By Steven Totolo and Franca Piccin

April 1999

In January 1999, Sun Microsystems unveiled to software and hardware developers its Jini technology, an innovative distributive-computing software based on its popular Java language. Jini’s novelty is all the rave. Here’s why. It enables any type of device or application to connect into a network at any time conveniently providing the devices’ attributes and capabilities to the network without the installation of specific drivers. When two or more devices using Jini technology are present on a network, they can share each other’s services. Even more, devices need not have any prior knowledge of others connected to the network.

Wish Number 1 – Please let my camera, laptop and color printer work together at any time.

A digital camera can be instantly connected to a network without drivers installed from a CD-ROM or the entry of keyboard commands. The camera first identifies itself and offers its services to the network. If a laptop that uses Jini technology were on the same network, that laptop would be able to access the camera, take a picture, and save the image to its hard drive or send it to another Jini device such as a color printer also connected to the network. This network does not necessarily have to be Ethernet, but could also be IEEE 1394 or HomeRF, among others.

"It’s spontaneous, automatic networking," Sun Microsystems’ CEO Scott McNealy said. "Jini may be the most compelling of all reasons to put a virtual machine in your equipment." He continues, "It’s another reason to do the Java platform, what we call, ‘plug and work,’ instead of Microsoft’s ‘plug and play around with it.’ "

For starters, devices and applications use a process known as a discovery service, which is like a directory that allows them to register on the network automatically. Once registered, the device or application installs itself in the lookup service as well as in any software required to use it. This approach is equivalent to posting an item on a bulletin board on a network.

The connection to the network is time limited. When the device or application registers, it can join the network for a "leased" period of time. When that time has expired, the device can renegotiate the lease, opting to stay longer. But if the device is removed from the network before the lease expires, the devices’ entry in the lookup is also eliminated.

Wish Number 2 – Please spare me from installing software in order to use a new device.

Jini technology enables any device to function in a network regardless of the underlying software or hardware. By setting basic rules for how to connect to the network, Jini shields the user from the installation, configuration and setup process. Because Jini technology is also platform-independent, devices are no longer limited by specific brands of software, processors, device drivers or traditional networking protocols.

Having said that, Microsoft continues to work on a competing solution. Microsoft’s thrust into the market hinges on its Universal Plug and Play initiative, recently announced at the Consumer Electronics Show. UPnP aims to link various computers, and consumer and control devices within the home and/or the Internet via software running on a Windows computer. In a parallel move, a second little-known project called Millennium has been in the works at Microsoft’s research labs since 1996. Millennium tries to transparently distribute an application-programming interface, API, across multiple nodes on a network. "The idea", according to Alec Saunders, group planning manager of Microsoft’s intelligent-appliances division, "is (that) you’ll have a program, and pieces of it will run all over the place." Experts familiar with the project describe Millennium as a successor to Microsoft’s existing OLE and DCOM technology. Ironically, it is based partly on JAVA.

"The key difference between Jini and what Microsoft is doing is that Microsoft is doing their technology as an extension to the Windows platform," said Paul Borrill, Vice President and Chief Architect at disk-drive maker Quantum Corp. "The Jini paradigm however is totally peer-to-peer. It’s designed fundamentally to be a distributed system." Another significant difference between the two approaches is that a product or network does not require a disk-based operating system, but only a broker that can offer services to Jini devices on the network.

Overall, Jini software is simply Java software code. It can run on almost any microprocessor and operating system. But not all devices need to execute Jini software. Third-party devices, such as printers or scanners can have the necessary Jini software operating on a host device, such as a personal computer. As long as the host is part of a Jini network, it can be delegated the role of executing Jini code.

Wish Number 3 – Please have my Sony TV, Philips VCR, Panasonic Camcorder, and my Hitachi stereo seamlessly integrate together to create a home theater.

Recently Royal Philips Electronics and Sony Corporation of the Home Audio-Video interoperability consortium, HAVi, have announced plans to collaborate with Sun Microsystems’s Jini technology.

Services provided by Jini technology offer a solution that links HAVi-compliant digital electronics appliances in the home. This would not only allow digital AV electronics appliances to access remote network services, such as a storage device for large video files, but it would also allow users to remotely operate digital AV appliances and PCs across a Jini technology-based distributed network. It would be possible to command a VCR to record a television program via control from a computer in the workplace connected to the Internet.

"While HAVi provides extensive Audio/Video networking functions within the home, the HAVi/Jini technology bridge extends this concept by enabling remote access to the home network, regardless of the user’s location," says Eddy Odijk, General Manager, System Architectures at Philips Consumer Electronics. "This is a first major step to unleashing the potential of future technology to the home right today."

"HAVi and IEEE 1394 offer the technological underpinnings needed for high bandwidth, consumer quality audio and video networks in the home that support a range of rich home applications," said Dr. Akikazu Takeuchi, President of Sony’s Platform Software Development Center. "By bridging HAVi to Jini technology we are also able to offer consumers access to the range of exciting services that Jini will provide."

Other forms of products are also envisioned for the future. Consumers will be able to download a movie to a set-top box and use a storage service on the network to save it for later viewing. A media outlet can provide a service that allows for delivery of a customized newspaper to a subscriber’s home printer.

While readers will be excited to know that Jini can grant these three wishes, they will have to refrain from celebrating too early. Manufacturers’ incorporation of Jini into their own products will take some time. Keep an eye out for new Jini-powered products from the following companies: Canon, Echelon, Ericsson, Kinkos, Kodak, Motorola, Nokia, Philips, Quantum, Seagate, Seiko Epson, Sony,3Com, Palm Computing, Xerox.

This protocol and others are documented and updated regularly in the CABA Quarterly and in the CABA Standards Committee that meets quarterly to discuss issues that affect the business of members in the automation industry. The committee is open to all CABA members interested in up-to-date issues involving communications standards, wiring practices, and regulations.

Steven Totolo is president of tvcAutomation, a home automation specialist and a member of the CABA Standards Committee. He can be reached at (613) 795-7117; fax (613) 737-5323; email: Sales@tvcAutomation