- Enables installation of multiple applications on embedded
devices -
NEC Corporation announced that it has succeeded in the
development of multiprocessor virtualization technology, enabling
the flexible and secure installation of a wide variety of
application software on electronic devices in accordance with user
needs, without causing any harm to the operation of the
pre-installed application software for basic functions. This
technology is aimed at making devices such as mobiles phones,
digital electronics and automotive information systems more
multi-functional.
The new multiprocessor virtualization technology is based on
NEC’s proprietary multiprocessor technology for embedded systems
and includes the following features:
1. Achieves the separation of the application software for basic
functions, which was initially installed on the device, and groups
of application software that have been added at a later date by the
user through the allocation of both to different processors. These
processors are then further separated into virtual processors
according to the characteristics of the application software.
Virtual separation succeeds in avoiding interference among the
groups of application software, thereby allowing a greater number
of diverse groups of application software to be flexibly and
securely installed on embedded devices.
2. Enables a high level of security even among added
applications as the hardware monitors the access to the memory or
inter-processor communication among the virtual processors. This
results in significantly enhanced system performance as compared
with conventional methods, which only realize virtual processors
with software. Furthermore, switching time between application
software has been cut by 50%.
In recent years, embedded devices such as cell phones, digital
home electronics and automotive information systems have faced the
installation of diverse groups of application software
post-purchase in accordance with increasingly diverse user needs.
This has lead to a greater need for the installation of application
software on embedded devices to satisfy high security, flexibility
and high performance requirements. NEC’s new multiprocessor
virtualization technology allows multiple independent processors to
be virtually built on top of actual processors, allowing an
increase in groups of application software for installation, while
eliminating interference among the added groups of software.
NEC has been promoting intensive research on multiprocessor
technologies, which help provide high performance and low power
dissipation to embedded systems, and expects its new multiprocessor
virtualization technology will contribute to the enhanced
performance of multi-functional devices, vital to a networked
society.
NEC will present this research work on July 26, 2006 at the
Design Automation Conference (DAC) being held in San Francisco,
California from July 24 to July 28, 2006.
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) is one of the world's leading
provider s of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business
solutions ded icated to meeting the specialized needs of its
diverse and global base of customers. NEC delivers tailored
solutions in the key fields of co mputer, networking and electron
devices, by integrating its technicalstrengths in IT and Networks,
and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC
Electronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs m ore than 150,000
people worldwide and had net sales of approximately 4, 825 billion
yen (approx. $41.2 billion) in the fiscal year ended March
2006.