Authors include: - Connect-World
Authors include: - Connect-World
Authors include: - Connect-World
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Service assurance<br />
agesandofferacompellingsetofservicessuchasIPTV,onlinegaming,distancelearningandmanynewapplications.Thisappealstobothconsumers<br />
and service providers. The convergence<br />
of IP networks with both fixed<br />
and wireless networks facilitates the<br />
delivery of rich multimedia content,<br />
traditionallydominatedbycablecompanies,bytelcos.<br />
Telecomserviceprovidersareencouraged<br />
by technology, now available,<br />
that lets them cost effectively deliver<br />
advanced services to users. There is<br />
still some time for telcos to roll out<br />
suchservices.Thechallengeistotake<br />
advantageofthelimitedtimewindow.<br />
Adoptionofnewtechnologies<br />
Todeliverthesenewconvergedservices,<br />
networkoperatorsmustupgradetheir<br />
legacy equipment at unprecedented<br />
speedandgettheirIP-basedservices<br />
tomarketquickly.Thisputspressure<br />
upon the TEMs to meet the network<br />
operators’ speed and cost requirements.<br />
Traditionally, TEMs have developed<br />
proprietary systems that have been<br />
costly,andtookyearstogettomarket.<br />
Giventhecostandspeedconstraints,<br />
this approach no longer works. So<br />
TEMsaremovingawayfrombuilding<br />
proprietary telecom systems to systems<br />
based upon commercially<br />
available,pre-integratedpre-tested,<br />
standards-basedcomponents.<br />
The challenge for TEMs is to decide<br />
where they must add core value, and<br />
wheretheyshouldrelyuponpartners<br />
and suppliers to deliver the components<br />
quickly to build systems that<br />
addressthecarriers’service,costand<br />
time-to-market requirements. This is<br />
notatemporarysituation.Thesechallengeswillcontinuetodefinethetelecom<br />
environment for the foreseeable<br />
future.<br />
Aparadigmshift<br />
In the early days of enterprise computing,<br />
single source computer systems<br />
suppliers provided a full, vertically<br />
integrated, computing solution.<br />
They would design, manufacture and<br />
deliver their own silicon, hardware,<br />
operating systems, middleware and<br />
thecustomerapplication.<br />
The supplier’s differentiating factors<br />
were usually distinct features, functionality<br />
and speeds and feeds. Such<br />
proprietary offerings locked the customerintothesolutionfortheforeseeable<br />
future with little flexibility to<br />
changeorupgradethepieceswithout<br />
payingthesupplierpremiumprices.<br />
Realising that they were locked into<br />
expensive proprietary, single-supplier,<br />
solutions, companies sought the<br />
flexibilitytopickandchoosesolution<br />
components from best-of-breed suppliers.<br />
This encouraged the developmentandadoptionofstandardsforall<br />
manufacturerstouseandhelpedcreate<br />
an eco-system of suppliers specialised<br />
in producing individual systems<br />
elements better, faster, cheaper<br />
thananyotherplayer.<br />
Since the elements are standards<br />
based,theyworkperfectlywithother<br />
complementary systems elements<br />
provided by other standards based<br />
suppliers to create a cost effective<br />
solution for the customer. This gave<br />
birthtoasuccessfulhorizontalindustrymodelandanefficientcommercial<br />
off-the-shelf supplier (COTS) ecosystem<br />
for enterprise computing.<br />
Industry players that successfully<br />
adopted this model have benefited<br />
fromit.Otherseitherexitedthebusinessorwererelegatedtoniches.<br />
Thetelecomindustryisjustbeginning<br />
tobenefitfromthehorizontalindustry<br />
model with a COTS ecosystem of its<br />
own.TheemergenceofIPinthetelecom<br />
industry is accelerating the convergencebetweenITandthetelecom<br />
network.Theshiftismadepossibleby<br />
the adoption of a few key standards<br />
thatdefineinterfacesbetweenthevarious<br />
layers of the telecom equipment<br />
systems.<br />
Hardwareplatformstandards,suchas<br />
AdvancedTCA, specify carrier-grade<br />
hardware architecture to provide the<br />
reliability,performanceandscalability<br />
required for telecommunication<br />
applications. The Open Software<br />
DevelopmentLaboratory(OSDL)now<br />
hasaworkinggroupspecificallydedicatedtodefiningCarrierGradeLinux<br />
(CGL) feature roadmaps and specifications<br />
to use in telecommunications<br />
architectures.<br />
Serviceavailability<br />
One of the most significant recent<br />
developmentshasbeentheadventof<br />
the Service Availability Forum, an<br />
industry consortium dedicated to<br />
developingspecificationsforstandard<br />
interfaces necessary to enable the<br />
delivery of highly available carriergradesystemswithCOTScomponents<br />
including hardware platforms, middlewareandserviceapplications.The<br />
ServiceAvailabilityForumisdeveloping<br />
three sets of specifications that<br />
apply to various layers of a highly<br />
availableserviceplatform.<br />
HardwarePlatformInterface<br />
specification<br />
The Hardware Platform Interface<br />
(HPI) specification separates the<br />
hardware from management middlewareandmakeseachindependentof<br />
the other. It specifies services which,<br />
when implemented by the hardware<br />
platform manufacturer, simplify the<br />
integrationofthird-partymiddleware<br />
thatcomplieswiththeHPIspecification.<br />
The interface allows portability of<br />
middlewarecomponentsbetweenvarioushardwareplatformsthatprovide<br />
servicesspecifiedbytheinterface.<br />
ApplicationInterfaceSpecification<br />
The Application Interface Specification<br />
(AIS) standardises the interface<br />
between Service Availability Forum<br />
compliantHighAvailability(HA)middlewareandserviceapplications.Just<br />
as the HPI interface allows hardware<br />
platformabstraction,theAISenables<br />
compliant applications to be ported<br />
across AIS compliant middleware<br />
fromvariousvendors.<br />
SystemsManagementSpecification<br />
TheSystemsManagementSpecification<br />
(SMS), a complementary specification,<br />
acts as an umbrella to tie together<br />
existing HPI and AIS specifications.<br />
The overall goal of the SMS is to<br />
addresstheadministrativeoperations<br />
andmanagementofvariousaspectsof<br />
thehighlyavailablesystem.<br />
The IP telecom network is creating<br />
unprecedented demand for new and<br />
converged consumer telecommunications<br />
services. This in turn is forcing<br />
TEMstorethinktheirsystemdevelopment<br />
strategies and develop telecom<br />
network systems quickly and cost<br />
effectively.<br />
The emergence of a set of key standards<br />
is enabling an ecosystem of<br />
COTS suppliers. The COTS suppliers<br />
help TEMs to build, quickly and cost<br />
effectively, highly available systems<br />
using standards-based components.<br />
TheServiceAvailabilityForum’sspecificationsareplayingapivotalrolein<br />
the transition from proprietary to<br />
standards-basedsystems.<br />
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