Preface
The Java language has had an enormous impact since its introduction in the last
decade of the twentieth century. Its success has been particularly strong in enterprise
applications, where Java is one of the preeminent technology in use. A domain
where Java is still trying to gain a foothold is that of real-time and embedded
systems, be they multicore or distributed. Over the last 5 years, the supporting Java-
related technologies, in this increasingly important area, have matured. Some have
matured more than others. The overall goal of this book is to provide insights into
some of these technologies.
Audience
This book is aimed at researchers in real-time embedded systems, particularly those
who wish to understand the current state of the art in using Java in this domain.
Masters students will also find useful material that founds background reading for
higher degrees in embedded and real-time systems.
Structure and Content
Much of the work in real-time distributed, embedded and real-time Java has focused
on the Real-time Specification for Java (RTSJ) as the underlying base technology,
and consequently many of the Chapters in this book address issues with, or solve
problems using, this framework.
Real-time embedded system are also themselves evolving. Distribution has
always been an important consideration, but single processor nodes are rapidly
being replaced by multicore platforms. This has increased the emphasis on par-
allel programming and has had a major impact on embedded and real-time
software development. The next three chapters, therefore, explore aspects of this
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