GemStone Granted Patent for Transactional Virtual Machine Architecture

Beaverton, Ore. - October 29, 2001 - GemStone Systems, a leading provider of software for e-business solutions, today announced that it has been granted a patent by the United States Patent Office for its Transactional Virtual Machine (VM) architecture. GemStone uses this technology to provide a more efficient way of executing complex, high-performance business applications.

GemStone's patented technology provides thousands of users and multiple distributed applications with a logically consistent, recoverable real-time view of critical business data across islands of information. This is critical to sophisticated e-business applications such as on-line trading, logistics, and supply chain management, where many users in different locations need access to the same information at the same time.

The success of an e-business depends on achieving top application performance for each user and the scalability to handle growing numbers of users efficiently. A common characteristic of today's server technologies is the ability to concurrently execute services on behalf of multiple clients. In conventional architectures, this concurrent execution is handled either by making clients share a single view of business objects or by making a separate view of the objects for each client. The first approach lowers performance, as clients wait their turn to access objects. The second approach can impact performance or limit scalability by using excessive system memory and processing resources.

The transactional VM architecture invented by GemStone allows multiple users, virtual machines, and concurrent threads to share access to a single, consistent view of business objects without waiting for object access. As a result, VMs described in this patent require less system memory and processing resources, and hence can serve greater numbers of client services at greater speed than conventional server virtual machines. GemStone's transactional VM architecture may be used in a variety of e-business applications including transactional business processes in which multiple users have access to information in one or more shared databases.

The patent transactional VM architecture provides numerous business advantages:

Access to information in real-time: An on-line trading application using GemStone's patented technology can handle as many as 1500 traders at a time, allowing them to do more than $70 billion of business per day through their trading systems, a volume that has proved impossible without this technology.
Speeds decision-making: Shared real-time information enables companies to streamline their business operations. A logistics company has proven that their GemStone-based system saves them enough each year to purchase another container ship - a cost of $67 million.

About GemStone Systems

GemStone Systems, Inc., creates essential software infrastructure for managing real-time business activities across applications and systems. GemStone pioneered shared transactional workspace technology that enables developers to present a consistent view of distributed business information to multiple users, applications, and organizations. GemStone's technology and people are driving e-business today through strategic applications including Internet stock and derivatives trading, telecommunications services and logistics, banking, worldwide transport and real-time inventory management. Our customers include InterContinental Exchange, Federal Express, Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), COSCO Container Lines Co., Ltd., Visa International, Bell South Telecommunications, Chrysler Corporation, Washington Mutual, Sony Interactive, Texas Instruments, and Florida Power and Light.

Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, GemStone sells and supports its solutions through its US sales force and a worldwide network of distributors. For detailed product and company information, please visit www.gemstone.com.