Aonix Adds Java™ 5 Capabilities to PERC® Virtual Machine; New PERC Release Extends Leadership among Real-Time Virtual Machines

Business Wire, April 4, 2006

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Aonix(R), the provider of the PERC(R) real-time virtual machine for embedded targets, announced the Java 5 language upgrade of PERC Ultra, a significant upgrade to the industry-leading real-time virtual machine. Featuring the predictable performance critical to complex embedded applications, PERC Ultra brings new ports and tools to developers of embedded Java applications. These enhancements further extend PERC's historic lead among virtual machines targeting highly complex embedded applications.

PERC Ultra introduces full Java(TM) 5 language features such as generics, annotations, and type-safe enumerations. Along with these language revisions, PERC Ultra also includes enhancements of key packages from the Java(TM) Standard Edition library set to take advantage of Java(TM) 5 features, as well as new libraries such as java.util.concurrent and java.nio.channels.

In addition to Java(TM) 5 capabilities, PERC Ultra also introduces a variety of performance, porting, and tool improvements. Tool enhancements for PERC Ultra include integration with the Eclipse TPTP profiling capability, shell enhancements, easier installation, and improved help. New ports include WinCE/XScale, VxWorks 6.x for PowerPC and x86, Linux XScale Big Endian, and support for the latest safety-critical version of LynxOS. Performance enhancements include optimized reclamation of large objects, a 12% footprint reduction due to optimized C stack space, and a 7% reduction in memory requirements for zip and jar files.

"Key to the success of PERC has been the Aonix commitment to focus on Standard Edition compatibility," said Kelvin Nilsen, Aonix CTO. "With PERC Ultra, developers are able to take advantage of the Java(TM) 5 Standard Edition functionalities that save tremendous development time, cut development costs, and ensure portability between platforms. With PERC Ultra, the developer gains the advantages of Java with an embedded Java footprint."

"Aonix is committed to keeping developers up-to-date with current SE libraries," noted Dave Wood, Aonix director of product marketing. "With this release, PERC Ultra will be as much as three Java(TM) versions ahead of our nearest competition in the embedded space. Aonix has earned a reputation as the leader in compatibility and responsive support, and we take that legacy very seriously."

PERC Ultra, a major upgrade from previous version PERC 4.2, reflects an important evolution of PERC from a single product to a growing family of products that covers a broader range of embedded applications needs than any competing Java(TM) solution. PERC Ultra and PERC Pico are the products in the expanding PERC product line. PERC Ultra is the ideal solution for embedded applications of high complexity, thanks to PERC Ultra's predictable performance and its extensive support of off-the-shelf J2SE libraries and components.

Its sister product, PERC Pico, meets the needs of resource-constrained hard real-time applications, featuring performance and footprint characteristics comparable to C. Not only is PERC Pico smaller and faster than any other real-time virtual machine, it even offers low-level device access and interrupt handling and preserves key virtues of Java(TM) such as portability, reliability, and scalability.

PERC Ultra and PERC Pico are interoperable within a single application. For the first time, it is now possible for Java developers to create complete complex applications from infrastructure to the device level, without resorting to the use of other languages with less portability and robust memory use for specialized components.

Shipping and Availability

PERC Ultra is currently undergoing final qualifications and will be available in May, 2006. PERC Ultra pricing remains unchanged.

About PERC(R)

First introduced nine years ago, PERC is the most widely used real-time Virtual Machine available for Java developers, with fielded installations in telecommunications, telematics, avionics, deep space exploration, and office automation applications. PERC supports most major real-time operating systems and a variety of target processors including PowerPC, XScale, ARM, and Intel x86 architectures.

PERC Ultra is a virtual machine and toolset expressly created for demanding embedded and real-time systems requiring J2SE(TM) support. PERC Ultra delivers the ease and efficiency of Java(TM) Standard Edition support without sacrificing integrity, performance, or real-time behavior. It offers AOT and JIT compilation, remote debug support, deterministic garbage collection, standard graphics and extended commercial RTOS support. The PERC product line also features PERC Pico, a virtual machine designed for hard real-time applications requiring fast execution, small footprint, and access to low-level devices.

About Aonix(R)

Aonix offers mission- and safety-critical solutions primarily to the military and aerospace, telecommunications and transportation industries. Aonix delivers the leading high-reliability, real-time embedded virtual machine solution for running Java(TM) programs deployed today and has the largest number of certified Ada applications at the highest level of criticality. Headquartered in San Diego, CA and Paris, France, Aonix operates sales offices throughout North America and Europe in addition to offering a network of international distributors. For more information, visit www.aonix.com.