ITRON Newsletter No. 37 (HTML Edition)

About the ITRON Newsletter

The ITRON Technical Committee of the TRON Association issues the ITRON Newsletter bimonthly, providing information relating to the ITRON project and updates on Technical Committee work. Additions and corrections to the ITRON specifications, as well as corrections to other Technical Committee publications, are also notified through this newsletter. Other features include introductions to products developed in connection with ITRON specifications, and to publications and articles, along with announcements of events such as trade fairs and seminars.

ITRON Technical Committee planning to open U.S. Chapter

In fiscal 1999 the ITRON Technical Committee plans to start up a chapter in the United States. The mid-range objective is to gain wider support for the ITRON project in the United States. A longer-range goal is to internationalize the effort to have the ITRON specifications accepted as a worldwide standard.

During the first fiscal year, from two to four meetings are to be held, as methods for promoting the ITRON specifications in the United States are considered. For the time being the membership requirements and dues will be the same as those currently in effect for the ITRON Technical Committee in Japan, rather than having special conditions for U.S. members. The chapter will be headed initially by James Farrell of the TRON Association U.S.A. Liaison Office.

The ITRON Technical Committee hopes to use this occasion of the U.S. chapter establishment as an opportunity to increase efforts that will bring overseas companies into the ITRON project. Those interested in joining us in the work of the U.S. chapter are urged to contact the ITRON Technical Committee.

JCG Project gets under way

The TRON Association has begun a project to develop middleware running on a µITRON-specification real-time kernel, with the aim of providing a distributed software platform for consumer electronics products and other embedded systems. The development project, known as the JCG Project, is being carried out by the ITRON Technical Committee.

One of the JCG Project objectives is to implement middleware that will enable consumer appliances running on a µITRON-specification real-time kernel to connect to networks, making them easier to operate and achieving interconnectivity among embedded systems. Another aim is to gain even wider acceptance for the µITRON specifications, laying the groundwork for more efficient software development and making available a fuller range of high-quality software components. The three main developments to be carried out are (1) a JTRON platform, (2) embedded CORBA, and (3) GUI middleware.

The JTRON platform in this development is a reference implementation of the JTRON2.0 specification released last October 1998. The JTRON2.0 specification defines three mechanisms for communication between programs running on a Java runtime environment and tasks on a µITRON-specification kernel, called Type 1, 2 and 3. The JCG Project is implementing all three methods. The implementation will make use of an existing Java Virtual Machine (JVM) for executing Java bytecode.

CORBA (The Common Object Request Broker: Architecture and Specification) already exists as a standard platform for object-oriented distributed processing, but its implementation cost and real-time performance make it less than suitable for use in small-scale embedded systems such as consumer electronics. The JCG Project is developing a software platform based on CORBA that addresses these issues.

The GUI middleware aspect of the project is developing software that can be used to build a compact and highly scalable GUI (Graphical User Interface) for implementation on a µITRON-specification OS. Not only will it be possible to select only the necessary modules in a given GUI, but the functions of each module can be optimized to specific applications.

ITRON Open Seminar announced

This year's ITRON Open Seminar will be held on Wednesday, June 30 and Thursday, July 1, at the Nihon Kyoiku Kaikan Hall in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward (2-6-2 Hitotsubashi). The expanded two-day schedule marks the tenth time we are holding such a seminar, going back to the ITRON Product Seminar as it was called originally.

ESS '99 System LSI Solution Fair

Additional CPU code assignments

ITRON-related Publications

Listed below are the publications prepared and issued by the ITRON Technical Committee as of February 1, 1999. Please contact the sources indicated to obtain copies.

The revised edition of the ITRON3.0 Standard Handbook incorporates Ver. 3.02.02 of the specification. Changes made since the earlier edition of the Standard Handbook (Ver. 3.00.00) as of Ver. 3.02.00 are given in the ITRON Standard Guidebook 2. Subsequent revisions as of Ver. 3.02.02 involve only organizational changes and additional explanations, not affecting the technical contents.

Here we introduce ITRON-related development tools and middleware made available recently.

SoftLogic ISaGRAF

Komatsu Ltd.

ISaGRAF is a development and runtime tool for applications used in embedded control systems. By providing a more open and efficient development environment, it contributes to lower engineering costs.

A broad range of supported platforms

The standard package supports DOS, Windows NT, OS-9 and VxWorks. An optional development kit enables porting to other platforms. In addition to PLC functions, HMI functions can also be realized. The package has already been ported to µITRON as well as WindowsCE, InTime, RTX, QNX, OS/2, and Windows 95-RT.

An open specification

Standard IEC61131-3 programming language and flow charts are used to write applications. Function blocks are written in IEC and C languages and entered in libraries for later use.

A highly efficient application development system

Development and simulation execution take place on a Windows PC. While an application is running, online modifications, variable monitoring and change, and I/O simulation are also possible. The debugger uses graphs and icons to monitor variables, while providing a wide range of other functions such as cross-referencing and program verification.

Supports multiple languages

Systems can be developed in English, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, and (soon) Italian.

For more information

Recent Works on ITRON