A Distributed Real-Time Java-Centric Architecture for Industrial Systems

There is a trend in industrial systems towards the use of common-off-the-shelf (COTS) components to develop applications that interact with open systems. This trend includes among others the use of high-level languages, such as Java, and Internet protocols (HTTP and Web Services). Although many industrial systems use these technologies at their business layers, they are far from offering a homogeneous programming platform in their most internal infrastructures. This paper extends the current practice by introducing a real-time Java-centric architecture for industrial systems. The architecture integrates existing and upcoming technology to define a Java-based approach. The empirical evidence, included in the paper, illustrates the performance of the core of the industrial layer of this architecture.