Sun Microsystems Inc is so confident that it has a runaway winner in its Java programming language that it is investing heavily in the chips it has designed to run the language super-efficiently – indeed it forecasts a networked Java microprocessor market of $15,000m by 2000 – and that is about the size of the entire Unix server market today. That number includes Java in things like cellular phones, television set-top boxes and Personal Digital Assistants as well as more conventional computers. Sun is not saying too much about the architecture at this stage, but the three initial parts are not derived from the Sparc, although the top-end ones do include an enhanced version of Sun’s VIS Visual Instruction Set for graphics. The Java family starts out with three lines – the picoJava core, microJava embedded device and UltraJava processor. They implement Sun’s Java Virtual Machine and the company says the core will enable sub-$25 Java-optimized processors to be created to go into cellular phones, printers and other consumer and peripheral products. The first core should be ready for licensing in June. The core is used in the microJava family, which adds input-output, memory, communications and control functions, creating processors costing $25 to $100, for use in games and network devices such as controllers. The first microJava samples are expected early next year. UltraJava adds high-speed graphics circuits and is aimed at multimedia-intensive applications. The first UltraJavas, from $100, are expected in late 1997.
