Enabling Technologies And Development
March 2001
Chris Donner

 

A View Of...

BY CHRIS DONNER

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Perhaps you'll recall a scene early on in the movie A Room With A View, when George and his father offer their room to the visiting English ladies, Charlotte and Lucy, in order that the ladies might enjoy the view. When the women take possession of the room, they are distracted by a framed image of a question mark hanging on the wall. Charlotte turns to Lucy and says, "Whatever can it mean?" At this point, George abruptly enters, flips the frame over to reveal a painting, repositions it on the wall, and exits without comment.

The next-gen network is such a question mark -- it sits there on the wall (or on the screen of your PC, PDA, or cell phone) and says, "Whatever can you do with me?" But with the next-gen network, there is no George. There is no one to enter quickly and without comment and flip things around so that it's all comfy and cozy again and we can redirect our attention to the view.

Instead, the question mark hangs there, enticing, challenging; frightening some, annoying still others. Presenting potential, yes, but an overwhelming amount of potential -- how do we even begin to comprehend such an open signification of ambiguity and doubt?

Enter the service creation environment (SCE). If the next-gen network is a question mark, the SCE is more like an ellipsis. The ellipsis (...) is an odd form of punctuation, a conjunction for thoughts joined more by proximity than by anything else, a replacement of sorts that doesn't complete things, but does allow them to continue. An ellipsis joins disparate elements together and lets a writer move on.

Through applications, the SCE provides a link between legacy installations and the future. The SCE doesn't represent finality -- not at all. It offers only a tenuous link between what has just been and what is yet to come. It presents possibility, but it also tames that possibility to some extent, and makes it comprehensible.

There are some writers and strict editors who despise ellipses. They see them perhaps as an outward and all-too-obvious sign of an inner discontinuity or uncertainty, and they see this as a bad thing. I disagree. What can we do in an era of whirlwind change but be a little uncertain, suffer some discontinuity? Better to face up to it and still make significant progress than to sit staring at the question mark on the wall, all the time missing out on the beautiful view.

Like any metaphor, the comparison between ellipses and SCEs comes apart if pushed too hard. But for a writer of programs or of words, both provide a means of access -- a functional answer -- to that which otherwise might be beyond even puzzling over.

-- Chris Donner

Enabling Technologies And Development News

NEXCOM Launches Half-Size SBC
 NEXCOM announced the new half-size single board computer based on Intel 815E chipset, the PEAK 602A series. The PEAK 602A features the Intel Celeron/ Pentium III CPU and 815E chipset and provides 100/133 MHz FSB supporting Pentium III processors up to 1GHz. The Intel 815E chipset is equipped with internal graphics, LAN, and support for 2 USB ports. Features include: Intel Pentium III FC-PGA support, 100/ 133 MHz FSB, up to 1+ GHz CPU clock; PC133 SDRAM support up to 256 MB; on-chip 2X AGP VGA with Intel Dynamic Video Memory Technology; on-chip Ethernet 10/100 Mbps. The PEAK 602A series supports Linux, Windows 2000, Windows NT.

New Backplane By BUSTRONIC Fills Gap In cPCI Market
BUSTRONIC Corporation announced a 16-slot cPCI with H.110 backplane. Conforming to the latest PICMG specifications, the backplane will feature 16 cPCI slots in two separate, bridgeable 8-slot segments. Also featured are two Positronic 47-pin power supply connectors (4 connectors optional), one power tap each for +3.3V and +5V, 2 power taps each for VI/O and GND, and fast-on blades for +12V and -12V. The 16-slot cPCI backplane adds to Bustronic's H.110 family featuring 4, 5, 6, and 8 slot backplanes.

"Valued Basics" Starter Kits In A Chassis
ADLINK Technology introduced the NuPAK Series, a line of pre-assembled industrial computers designed to overcome the confusion associated with selecting the best computer for the job. The NuPAK Series combines commonly requested industrial computer components to build a system with an easy- to-order philosophy while supplying all the core essentials required of the most arduous environments. The NuPAK Series is targeted for image processing and multimedia, data communications, and telecom, among other industries. Systems will initially be available with ADLINK's broad range of plug-in Intel powered NuPRO SBCs.

