Today's device-based, embedded and real-time systems require sophisticated data storage. Growth in features and connectivity demands that connected high-tech gear store, access and manipulate complex data efficiently and reliably, while maintaining an overall small footprint.
Typically, marketplace concerns dictate a small footprint for these devices’ embedded software. Other markets, including real-time enterprise and financial systems, require SQL as an embedded database interface
The eXtremeDB in-memory database and hybrid eXtremeDB Fusion in-memory/on-disk database provide a real-time, cost-effective embedded database solution markets including these:
Consumer Electronics
Mobile Database
Telecom & Networking
Industrial/process control
Military/Aerospace
Financial
Railways (PDF brochure)
Download McObject’s eXtremeDB data sheet for Consumer Electronics (PDF)
Small footprint embedded databases are integral to a variety of Consumer Electronics devices that require sophisticated data management.
Gaming software has data control logic and AI information that must remain resident for interactive responsiveness. Multi-player game servers require controls over concurrent access to data, event notifications, transactional integrity and fast and flexible search methods
Digital television technologies, such as set-top boxes and home gateways also have sophisticated data management requirements. The Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) manages TV listings, program and channel descriptions, IRD tuning parameters and related information. The EPG imports data from broadcast or terrestrial sources. The viewer can search, filter and sort this information, and select programs for immediate or future viewing. McObject's eXtremeDB in-memory database integrates easily with IRD software, providing a low-overhead real-time database engine that keeps pace with content providers' high-rated input feed and exposes a rich set of native data types that map to the EPG data.
We invite you to read the EE Times In Focus article, Programming guide manages networked digital TV, or download our white paper Data Management in Set-Top Box Electronic Programming Guides.
Read the Embedded.com article, Hybrid data management gets traction in set-top boxes, describing DIRECTV's use of eXtremeDB Fusion's combined in-memory/on-disk data storage. With McObject's hybrid embedded database technology, DIRECTV was able to use a single software design across its product line of disk-enabled and disk-less set-top boxes, reducing both cost and development time.
Learn why companies like Pioneer and Genesis Microchip have selected the eXtremeDB embedded database to integrate in their Consumer Electronics devices.
Within JVC’s Alneo XA HD500 studio-quality digital audio player, McObject’s RAM database plays a key role in carrying out the core functions of instantly sorting, retrieving and playing songs based on users’ stored playlists and real-time commands. >top of page
McObject’s mobile database technology is used in a wide variety of applications and device environments, ranging from music databases within popular MP3 players, to mobile CRM software on Blackberry devices.
We offer two mobile database software product families: the eXtremeDB embedded database for development in C/C++, and the Perst embedded database for Java (including Google's Android), Java ME, and .NET environments.
Both mobile database products are distinguished by minimal RAM and CPU demands, a high degree of developer flexibility, reliability, and fast performance.
If you haven't seen the McObject 3-minute eXtremeDB movie, check it out now!
In-memory, on-disk and hybrid data storage, to optimize the mobile device for speed, component cost, persistence and form factor
Tiny footprint: conserve both memory and CPU resources
The most flexible mobile database: supported indexes include B-Trees, R-Trees (for mapping data), Patricia tries, KD-Trees (k-dimensional), hash tables and more
More APIs: two SQL, two faster native
Virtually indestructible – learn how we eliminate database corruption
Available on a wide variety of platforms, source code available for porting
Integrates with eXtremeWS, McObject's embedded Web server
Unparalleled ease in working with Java and .NET objects (including Java ME and .NET Compact Framework)
Specialized indexes - R-Tree, T-Tree, KD-Tree and more
Compact - Just 5000 lines of code
Open source code, freely downloadable
Fast - see our benchmark comparisons
Tested compatible with Google's Android platform
Object-oriented for the most efficient object storage
Perst Lite - An OODBMS for BlackBerry, Nokia Nseries and other Java ME-based devices
JVC uses a mobile database for C/C++ to manage playlists, songs, artists, albums and other music data in its MP3 player product line - click here.
Maximizer Software relies on a mobile database to deploy its CRM solution on BlackBerry devices - get details.
The Carbon Hero personal carbon calculator manages mapping data using mobile database technology on Java ME - read more.
Download McObject’s eXtremeDB data sheet for Telecommunications and Network Infrastructure (PDF)
Embedded databases play an increasingly important role in network infrastructure devices. Internet bandwidth is growing faster than CPU speed. But high-value applications can only be realized by managing much more data traffic at the network's edge. This requires rapid evolution of the fundamental edge infrastructure device, the IP router. To keep pace, routing table management (RTM) software within routers must respond quickly to changing protocol and provisioning requirements, but as demands increase, proprietary routing table implementations encounter limitations in scalability, extensibility, and ease of maintenance.
In-memory database systems (IMDS) within RTM software can overcome these barriers.
The same fundamental challenges are faced by other forms of network devices such as the 3G base station, residential gateway and protocol gateway, pointing toward their use of a RAM database for more efficient real-time data management
We invite you to read the McObject white paper The Role of In-Memory Database Systems in Route Table Management of IP Routers and to learn why companies like F5 Networks and NextPoint Networks have selected the eXtremeDB small footprint real-time database for their network infrastructure devices.
The following figure shows the place for an embedded database in the overall RTM architecture.
Download McObject’s eXtremeDB data sheet for Industrial Control (PDF)
As process control systems continue to evolve, their software applications become more complex, and often require embedded databases to provide timely access to, and processing of, massive amounts of data. The control application's input data must be correlated, merged, and/or compared across all data objects and across time, for filtering or analysis. The data must be shared by concurrent tasks that have different functions, timing requirements and degrees of importance.
