TRON Project Research Articles

Three attempts at “de-Wintelization”: Japan’s TRON project, the US government’s suits against Wintel, and the entry of Java and Linux

The dominance over personal computing technology by the Microsoft OS and the Intel MPU, or ‘Wintel’, has been a long-standing concern of the government and the marketplace. In the past 15 years, there have been at least three attempts to challenge the Wintel monopoly. In comparing these three attempts at de-Wintelization, this paper raises interrelated issues about innovation: (1) the path-dependent nature of innovation, especially that due to network externalities, (2) the balance between property rights and antitrust laws, and (3) the relevance of government intervention in these areas. It also examines different types of R&D organization.

T-Engine: the open, real-time embedded-systems platform

T-Engine is a standard architecture for next-generation, real-time embedded systems aimed at improving software productivity for these systems. An open consortium, the T-Engine Forum (http://www.t-engine.org) in the TRON Project (http://www.tron.org), developed this architecture. Consortium members include computer hardware and software vendors, telecommunication carriers, and computer-using companies. T-Engine development followed a strong philosophy that recognizes the importance of an open standard, middleware distribution, a good balance between virtualization and adaptation, chip-free hardware standardization, and security.

The TRON Project

The TRON Project proposes a vision of the future in which many microprocessors and OSs are used. It also develops the original architecture for microprocessors, OSs, and application software. The project is one of the few Japanese projects aimed at establishing architecture of computer systems, and is also rare in that the project is university-led rather than commercial. The TRON Project, which started in 1984, aims to make it possible to build an environment where loosely-coupled embedded computer systems with good real-time performance will help in making our living easier. In this paper the vision of the future proposed in the TRON project, and the philosophy related to it, are overviewed and the results of the research activities to achieve the project's goal are explained.

TRON-compatible 16/32-bit microprocessor

The TRON project that originated at the University of Tokyo covers all aspects of an open computer system, from the CPU to the operating system and user interface. The TRON architecture does not follow the current trend toward highly regular, streamlined RISC architectures. Instead, the TRON CPU specifies a complex architecture with a sophisticated addressing mechanism. Hitachi has produced a versatile 16/32-bit microprocessor, the H16, that is loosely compatible with the TRON specification. Details of the H16 are included in this application note, which has been selected because the H16 has many interesting features not shared by many of its 16-bit predecessors. Besides its complex addressing modes, it has up to 16 banks of 32-bit general-purpose registers. These banks can be used to implement high-speed context switching in multitasking or interrupt-driven systems. A second mode of operation allows high-speed function procedure calls for efficient high-level language execution. Not content with providing a powerful CPU, Hitachi has included several peripherals on chip which make it easier to design a single-board microcomputer with a minimal component count. In addition to the conventional serial port, timer/counter, and the DMA controller, the H16 has a programmable wait-state generator and built-in programmable address decoder.

An overview of the BTRON/286 specification

A description is given of BTRON, or Business TRON, a set of operating system specifications for workstations and personal computers that use bitmapped displays. BTRON is a 16-b version of the Japanese TRON project's 32/64-b architecture, designed to be more affordable and fill business data and graphics needs. The primary goals set for BTRON call for the realization of easy operation through a standardized human-machine interface (HMI) and the assurance of data compatibility across different applications and machines. BTRON establishes a method for exchange data and control across applications, and it realizes a document management system in which text and graphics can be mixed freely and layouts handled with ease. It offers standard support of English, Japanese, and other languages, providing a wide variety of fonts. Basic services of the operating system nucleus that are examined are process, file, event, device, and real and virtual object management. TAD (TRON Application Databus) is also explained.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

ＴＲＯＮプロジェクトの意義と現状

ＴＲＯＮプロジェクトの意義と現状