Nortel Builds On Sun's Java2 Platform For Softswitch
Sun Microsystems announced that Nortel Networks has chosen the Java 2 platform as its preferred next-gen telecommunications software environment for the Nortel Networks Succession Communications Server 3000 softswitch. By using the Java 2 platform, the Succession Communications Server 3000 is able to deliver on the softswitch promise of hardware independence, enabling network service providers to take advantage of open computing processing advancements. The Java 2 platform's proven reliability and rapid application development provides service provider customers of the Succession Communications Server 3000 with an extremely fast time to market and a simplified process to introduce new services.

AVIDWireless Announces AVIDRapidTools 1.2
AVIDWireless announced the release of AVIDRapidTools (ART) 1.2. With one download, an enterprise developer can see a fully functional wireless application server in action on their own desktop. Once installed, the provided sample applications are capable of connecting to any wireless device or desktop computer. ART 1.2 is delivered packaged with the software a developer needs to begin developing wireless applications, making it a complete solution. ART has a multiple platform installer that supports Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Solaris, along with any Java 2 capable system. It is bundled with an evaluation version of YoSpace LLC's SmartPhone WML emulator, supporting Nokia and other WAP phones, allowing applications to be viewed online instantly while the developer is building the application.

General Micro Announces 1GHz PentiumIII cPCI SBC
General Micro Systems announced the Mariner II C158, their third-generation Pentium III CompactPCI single-board computer, which provides up to five PMC expansion slots. The Mariner II C158 provides up to 256 KB of on-die cache, 512 MB of SODIMM main memory, a 10/100Base-Tx Ethernet interface, and dual Ultra DMA-33 IDA hard drive interfaces. The five PMC slots provide a means of adding plug-and-play communications, graphics, mass storage, and industrial I/O options. The Mariner's external I/O connectors are available via the front panel, which is ideal for applications like telecom, with its tight space constraints.

Pronexus Technology For Wireless, Speech-Enabled Telephony
Pronexus announced the release of VBVoice 4.3, with its IVR software development environment for creating sophisticated communications solutions. VBVoice 4.3 includes an array of impressive new capabilities, including WAP support, speaker verification, new TTS engines, and speech rec with dynamic grammars. The additions to VBVoice provide the functionality needed to create communication solutions for the converging world of telephones, speech technologies, wireless devices, data storage, and the Internet.

cPCI Companies Collaborate To Address Next-Gen Platform Requirements
The StarFabric Working Group, a group exploring next-gen technologies compatible with CompactPCI, disclosed their activities and plans for 2001. The working group is utilizing StarGen's universal switch fabric technology as the basis of proof-of-concept designs intended to illustrate various communications system solutions. StarGen's switch fabric is a high-speed, point-to-point backplane and chassis-to-chassis interconnect solution. Each proof of concept design will demonstrate how switch fabric-based systems can address critical requirements including system scalability, flexibility, high availability, and QoS while maintaining compatibility with existing cPCI architectures. "The CompactPCI standards have provided the foundation for a dynamic and growing market for open communication platforms. Efforts like those of the StarFabric Working Group ensure that the CompactPCI architecture will continue to evolve in a compatible way to meet new and challenging market requirements," said Joe Pavlat, president, PICMG.

Avaya Intros Turnkey Convergence Kit
Avaya is offering businesses a "convergence kit" that contains everything they need to begin enjoying the benefits of no-compromise voice and data communications over a single IP network. Avaya's solution -- the Enterprise Class Convergence Kit -- brings the power of IP-based voice and data to enterprises or offices with 12 or more users, and features a complete suite of hardware and software from Avaya's Enterprise-Class IP Solutions (ECLIPS) portfolio. At the heart of this turnkey solution are the Avaya IP600 IP Communications Server and the Avaya P330 Stackable Switching System. The IP600 is a rack-mounted, IP telephony server with all of the PBX functionality and interoperability inherent within Avaya Call Processing software, built-in voice mail, fax messaging, Avaya Message Manager, and Avaya Site Administration software. The Avaya P330 is an Ethernet switching system that delivers high performance, high reliability, best-in-class scalability, and multilayer functionality, while providing the QoS necessary for IP telephony, mixed media collaboration, and streaming video.

