Wind River Blog Network

Green Linux and Green Telecom – Where do they intersect?

By Glenn Seiler

Green, green, everything is green. It is spring now, the hills around Silicon Valley are bright and green and everything in the yard is in full bloom. Even in our jobs everything is green in these times. You can’t watch TV or listen to the news or read a press release without hearing about Green. And of course this is all for very good reasons – even if we were in a good economy we would still have to start taking measures to reduce the energy we consume and conserve power and resources.

You may have heard a lot about Green Telecom, and like many of today’s catch phrases it can mean a lot of different things. One aspect of Green Telecom that you read a lot about is the use of alternative energy to drive base stations and wireless infrastructure, especially in emerging nations. There is a great video from Ericsson on YouTube that discusses this, and that is part of a larger sequence of videos on Green Telecom. They describe using solar energy and bio-fuels in "off-grid" countries and how people who only make a few dollars a week are willing to spend some of that money to have communication services available.

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The Telecom Consortia Alphabet Soup

By Glenn Seiler

What do they all mean and how are they different…

I often get asked what is the difference between the LiMo Foundation and the Open Handset Alliance, or what is the difference between the SCOPE Alliance Carrier Grade OS and Carrier Grade Linux or the difference between SAF and OpenSAF on the infrastructure side of the business. Unless you are really close to the Telecom industry in some capacity that is directly involved with one of those organizations, it can all seem very confusing as well as a bit redundant. In actuality there is very little overlap and each organization fits a very specific role in the ecosystem. First, it is important to note that both the maturity and the objective of the consortia are quite different between the terminal (or handset) side of the business and the infrastructure side. Another key distinction is what I like to call “solutions-based” consortia and “open standards” based consortia. Almost all of the hand-set consortia getting hype in the press today are “solutions-based” consortia such as the LiMo Foundation and the Open Handset Alliance. These consortia are not focused on creating standards that drive wide interoperability. Rather their objective is to drive a specific solution to market and preferably, to gain a market advantage while doing that. And on top of that, only members of the consortia have access to the solution(s). These consortia are really more of a large business development group, each member company focused on how they can drive business through the consortia. Now, there is nothing particularly wrong with that and it is an important part of growing a nascent market, as long as you don’t confuse it with developing standards. The infrastructure part of telecom is a bit more mature, leveraging off of the wireline business that has existed for nearly a century.  The primary objective of open-standards based consortia in the infrastructure market is usually to define standards that ultimately create an even playing field for all companies in a market, whether they are members of the consortia or not. The solutions-based consortia (LiMo and OHA) create implementations or reference platforms for a specific set of software that may be open source or proprietary and is usually a combination of both.

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Mobile phones clear for take-off?

By Paul Parkinson

A few months ago I commented on some of the technical developments in passenger in-flight systems ('In-flight Internet access...and mobile phones too?'). In recent weeks, there have been some rapid developments, not on the technical front, but in terms of regulation and operation, with announcements from the UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom and the European Commission.

On the 26th March, Ofcom published the results of its consultation on the use of Mobile Communications on Aircraft (MCA). The executive summary summarizes the findings and Ofcom's decisions, but the full statement (PDF) provides much more detail, revealing a mixture of social, operational, safety and security issues.

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In-flight Internet access... and mobile phones too?

By Paul Parkinson

I read a business article in the Economist ('Mobile Phones on planes - Your call') during the Christmas holidays about the current developments in passenger in-flight systems, specifically the provision of Internet data access and the potential to support mobile (cell) phone voice calls during flight.

The article reports on trials of a Wi-Fi data service by JetBlue and Quantas, and a forthcoming mobile phone voice call trial by Air France (which follows on from the mobile phone SMS text messaging described in this Air France press release); it then goes on to discuss the social impact and acceptability of Internet data access and mobile voice calls during flight, which makes interesting reading.

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The Check is in the Mail, Do No Evil and Other Matters of Trust

By Jason Whitmire

All will agree that mobile Linux suffers from fragmentation today, and that fragmentation
•    creates significant challenges to Linux adoption in mobile phones (lack of interoperability et. al.) 
•    presents barriers to innovation
•    increases the carrier cost to Linux terminal deployment.

For Linux to succeed in the mobile market, we need to minimize fragmentation and its resulting incompatibility.  In the early days of the PC revolution, this type of incompatibility was similarly rampant, and the Wintel monopoly provided the standard.  More importantly, the Wintel monopoly created the incentive to rally around the standard. 

