MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition 3.1 advances earlier versions of CGE with support for key emerging industry standards designed for high availability and telecommunications. It also adds support for the IBM Powe rPC architecture. CGE 3.1 will be the first Linux operating system to combine full support for the PICMG 3.0 Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (AdvancedTCA®) technology with support for key high availability APIs from the Service Availabi lity (SA) Forum. CGE 3.1 is the first Linux operating system to begin implementing APIs from the SA Forum’s Application Interface Specification (AIS) for clustering. Other highlights of the new product are increased support for standards including a Nativ e POSIX Thread Library (NPTL). The third release of MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition also boasts an expanding ecosystem and growing customer adoption.
CGE 3.1 is a carrier-grade quality Linux distribution targeted for edge and core telecommunications including applications for the converging IP and voice networks such as soft switches, SGSN[1] and GGSN[2] and Voice over IP (VoIP) gateways, and many other applications. CGE 3.1 enhances standard Linux with additional real-time, high availability and high reliability features based on the Open Source Development Lab (OSDL) Carrier Grade Linux Specification, and it is designed for deployment in any carrier-grade class environment.
“With a rapidly growing number of major design wins including l eading equipment providers such as Alcatel, Iskratel and NEC, MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition has gained strong acceptance in telecommunications. CGE is also being deployed beyond traditional telecommunications applications in areas such as equipme nt testing and airport ground services by leading companies such as Agilent and CNS Systems,” said Glenn Seiler, director of Product Marketing, MontaVista Software. “CGE addresses the needs of telecommunications equipment manufacturers (TEMs) and networking equipment providers (NEPs), enabling them to meet ever-increasing time-to-market pressures by lowering their cost and accelerating time to deployment.”
Key Features
CGE 3.1 adds many important features to the already rich Carrier Grade Edition product line. New features include Persistent Device Naming (guaranteeing consistent device naming), SysFS – a standard device driver interface model that supports Persistent Device Naming, and NPTL support for improved compliance and scalability for POSIX threads. CGE is also certified on Oracle 9i, Release 2. CGE builds on key new technologies introduced with the previous release (Version 3.0), some of which are only available from MontaVista, such as online debugging (MontaVista Field Safe Application Debugger) and patching of deployed applications (MontaVista Runtime Application Patcher). MontaVista, a significant contributor to open source, has also contributed high availability features including the OpenIPMI project and CompactPCI Hot Swap subsyste m. CGE 3.1 now supports more than a dozen reference boards including both Intel Architecture and PowerPC boards from vendors like Force Computers, IBM, Intel, Motorola and
RadiSys.
Growing Customer Adoption
Earlier this year, Alcatel signed a maj or multi-year corporate contract with MontaVista Softwarefor CGE, making it a key building block for Alcatel products with embedded or real-time constraints. (Read the joint Alcatel-MontaVista announcement at http://www.mvista.com/news/2003/alcatel.html)
NEC recently launched a new NEC Advanced-TCA(TM) telecommunications platform for mobile operators using CGE. “We believe that MontaVista Linux is one of the most powerful Linux development platforms available today and we are giving our customers the be st foundation one can think of to realize their product features,” explained Mr. Takatoshi Numasato, senior general manager of the Mobile Network Operation Unit at NEC “CGE 3.1 will reduce development time and costs for telecommunications and networking equipment providers. It will also allow telecom carriers to provide rich services to their customers promptly, with carrier-grade reliability, easy operation and high performance.”
CGE also has played a key role for Iskratel, a provider of integrated telecommunication solutions in Europe. “Iskratel has been able to launch new and advanced telecommunications products consistent with the needs of our customers,” said Franc Dolenc, director of Iskratel Business Unit Wireline. “By using a modern OS such a s CGE, we can provide our customers with a low-risk and cost-effective product platform supporting carrier grade services.”
CGE is the chosen operating system for the data management and monitoring and control subsystems in the new VDL 4000/GS I ground station from C.N.S. Systems AB in Sweden. “MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition provided us with a robust and stable platform and enabled us to get to market in an extremely short time period, ” said Tommy Bergström, chief technology officer, C.N.S. Systems. “We also appreciated MontaVista Software’s great regional support and the fact that CGE has been validated to work seamlessly with our chosen hardware platform.”
