (JIT) compiler as well as an optimizing JIT compiler. It also includes several memory management, or “Garbage Collection” (GC) algorithms, ranging from a simple mark-sweep algorithm to an advanced train algorithm, that identify what memory is being used so that unused memory can be returned to the system. The virtual machine accepts bytecode and interoperates with GNU Classpath, an open source library. MRL academic papers on these topics can be downloaded at the MRL library, http://www.intel.com/research/mrl/library .

“This open runtime platform goes beyond supporting Sun Microsystems’ Java byte codes, it provides a framework with potential for other similar languages,” said Prof. Eliot Moss of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Intel will facilitate the growth and maintenance of this ORP by accepting and maintaining submissions of source code content reviewed by a panel of experts from the computer science research community. Reviewers will include representatives from major computer science research organizations including:

— Prof. Pen Yew, University of Minnesota

— Prof. Eliot Moss, University of Massachusetts Amherst

— Prof. Jay Lepreau, University of Utah

— Prof. Brad Calder, University of California, San Diego

— Dr. Douglas Schmidt, DARPA

This open source software release includes C source code for all of the environment’s components and a royalty free redistribution license. The source code was developed in both the Windows and LINUX environments.

Intel’s Microprocessor Research Laboratories are a leading developer of microprocessor technology. Its international research facilities are working on various areas including microprocessors (circuits, architecture, compilers, etc.), platform architecture (buses, caches, memory, interconnect, etc.) and core human interface (speech, natural language processing, video, vision, graphics, new devices, etc.).

Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom. Information about academic sponsorship is available at http://www.intel.com/research/university/index.htm .

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