But suggesting that the industry set up Google as the mobile Linux gatekeeper, including issuing all the keys to the various feature phone middleware/applications framework kingdoms (which account for about 90% of all phones deployed today), to take on the monumental role of software guardian for mobile Linux, is possibly antithetical to the open source movement, regardless of Google’s motto.  And perhaps this is not the role that Google ultimately seeks in the mobile market.  Indeed, there are multiple thrusts to Google’s mobile terminal strategy, all of which are underpinned by the principle of radically improving the efficiency and experience of the end-user’s mobile internet time.

Open Handset Alliance and LiMo – Why both initiatives are here to stay

By Jason Whitmire

It's easy to take the fragmentation of the mobile phone industry for granted. With over 40 different proprietary and Open Source Middleware and Application Frameworks addressing Ultra Low Cost, Entry, Feature and Smart Phone market segments, software costs have exploded and are expected to hit some 25% of the entire Bill of Materials on a mobile phone this year. No wonder mobile network operators are asking the industry to stop the madness and consolidate around a limited number of pre-defined platforms.

Many operators very clearly see Microsoft, Symbian and one to two versions of Linux as the only future software platforms that will comprise their terminal roadmap.  Linux is unique in that most Tier 1 OEMs – with the exception of Nokia – plan to gradually replace the proprietary software addressing the feature phone segments (where by far the most volumes of phones are shipped today and in the future).

With this in mind, two juggernauts – Open Handset Alliance and LiMo – promise to alter the landscape for the third software platform – Linux – for good. The LiMo Foundation’s goal is to defragment the Linux handset market by creating a Linux-based mobile platform that lowers development costs, increases flexibility, and yields differentiated devices. The goal of the Open Handset Alliance is to deliver solutions to enable complete open software, open devices, and an open ecosystem. Are these movements destined for perpetual conflict?

The Emergence of the Femtocell

By Paul Tingey

Amongst all the news (and some would say hype) about Fixed Mobile Convergence, there is another market dynamic being played out which may lead to an alternative form of change. Fixed-to-Mobile Substitution (or FMS) aims to increase the proportion of calls made from traditional 2G/3G mobile handsets at the expense of those made from other devices such as fixed lines or dual-mode (or converged) handsets.

In reality this is a trend started by consumers themselves who, attracted by falling mobile call rates, have begun to use their mobile phones for all their voice calls whether they are outside of or within their homes. This substitution effect is most noticeable (for fixed line operators) amongst new users (i.e. in new households) who are often opting not to have a fixed line phone installed at all.

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Why Integrity Customers Get Free Support from Wind River

By Warren Kurisu

Previously, our CMO John Bruggeman blogged  about the importance of Service  and Support for Linux.  He called it the killer app for Linux.

We recently announced our new VxWorks and Wind River Linux platforms, which integrate the Wind River Advanced Networking Technologies.  This technology portfolio is a best-of-breed combination of technologies developed by Wind River and those acquired from Interpeak.  That is great news for VxWorks and Wind River Linux customers, but what about Interpeak customers using Integrity?

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Carrier Grade Linux version 4.0 specification is released

By Paul Tingey

Last week saw Carrier Grade Linux take a further step forward with the release of the latest version of the specification. The CGL 4.0 document, released on 26th February 2007, is the result of work by individuals in many organizations and heralds a new level of collaboration between all those involved in the Carrier Grade equipment business.

CGL 4.0 is the first version of the Carrier Grade Linux specification to be released by the Linux Foundation, a recently created group formed by the merger of the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and the Free Standards Group.

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The naked truth about using the phone

By Paul Tingey

Telecoms can be a somewhat dry subject at times so when I recently tripped across a news release which made me giggle I decided it was my responsibility to share it with you.

BT recently carried out a survey (Starkers Talkers) asking what British people did while they were using the phone. Most interesting (in a purely scientific way) is the fact that 49% of British people are happy to talk on the telephone while naked in the privacy of their own home.

Before I go further I should save the blushes of myself and other Brits by adding that, whilst the results are from a survey of British phone users, I can think of no good reason why they would not be similarly valid in other parts of the world. I do not believe that the British would be any more predisposed to naked telephony than other similar cultures.

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I am not a number - I am a presence !

By Paul Tingey

It came as somewhat of a surprise to me but I've recently realized that, between my wife and myself, we have six phone numbers; two mobile phones (one for work and one for personal use), three landlines (a home office number, a fax number and a personal number) and a desk phone at a Wind River office. This situation seems unsatisfactory in a number of ways:

• these numbers represent six potential "points of presence" for me and my wife
• the numbers are, in themselves, random collections of digits and are not representative of me as a person
• either my employer or myself is paying for replicated services
• it just seems overly complicated

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Report from the International Telecommunications Union Conference

By Glenn Seiler

I’ve been in Hong Kong the last week visiting the ITU Telecom World 2006. The theme of this show, as articulated by a keynote speech from Vivian Reding, the European Union commissioner for Information Society and Media, is “Living in the Digital World”.  The fact that someone from the EU was giving the keynote at a Telecom show in Asia shows just how international this trade-show is. There are pavilions from nearly every major country, with Telecom providers from each country showing how they are bringing to their markets new Fixed Mobile Convergence services such as VoIP to cell phones.

