Evaluation of a Java Processor

In this paper, we will present the evaluation results for a Java processor, with respect to size and performance. The Java Optimized Processor (JOP) is an implementation of the Java virtual machine (JVM) in a low-cost FPGA. JOP is the smallest hardware realization of the JVM available to date. Due to the efficient implementation of the stack architecture, JOP is also smaller than a comparable RISC processor in an FPGA. Although JOP is intended as a processor for embedded realtime systems, whereas accurate worst case execution time analysis is more important than average case performance, its general performance is still important. We will see that a real-time processor architecture does not need to be slow.