More on Jini. Unitec is in on the launch.Does anyone have an opinion whether this will give Unitec a headstart?
sun.com
JiniTM Connection
Technology Enables
Impromptu Communities
Hot! See the Jini technology launch
JiniTM technology provides simple mechanisms that
enable computers and devices to plug together to
quickly form impromptu, networked communities
assembled without any planning, installation, or human
intervention.
How Does a Community Organize?
To form a dynamic community, devices and services
register with a lookup service. When a device is
plugged into a network, the device locates the lookup
service (called discovery) where it uploads all of its
services' interfaces (called joining).
The lookup service also acts as a switchboard to
connect a client looking for a service with that service.
When a person or program uses the lookup service to
locate a registered service, the interface of the
requested service is copied to the device where it will
be used.
Devices in a network employing Jini technology
are tied together using Java Remote Method
Invocation (RMI). By using the JavaTM
programming language, the Jini system is
secure. The discovery and join protocols, as well as the
lookup service, depend on the ability to move Java
objects between Java virtual machines (JVMs).
Jini Technology is Powerful and Small
The underlying Jini technology and services
architecture is powerful enough to build a fully
distributed system on a network of workstations. And
the infrastructure is small enough that a community of
devices employing Jini technology can be built out of
the simplest devices -- devices that are everywhere.
Devices such as TVs, DVDs, cameras,
radios, furnaces, printers, pagers
require expert help to install, network,
configure, and so on -- that is, if they
are not based on Jini technology.
However, with Jini technology, devices can affordably
contain processors powerful enough for them to
self-install, self-organize into communities,
self-configure, and self-diagnose. Jini technology
reduces dependence on system administrators,
potentially lowering support costs and allowing
impromptu device communities to assemble in places
far from the traditional office.
In a continuation of the computing model of
smaller-faster-cheaper, processors are now small and
cheap enough to put in even the simplest consumer
appliances. Processors are also powerful enough to
support a high-level, object-oriented programming
language in such a way as to support moving objects
between them.
Mobilizing Participants and Partners
With a development and deployment
model similar to that of the Internet, the
success of Jini technology requires that the
underlying protocols and infrastructure
become pervasive through a strong
community of participants and partners.
The Sun Community Source License (SCSL) is a
mechanism to build such a community around Jini
technology. The SCSL opens the source code for Jini
software to the community of Jini technology licensees,
who are free to use it, extend it, improve it, and repair
it. Community members may maintain proprietary
implementations, though interfaces must be published
for other community members.
Jini technology is already emerging from the bottle as
major manufacturers deploy initiatives to enable their
devices with Jini technology. |