The eXtremeDB small footprint real-time database is being used successfully to meet these demands at organizations such as DaimlerChrysler, Tyco Thermal Controls, Rostov State Railway University (Southern Russia railways) and Radico Corporation. While traditional databases have long served as back-end repositories for control systems, eXtremeDB differs in that it serves as a RAM database that is integrated within the systems' actual real-time processes.
An in-memory database such as eXtremeDB can achieve predictable response times in the microsecond range, is designed to operate in the harsh environment of real-time systems, with strict requirements for resource utilization, and is ready to provide the performance and reliability required by real-life control applications.
The following figure shows the place for eXtremeDB in systems utilizing embedded controllers.
Download McObject’s eXtremeDB data sheet for Financial Applications (PDF)
Are you prepared to compete against the latest information technology advances? Software has revolutionized securities trading, with real-time applications enabling transactions that are faster and more accurate than in yesterday’s trading pits.
If implemented correctly, automated markets also deliver greater liquidity, lower transaction costs, more direct access between buyers and sellers, plus additional benefits to those buying, selling or making markets in all types of securities. With trades increasingly initiated and executed entirely via automated (black box) programs, electronic trading software development has been accurately compared to an arms race.
But sophisticated trading software depends heavily on its underlying approach to sorting, retrieving and storing information – and conventional relational database management systems (RDBMSs) cannot deliver the speed, reliability and flexibility these applications demand.
Representative applications of eXtremeDB in the financial markets include ticker plant technology from Stockgroup Information Systems, the real-time trading platform of the Dalian Commodity Exchange, and desktop trading deployed by a leading Chicago-based private securities trading firm.
McObject’s eXtremeDB embedded database product family meets the need for efficient, low-latency database management in a variety of financial applications including arbitrage and other algorithmic trading, ticker plants, desktop trading, and commodities exchange order book and related systems.
To support financial applications, eXtremeDB offers the following:
Market-ready responsiveness. eXtremeDB’s streamlined, all-in-memory data storage removes the disk and file I/O latency that bind RDBMS performance, and its in-process architecture eliminates inter-process communication. In addition, eXtremeDB is optimized with customized internal memory managers to provide maximum efficiency working with multi-threaded applications on multi-processor systems. These design advantages help ensure faster order execution and up-to-date analytics.
Support for large data stores. Exchange-wide trading typically requires large volumes of information to be available continuously. McObject leads in-memory database vendors in support for very large databases (VLDBs), in part through memory management optimized for multi-core systems. A recent benchmark application demonstrated nearly linear scalability of McObject’s 64-bit eXtremeDB-64, as database size grew to 1.17 Terabytes (15.54 billion rows) on a 160-core Linux server.
Interoperability. eXtremeDB’s fast native API interoperates fully with its SQL API (eXtremeSQL). The native interface is ideal for time-sensitive operations while eXtremeSQL (with its ODBC support) permits higher level access and interfacing with many external systems.
Persistence and Availability. Many financial applications must ensure data integrity, persistence and availability. eXtremeDB provides proven, flexible tools to implement these characteristics, ranging from built-in transactional support, to optional transaction logging, to McObject’s eXtremeDB High Availability edition, which enables deployment of non-stop trading systems based on multiple, synchronized database copies, with automatic failover.
McObject offers a reference application showing in-memory, high availability data management in ultra-high throughput algorithmic trading. Get details on the algorithmic trading reference platform.
Download McObject’s eXtremeDB data sheet for Military/Aerospace (PDF)
To support modern warfighting, Military-Aerospace (MilAero) systems deploy in-memory databases to manage tremendous volumes of data, including tactical information, navigation data, system status, and more. MilAero systems have evolved into substantial computing platforms that are tightly integrated and continuously share information, both internally and with other systems. This presents multifaceted embedded database requirements, including high performance, concurrent access, high availability, complex searching, and reliability.
Download our white paper that examines the real-time database needs of military and aerospace embedded systems, and focuses on existing and emerging data management technology and its suitability to meet these requirements.
eXtremeDB, a small footprint Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) database, is playing a growing role in helping MilAero developers meet the need for a real-time, in-memory embedded database with high availability. Many firms, including Boeing, EADS, and SAIC, have found that the performance, reliability, and time-to-market benefits of a proven embedded database justify the cost.
Technological advances have made the use of “real” RAM databases an option in embedded MilAero systems. An in-memory embedded database operates near the speed of RAM access and eliminates the unpredictable latency accompanying file I/O and inter-process communication. In addition, with “eager, 2-safe” replication implemented via a time-cognizant protocol, in-memory data management offers the unsurpassed reliability of a high availability system with redundancy and failover capability, which can be further enhanced by the use of nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM).
When considering data management for MilAero equipment, developers and engineering managers must inspect potential solutions at multiple levels. Embedded database architecture must be streamlined and provide the performance needed for real-time systems. Maintaining data availability in the face of hardware or software failure must be addressed, usually with a redundant solution. Finally, developers must understand their database at the programmatic level, making source code availability a prerequisite.
eXtremeDB Embedded Database Features
In-memory database; no file system required
Embedded (not a client/server architecture)
Blazingly fast – RAM database architecture yields micro-second transactions, even on modest hardware
High availability, implemented via a time-cognizant two-phase commit protocol
Optional transaction logging module for persistent data
Optional SQL interface
Tiny code size, starting from just 50 KB
Very efficient storage manager – typical overhead is just 15-40 percent (meaning 1 MB of data needs just 1.15 – 1.4 MB of memory)
No dynamic memory allocation; suitable for the most stringent safety requirements
Highly portable; written in ANSI C, with no dependence on the C run-time library; the eXtremeDB embedded database can even run without an RTOS!
XML interface to simplify data exchange with other XML-enabled systems
Developer friendly – creates a type-safe, intuitive programming interface with extensive checking to speed development