Hardware/software co-design of a Java virtual machine

We discuss the initial results of research into the development of a hardware/software co-design of the Java virtual machine. The design considers a complete Java virtual machine with full functionality expected to run with the same capabilities as a fully software Java virtual machine. We address issues such as why a partial hardware implementation is suitable, the challenges in realizing this goal, propose an initial partitioning of the virtual machine between hardware and software, discuss the desired hardware requirements and discuss some details of the hardware and software design.