How Standards-Based Middleware Enhances AdvancedTCA and MicroTCA Platforms
By Ernie Bergstrom, Crystal Cube Consulting

The telecom industry now realizes that software standards are necessary to provide the competitive advantages and cost efficiencies it needs. The Service Availability™ Forum (SA Forum) is a consortium that develops software interface specifications for high availability systems.

High availability platforms must detect and isolate faulty hardware, switch in redundant hardware modules, and provide a platform management interface. A software layer called "High Availability Middleware" typically controls the implementation. The middleware provides lower layer interfaces to hardware/operating system components and higher layer interfaces to applications. This effectively separates applications from knowing anything about the underlying hardware, making them inherently more portable.

Current SA Forum specifications are Hardware Platform Interface (HPI), Application Interface Specification (AIS), and System Management Specification (SMS). The HPI defines the interface between High Availability Middleware and the underlying computing platform. It provides a model of the platform and allows control and monitoring via concurrent "sessions." Adopting it accelerates hardware and software integration, simplifying the migration of middleware between platforms from different manufacturers.

The AIS defines the interface between the High Availability Middleware and the application. It enables an application to run on multiple computing modules and to react to failure or substitution of modules in a defined manner, while still delivering service. Applications that support it can migrate more easily between computing platforms from different manufacturers.

SA Forum standards allow telecom equipment manufacturers (TEMs) to outsource at the platform level, knowing that they can migrate their application to another compliant platform if required. At the same time, third-party suppliers can generate middleware and application software that addresses a larger potential market.

TEMs typically spend a lot of development time creating a base platform that meets core service provider requirements. However, developing that platform provides no market advantage. Building on standards, including AdvancedTCA, to develop a core Application-Enabling Platform can greatly accelerate development. The TEMs can then focus on their product’s differentiating features and content. A platform built from standards with a wealth of core capabilities, from hardware and operating systems to high availability middleware and management interfaces, is well suited to broad market adoption.

The Application-Enabling Platform approach does not limit a TEM’s ability to innovate. For example, a 3G wireless platform must perform IP routing. However, it is simply a service that is not core to its value in the marketplace. Contrast this with core routing applications, where capabilities such as IP routing and MPLS form the critical technology at the heart of the platform. In the 3G wireless case, a TEM could get to market faster by buying SA Forum compliant routing capabilities. In the latter case, a TEM could differentiate its product by developing the core IP routing and MPLS functionality itself.

Ernie Bergstrom is VP Marketing & Chief Analyst at Crystal Cube Consulting (CCC) and a Contributing Editor to the ATCA Newsletter. This summer CCC will be releasing an update report on MicroTCA including a section on PicoTCA You can reach him at ernie@atcanewsletter.com.