Project XSPEED

Start date

XSPEED will revolutionise XML processing for Service Oriented Computing (SOC) applications by defining, implementing and evaluating an interface to enable these applications to take advantage of XML processing hardware sub-systems currently in existence or likely to emerge in the future. SOC uses XML messages to transfer information between web services over the enterprise service bus (ESB). A significant barrier to the adoption of SOC is the computing resource required to deliver effective, efficient and secure solutions in XML processing.

IBM and Intel have stated recently that this requires special purpose hardware. Dajeil is the only company in Europe producing special purpose hardware for XML acceleration, and one of a small number of such companies worldwide. Although there are XML appliances using general-purpose processors available on the market, the nature of such network-connected devices renders them unsuitable for accelerating many applications. As yet, standard interfaces to allow SOC take advantage of specialist acceleration hardware have not been defined, with consequent uncertainties for further hardware design and for companies needing to use this technology to implement SOC efficiently and securely. We believe that Europe can take a leadership position both in the design of XML hardware and in the effective use of SOC if an appropriate interface standard can be defined and tested in the next two years.

There is an environmental spin-off benefit from this technology, in that less general purpose servers will be required to deliver the same processing capability. This provides an energy saving and is thus a more environmentally friendly solution. XSPEED brings together a consortium of academic, SME and large companies qualified to address the project requirements. Dajeil, the project coordinator, is expert in the XML processing hardware technology. Dublin City University, the research partner, will test the theoretical completeness of the interface specification and its implementation. Telefónica and iSOCO will integrate the technology into a public administration / professional body workflow product which uses extensive XML and Security functions providing an ideal platform for test on multiple end-user sites. Cybersoft will deploy the technology in a financial services application to be tested in a real-life situation within the Turkish Central Registry Agency (MKK).