PreCaches NetInjector Enables Gadgets to Tap Information Flow

PreCache Inc.s NetInjector middleware enables companies to extend computing capabilities to various gadgets—from cell phones and handhelds to personal video recorders and MP3 players.

With NetInjector, said PreCache officials, in Bridgewater, N.J., millions of heterogeneous devices across wired and wireless networks can be connected in a near-real-time, interactive information flow.

NetInjector provides a platform for delivering data messaging, storage and application interoperability to a variety of computer devices, according to the officials. The platform uses a publish/subscribe messaging model to enable the continuous flow of information; as data is changed at one source, it is immediately updated throughout a network of users.

The NetInjector platform will be available this quarter.

The platforms core technology is the integration of three technologies: intelligent message routing, distributed channels, and event agents and adapters.

Event Routing Core is a set of optimized, content-based routing algorithms that are coupled with software-based caching features. This enables what PreCache calls ActiveData—an interrupt-driven, selective messaging architecture that can be deployed on application servers or in network devices.

The Event Agent technology is the equivalent of an applications IP stack and provides the API needed to connect application software to Event Routing Cores, officials said. The agent is deployed on devices such as servers, desktops, laptops, cell phones and set-top boxes connected to NetInjector-enabled networks.

A Channel Services component—PreCaches equivalent of a Domain Name System for publish/subscribe communications—is deployed on servers or appliances and provides mapping capabilities.

PreCache received funding from New York-based Sony Music Entertainment Inc., which pumped about $10 million into the development of the NetInjector platform. Sony officials said that PreCaches NetInjector is a crucial infrastructure technology that could enable the delivery of subscription content at a declining rate of per-user infrastructure cost.