Object-oriented multi-media architecture

Claim 3

A system according to claim 1 wherein the virtual machine program includes means for maintaining a list of hardware processors currently available in the system and means for selecting an appropriate one of the hardware processors for executing the executable process includes means for examining the list, whereby the system automatically adapts so as to take advantage of currently available hardware processors.

Claim 4

A system according to claim 1 wherein the virtual machine program includes a library of predetermined class protocols stored in the memory and the means for selecting the hardware processor includes means for correlating the list of hardware processors currently available in the system to the library of object class protocols.

Claim 5

A system according to claim 3 wherein the virtual machine program includes dynamic class loader means for determining whether an object referenced in the incoming byte code stream is an instance of a class protocol defined in the class library and for downloading any missing class protocol or library.

Claim 6

A system according to claim 1 wherein the virtual machine program includes means for reconstructing a plurality of distinct process threads from the byte codes, means for selecting a respective hardware processor for execution of each of the process threads, and means for routing each of the process threads to the corresponding selected hardware processor for parallel execution as lightweight processes.

Claim 7

A system according to claim 5 wherein the processors include at least one native byte code processor dedicated to executing native byte codes, and the virtual machine includes means for routing a flat process thread to the native byte code processor for execution without translating op codes.

Claim 8

A system according to claim 5 and further comprising a micro-kernel operating system for interfacing between the hardware processors and the virtual machine program.

Claim 9

A system according to claim 7 wherein the virtual machine program is written in an object-oriented programming language.

Claim 10

A system according to claim 8 wherein the object-oriented programming language; includes classes of the Java programming language and the virtual machine program includes a library of Java class protocols stored in the memory; and, the means for selecting the hardware processor includes means for correlating the list of hardware processors currently available in the system to the library of Java class protocols.

Claim 11

A byte-code interpreted, hardware neutral, computer-implemented virtual machine method of converting an input stream of byte codes compiled from an object-oriented, multi-media source program into a plurality of process threads for parallel execution in real-time, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining a list of available hardware resources; reconstructing a plurality of program objects and threads from the input stream of byte codes; correlating the reconstructed program objects and threads to a list of the available hardware resources; and routing each of the reconstructed program objects and threads to a respective selected one of the hardware resources for substantially parallel execution, thereby providing improved execution performance while maintaining portability of the byte codes.

Claim 12

A byte-code interpreted, hardware neutral, computer-implemented virtual machine method of converting an input stream of byte codes compiled from an object-oriented, multi-media source program into a plurality of process threads for parallel execution in real-time, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining a list of available hardware resources; reconstructing a plurality of program objects and threads from the input stream of byte codes; correlating the reconstructed program objects and threads to a list of the available hardware resources; and routing each of the reconstructed program objects and threads to a respective selected one of the hardware resources for substantially parallel execution, thereby providing improved execution performance while maintaining portability of the byte codes.

Claim 13

A method according to claim 10 further comprising: identifying processes declared synchronized in the source program; and executing the said synchronized processes under control of monitors so as to ensure that variables remain in a consistent state; and scheduling all other processes for execution in parallel to the extent that the available hardware resources permit.

Claim 14

A byte code interpreted, hardware neutral, computer-implemented virtual machine method of converting an input stream of byte codes compiled from an object-oriented, multi-media source program into a plurality of process threads for parallel execution in real-time, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining a list of available hardware resources; reconstructing a plurality of program objects and threads from the input stream of byte codes; correlating the reconstructed program objects and threads to a list of the available hardware resources; routing each of the reconstructed program objects and threads to a respective selected one of the hardware resources for substantially parallel execution, thereby providing improved execution performance while maintaining portability of the byte codes; and supporting predetermined synchronization methods defined in the multi-media application, the synchronization methods allowing multiple threads within the multi-media application access to and exclusive control of shared resources.