As with any large trade-show – and this show is one of the largest – it’s a little overwhelming. There are so many vendors all trying to get their message heard above the others. There are ten halls of vendors with everything that has anything to do with telecommunications – from coaxial cable vendors with cable as big as my arm (for FTTP – Fiber-to-the-Premise) to consumer electronics. It is the latter of course that drew my attention. It was hard to escape the hype around triple play. Not just to the home or office, but to the phone itself.

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BARCO's MOSArt

By Alex Wilson

Another great piece of news!

I was really pleased to see the announcement on BARCO's use of our VxWorks 653 operating system in their MOSArt system.

I remember many years ago when BARCO decided to embark on the MOSArt project and they chose  Green Hills over us, if I recall correctly because at the time we had only just started our ARINC653 product line. Now they have come back to us to build a state-of-the-art environment based on our technology.

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DSDP: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

By Doug Gaff

Following up on today’s announcement of milestones in three of the DSDP projects—eRCP 1.0, MTJ 0.7, and TM 1.0—I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on DSDP…how it started, where it is today, and where it’s heading. First, let me start with a timeline of project events.

March 2005. Unofficially, the DSDP project got its start at a BoF session during EclispeCon last year. At the BoF, several device software tools vendors assembled to discuss the need for more embedded-specific functionality in Eclipse, specifically in the debugging area. There was acknowledgment of CDT and its extensive contribution to tooling in the embedded space, but there was also a desire to see more enhancements in the Eclipse Platform and more of a breadth of functionality around device software development. Shortly after EclipseCon, Wind River proposed the DSDP project and its two initial sub-projects, Target Management and Device Debugging. The TM project set out to build a framework and UI for managing remote embedded devices. The DD project initially focused on working with the Eclipse Platform Debug team to create a more customizable debugging framework in the Platform.

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Telecoms equipment can be cool (honestly)

By Paul Tingey

Many years ago, at a previous company, I spent my days writing assembler code for the 68302 processor and watched enviously as other (more fortunate) engineers wrote "modern" C++ applications for Pentium-II desktop PCs. In the canteen at lunchtime, no-one wanted to listen to my witty anecdotes about humorous 68K register names. At a technology level, embedded systems just weren't "cool".

However, times are changing. Desktop PCs may now offer dual core processors but, in reality, todays technology revolution is driven by a telecoms infrastructure that enables rich applications based on VoIP, Multimedia services and mobile communications. On the back of this revolution, the technology inside telecoms infrastructure equipment is getting pretty cool.

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Is standards based telecom equipment coming of age?

By Paul Tingey

At the beginning of each day I try to spend a little time reading press releases and news items from the various industry sectors I take an interest in. As I read I often find individual items which catch my eye and make me explore a little deeper but, over the last few days, something else became apparent to me. What struck me was the number of news items related to AdvancedTCA and telecoms equipment which reported on the creation of partnerships and/or alliances.

So what does this indicate? Well, I feel that what we are seeing is a solidifying of the ecosystem around telecoms solutions based on industry standards such as AdvancedTCA and Carrier Grade Linux.

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ATCA stars in its own show

By Paul Tingey

This week sees the AdvancedTCA Summit 2006 in full swing in Santa Clara. This gathering of over 100 companies and consortia who sponsor, use or develop equipment based on the ATCA (and associated) specifications is proof that ATCA is now a "force to be reckoned with". Let's face it, it's not often that a hardware standard gets its own show, let alone a summit.

ATCA's strengths are many and varied but its success has mainly been driven by its flexibility and interoperability. To understand more let's take a whirlwind tour through its history....

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Is Carrier Grade Linux finding new friends?

By Paul Tingey

While browsing the web recently I was interested to find an article (Carrier Grade Linux moves beyond telecoms into data centers, virtualization) featuring an interview with Bill Weinberg of the OSDL. In the article Weinberg outlines his view that Carrier Grade Linux has matured to a point where it's pushing out from it's traditional heartland of management blades and shelf controllers in telecoms infrastructure equipment. CGL is now finding new uses in new markets (for example Aerospace and Medical equipment) as well as new uses in its traditional market of telecoms equipment (such as managed nodes rather than management blades).

So why all this interest in Carrier Grade Linux?

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