Ziatech Boosts Power In Single-Slot System Master
With the launch of its ZT 5503 System Master, Ziatech offers a powerful new choice of single-slot computer board for telecommunications and Internet applications. Featuring a processing speed of 800 MHz, this processor board is available with either 512MB or 1GB of SDRAM, depending on end-user requirements. The ZT 5503 takes advantage of the CompactPCI bus and the Intel Pentium III Processor Low Power, which is ideal for the thermal sensitivity and space constraints associated with many communications applications. "This new BGA2 family member is designed for telecommunication and Internet applications that require completely integrated multicomputing solutions for increased performance and system reliability," said product manager Doug Steudler.

CML Versatel Releases SDK For Telecom Service Development
CML Versatel announced their SDK for the TotalAgility Platform "With our SDK, a developer can design, test, and integrate an application without having to purchase any hardware. This also allows each developer in a team to have their own personal development and test environment," said Eric Jobidon, director of business development at CML Versatel. The SDK uses GUIs and comes with complete testing functionality so developers don't need to write scripts for application testing. The TotalAgility Platform is controlled through industry standard APIs, such as TAPI, JTAPI, and VERSIT. 

Celox Intros New IP Service Creation Switch
Celox Networks announced the Celox SCx 192, a service creation platform that combines rich IP features with unparalleled capacity and processing power enabling network service providers to deliver differentiated service offerings at the massive scale needed to drive significant revenue growth. Designed for carriers, ILECs, ISPs, ASPs, greenfields, and cable operators, the Celox SCx 192 delivers up to 80 Gbps of actual throughput and support for 6,000,000 simultaneous user connections or flows. The Celox SCx 192 also features wide support for network interfaces, ranging from DS-3 through OC-192c, and reaches a density of 1,536 DS-3s. The Celox SCx 192 supports key software standards such as OSPF, BGP-4, MPLS, ATM, RSVP, and DiffServ. This allows the switch to provide classes of service across core networks by functioning as an edge router while ensuring interoperability with terabit routers and DWDM equipment.

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The Move To IP

Long active in the TDM development space, APEX Voice Communications  recently announced their move into the IP realm with the Media Server for Enhanced Services, which employs an SCE in the IP network for service creation. The Media Server is based on Dialogic cards and uses APEX's OmniView to present with a drag-and-drop interface for rapid development.

I recently had a chance to speak with Elhum Vadat, VP of APEX, regarding the Media Server. I was interested in a couple of things: both the scalability of the Media Server platform and its flexibility, i.e., what limitations, if any, does development on IP place on the developer that would not be faced in the legacy network?

To begin with, Elhum pointed out the strengths of the next-gen model and the Media Server. For instance, IP networks allow for the separation of the SCE from the network elements. An example of this can be seen in the announcement not too long ago that APEX was teaming with Nuera and Vsys to provide a complete solution for service providers. Utilizing such standards as SIP, H.323, and CORBA, the Media Server is able to access these softswitches and either control the call or hand over control to the softswitch, depending on the service.

This next-gen model needs to make available the wealth of existing but largely proprietary applications available on the PSTN. The Media Server currently supports such applications as text-to-speech, pre-paid calling, IVR, and fax. The limitations of the system reflect the limitations of the Dialogic cards, and as Dialogic introduces more functionality into their boards this functionality will be included in the Media Server.

As for scalability, Elhum pointed out that this system is intended for smaller scale carrier deployment, since it is based on a PC platform. But it sounds as if APEX is planning a move similar to their past integration with the Cisco VCO/4K in the TDM world. That is, the PC-based Media Server will be ideal small deployments by CLECs and ISPs and for test deployments by larger service providers, while a future high end platform will preserve the front end GUI and usability while increasing the scalability of the Media Server to serve larger markets.

APEX is planning to extend the current C/C++ hook to include XML/VoiceXML as well, opening the system to an even greater number of developers. Although he wasn't able to name names, Elhum stated that the APEX Switch Manager and Cisco VCO/4K are currently being used by several voice portals.

The next-gen network is in some ways a hodgepodge, and it is platforms such as the Media Server by APEX that take this confusion and make it into something desirable.

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