Claim 15

A byte code interpreted, hardware neutral, computer-implemented virtual machine method of converting an input stream of byte codes compiled from an object-oriented, multi-media source program into a plurality of process threads for parallel execution in real-time, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining a list of available hardware resources; reconstructing a plurality of program objects and threads from the input stream of byte codes; correlating the reconstructed program objects and threads to a list of the available hardware resources; routing each of the reconstructed program objects and threads to a respective selected one of the hardware resources for substantially parallel execution, thereby providing improved execution performance while maintaining portability of the byte codes; and supporting predetermined synchronization methods defined in the multi-media application, the synchronization methods allowing multiple threads within the multi-media application access to and exclusive control of shared resources.

Claim 18

A system according to claim 13 wherein the hardware processors include at least one specialized processor optimized for executing a predetermined method of a multi-media object and at least one RISC processor for executing a flat code segment in a native pseudo-language.

Claim 27

A byte code interpreted, hardware neutral, computer-implemented virtual machine method of converting an input stream of byte codes compiled from an object-oriented, multi-media source program into a plurality of process threads for parallel execution in real-time, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining a list of available hardware resources, wherein the list of available hardware resources includes, for each hardware resource, an indication of a specific multi-media function, if any, for which the hardware resource is specially adapted; reconstructing a plurality of program objects and threads from the input stream of byte codes; correlating the reconstructed program objects and threads to the list of the available hardware resources, including comparing the program objects and threads to the list so as to identify those hardware resources, if any, that are specially adapted to executing any of the program objects and threads; and routing each of the reconstructed program objects and threads to a respective selected one of the hardware resources for substantially parallel execution, thereby providing improved execution performance while maintaining portability of the byte codes, including binding the program objects and threads to the corresponding identified hardware resources for execution.

Claim 28

A byte code interpreted, hardware neutral, computer-implemented virtual machine method of converting an input stream of byte codes compiled from an object-oriented, multi-media source program into a plurality of process threads for parallel execution in real-time, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining a list of available hardware resources, wherein the list of available hardware resources includes, for each hardware resource, an indication of a specific multi-media function, if any, for which the hardware resource is specially adapted; reconstructing a plurality of program objects and threads from the input stream of byte codes; correlating the reconstructed program objects and threads to the list of the available hardware resources, including comparing the program objects and threads to the list so as to identify those hardware resources, if any, that are specially adapted to executing any of the program objects and threads; and routing each of the reconstructed program objects and threads to a respective selected one of the hardware resources for substantially parallel execution, thereby providing improved execution performance while maintaining portability of the byte codes, including binding the program objects and threads to the corresponding identified hardware resources for execution.

Claim 29

A byte code interpreted, hardware neutral, computer-implemented virtual machine method of converting an input stream of byte codes compiled from an object-oriented, multi-media source program into a plurality of process threads for parallel execution in real-time, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining a list of available hardware resources, wherein the hardware resources include a plurality of processors, each processor optimized for its primary function; reconstructing a plurality of program objects and threads from the input stream of byte codes; correlating the reconstructed program objects and threads to the list of the available hardware resources; routing each of the reconstructed program objects and threads to a respective selected one of the hardware resources for substantially parallel execution, thereby providing improved execution performance while maintaining portability of the byte codes; and providing a coherent, global cache memory coupled to each of a plurality of the processors to improve performance.

Claim 30

A byte code interpreted, hardware neutral, computer-implemented virtual machine method of converting an input stream of byte codes compiled from an object-oriented, multi-media source program into a plurality of process threads for parallel execution in real-time, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining a list of available hardware resources, wherein the hardware resources include a plurality of processors, each processor optimized for its primary function; reconstructing a plurality of program objects and threads from the input stream of byte codes; correlating the reconstructed program objects and threads to the list of the available hardware resources; routing each of the reconstructed program objects and threads to a respective selected one of the hardware resources for substantially parallel execution, thereby providing improved execution performance while maintaining portability of the byte codes; and providing a coherent, global cache memory coupled to each of a plurality of the processors to improve performance.