McObject & Phaedrus Systems Alliance Targets Fail-Safe Embedded Systems
July 7, 2009 — McObject®, developer of the eXtremeDB™ and Perst™ embedded database management systems (DBMSs), announced an alliance with UK-based Phaedrus Systems Limited in which Phaedrus will resell and provide services surrounding McObject’s technology. The partnership specifically targets safety-critical systems, where both companies bring extensive track records, expertise and compelling product offerings.
Phaedrus, based in the UK, specializes in supporting engineers at all stages of embedded safety-critical and high-integrity projects. Its product lineup includes requirements capture, real-time operating system (RTOS), compiler validation and other specialized tools for developing fail-safe applications.
Phaedrus’s consultants offer deep experience working on automotive, rail and aerospace applications while meeting key safety-related standards such as the aerospace industry’s DO-178B. This work is strengthened by the active participation of Chris Hills, Phaedrus’s founder and chief technology officer, in technology standards bodies and his principal authorship of MISRA-C:2004, a standard for C programming in the automotive industry.
“With McObject’s eXtremeDB, Phaedrus can now offer a real-time embedded database capable of taming the burgeoning data in fault-tolerant applications, while meeting their safety and reliability imperatives,” Hills said.
“eXtremeDB is impressive for its streamlined design, which eliminates principle sources of database performance overhead such as disk and file I/O, caching, and data transfer and duplication. The powerful result delivers the data sorting, storage and retrieval needed to support advanced application features, without the latency and unpredictability that have often ruled out the use of DBMSs in safety-critical real-time software tasks,” he said.
Hills noted that McObject also is an ideal fit in Phaedrus’s target market with offerings including a proven eXtremeDB High Availability edition, which enables deployment of multiple, fully synchronized databases within the same hardware device or across multiple, widely distributed systems, with automatic failover; and with eXtremeDB’s unique type-safe application programming interface (API) that eliminates data-typing errors, a common source of run-time bugs.
“In its partnership with Phaedrus Systems, McObject is excited to be working with a company that possesses in-depth knowledge and experience, and a long track record, in the safety-critical market. eXtremeDB’s presence in this application category is already strong, with deployments including nuclear power generation, oil and gas pressure control, and fault-tolerant telecom and networking. We expect to build this list substantially through our cooperation with Phaedrus Systems,” McObject Chief Operating Officer Chris Mureen said.
McObject’s eXtremeDB provides a highly portable database management system that meets the unique performance requirements and resource constraints of embedded systems and intelligent, connected devices. eXtremeDB provides critical data management features—-including transactions, concurrent access, and a high-level data definition language—-while maintaining a code footprint as small as 50K. eXtremeDB is available as a standard in-memory database system (IMDS) and in editions offering high availability, hybrid in-memory/on-disk data storage, kernel mode data management, 64-bit support and more. McObject’s Perst is an open source, object-oriented embedded database, available for Java and .NET, including Java ME and .NET Compact Framework. CA’s Wily Technology credits Perst with delivering a shortened development cycle and a ten-fold performance improvement within its real-time Java application.
About Phaedrus Systems
Phaedrus Systems Limited is the UK’s leading specialist for software development in embedded safety-critical and high-integrity projects. Tools available include requirements capture for IEC 61508, EN 50128 and nuclear applications, a SIL3 RTOS and compiler validation reports. Phaedrus consultants have experience working on automotive, rail and aerospace applications, meeting standards such as IEC 61508 SIL4, and D0178B. Backing these is a wide range of other relevant embedded tools. Phaedrus Systems is based in Tamworth, Staffordshire. More information is available on the website www.phaedsys.com.
About McObject
Founded by embedded database and real-time systems experts, McObject offers proven data management technology that makes applications and devices smarter, more reliable and more cost-effective to develop and maintain. McObject counts among its customers industry leaders such as Chrysler, Maximizer Software, Siemens, Phillips, EADS, JVC, Tyco Thermal Controls, F5 Networks, DIRECTV, CA, Motorola and Boeing. McObject, based in Issaquah, WA, is committed to providing innovative technology and first-rate services to customers and partners. The company can be reached at +1-425-888-8505, or visit www.mcobject.com.
McObject and eXtremeDB are trademarks or registered trademarks of McObject LLC. All other company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.