Emerging Standards
MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition is fully complian t with the current Open Source Development Lab Carrier Grade Linux Specification 1.1, and the company will work to ensure future product compliance with OSDL Carrier Grade Linux Requirements Definition 2.0, announced recently. CGE 3.1 also supports open m odular communications standards such as Advanced TCA(TM) 3.x from the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG). CGE 3.1 is the first Linux operating system to comply with key APIs from the SA Forum Application Interface Specification (AIS). They i nclude the AIS CLM (Cluster Membership) API that provides a mechanism for applications to determine members of a cluster and track membership changes. The AIS AMF (Availability Management Framework) API provides a mechanism for applications to register wi th the cluster executive. CGE 3.1 will implement an Application Heartbeat that complies with the AIS AMF specification.
“Once again, MontaVista Software is taking the lead in delivering high availability open source software solutions that are compa tible with industry standards,” said Timo Jokiaho, president of the Service Availability Forum. “MontaVista Software continues to provide vision and guidance as well as real products to enhance Linux to meet the needs of the telecommunications market segm ents.”
Availability
MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition 3.1 will be available in the fourth quarter of this year. For more product information and highlights of the key new features in CGE 3.1, please visit http://www.mvista.com/cge/index.html. Additionally, visit the MontaVista Technology Highlights Web page at http://www.mvista.com/tech5.html.
MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition will be featured in 7 different booth demonstrations at ITU Telecom, Geneva, October 12-18, 2003,
* Intel Booth (Stand No.4111):
Featuring demonstrations by Intel, NEC, Force Computers and HP
* Iskratel Booth (Stand No. 7038):
Featuring new product demonstrations
* RadiSys Booth (USA Pavilion Hall #1, Stand No. 1230.112):
Featuring a scalable SIP server
About MontaVista Software
MontaVista Software is a leading global supplier of systems software for intelligent connected devices and associated infrastructure. MontaVista powers the embedded revolution by providing GNU/Linux-based ope n-source software solutions. Founded in 1999 by real-time operating system (RTOS) pioneer James Ready, MontaVista offers a family of products under the MontaVista Linux umbrella that address broad-based software developer needs encompassing applications r anging from communications infrastructure to consumer electronics. Multiple Editions of MontaVista Linux are available including Professional, Consumer Electronics and Carrier Grade, along with complementary technology products providing powerful Java and graphics development capabilities.
Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley, in Sunnyvale, Calif., MontaVista Software is a privately held company funded by leading investors such as Alloy Ventures, US Venture Partners, RRE Ventures, WR Hambrecht + Co., IBM, Intel Capital, Sony, Panasonic (Matsushita), Toshiba America and Yamaha Corporation. For more information about MontaVista Software, please visit http://www.mvista.com.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. MontaVista is a registered trademark of MontaVista Software Inc. All other names mentioned are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Contacts:
Joe Samagond,
Director of Mktg. Communications,
MontaVista Software Inc.,
Phone: (408) 328-9234,
E-mail: jsamagond@mvista.com
Patricia Colby,
PR Strategy,
Pacifico Inc.,
Phone: (408) 293 8600 x340,
E-mail: pcolby@pacifico.com
ADDENDUM
Industry Standards
MontaVista Software has a strong commitment to providing carrier-grade solutions and is actively participating in several industry initiatives to define carrier-grade and high availability standards. These include the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group, OSDL Carrier Grade Linux Working Group and the Service Availability Forum.
“The OSDL Carrier Grade Initiative provides an excellent example of how we work with Linux developers, IT vendors and telecom companies to deliver market solutions for customers in the telecommunications industry,” said Stuart Cohen, CEO, OSDL. “MontaVista Software has played a leading role in this initiative and we’re pleased that the company is designing its products to the OSDL Carrier Grade Linux requirements.”
“This announcement represents another milestone for t he communications industry in its migration to commercial-off-the-shelf products,” said Lisa Su, director of PowerPC and emerging products, IBM Microelectronics.” MontaVista Software’s carrier-grade Linux development tools already have a working implement ation on the IBM PowerPC family, enabling communications technology providers to develop and deploy next generation services.”
Effective ISV Ecosystem
MontaVista Software is working closely with the world’s leading network equipment providers a nd their preferred independent software vendors (ISVs) to create a comprehensive ecosystem of fully validated middleware, tools and applications for advanced telecommunications and data communications solutions. Some of the key ISVs in this ecosystem include:
Oracle, Borland, Continuous Computing, Eternal Systems, GoAhead
Hughes Software Systems, IBM Software Group, Parasoft, Solid Information Technology, TimesTen, UXComm, Versant
[1] Serving GPRS Support Node
[2] Gateway GPRS Support Node”
