Issues in the Design and Implementation of Efficient Interfaces between Hard and Soft Real-Time Java Components

Almost all modern computer systems involve multiple layers of software, each manifesting different requirements for performance, security, and real-time predictability. Interfaces between layers are required to efficiently and reliably share information without compromising the requirements of the layers that individually participate in the interface. This paper discusses principles and empirical results in the comparison of three available techniques for interfacing between hard and soft real-time components: the Java Native Interface, the Real-Time Specification for Java, and Real-Time Core Extensions.