Press Releases

Enea Announces First Application-Ready Carrier Class Network Equipment Software Platform

Enea Accelerator Platform combines an integrated operating system, HA middleware, protocols, database management, and DSP management

NXTcomm. Las Vegas, NV. – June 16, 2008 – Enea® (Nordic Exchange/Small Cap/ENEA), a world leading provider of network software and services, today announced version 2.0 of the Enea® Accelerator Platform, the industry's most comprehensive software platform for delivering high-quality, always-on IP-based services like broadband access, VoIP, IPTV, gaming, and streaming video. This carrier class platform, available out-of-the-box for Kontron ATCA systems, is the first application-ready platform to integrate a carrier class Linux operating system with best-in-class middleware, network protocols, embedded management, database software and DSP management.  

Version 2.0 of the Accelerator Platform contains a number of key new features aimed at increasing service availability, simplifying system integration, and enhancing quality of experience. Chief among these is support for fine-grain in-service software upgrades, which extends existing support for cluster-wide, mixed-application version management to individual components or nodes. This capability enables individual software components to be selectively loaded and restarted in a coordinated fashion on a system-wide basis, thereby increasing service availability and simplifying both upgrades and system maintenance. Other key new features include: 

  • Support for the SA Forum Availability Management Framework, including new redundancy models, fail-over modes and health monitoring capabilities.
  • DSP management support for data plane blades equipped with high-density DSP farms.
  • HPI shelf management interface software.
  • Support for ConfD, the leading XML-based software solution for on-device network management.
  • Support for ATCA/AMC-based DSP and PowerPC hardware from Embedded Planet and Mercury Computer.

"No other reference platform covers as much of the well known SCOPE carrier grade platform," said Terry Pearson, vice president of marketing at Enea. "The Accelerator Platform gives NEPs everything they need to quickly and affordably develop value-added applications and services for a broad range of network equipment, from media gateways, basestation controllers, and session border controllers, to optical trunking systems." 

"Carrier grade reliability is critical for 4DK as we create a new wireless user experience that focuses on interoperability and exploits the full potential of next-generation, all-IP technologies," said Tamara Casey, 4DK CEO and co-founder. "Enea's Accelerator provides a carrier grade, application ready platform for our SuperConnectivity platform SCout, which enables us to focus on helping operators and developers deliver innovative new services. The Enea platform has shortened our critical development time by at least six months." 

The Accelerator Platform is a carrier class software platform for quickly building highly differentiated network equipment that delivers high-quality multimedia services over IP networks with 100% service availability. Featuring best-in-class networking, supervision, fault management, device management, and database management, this flexible, reusable platform enables equipment makers to build scalable, upgradeable, "five nines" equipment that greatly reduces CAPEX and OPEX for service providers.  

The Accelerator Platform integrates: high availability middleware (Enea® Element); DSP management software (Enea® dSPEED Platform and Enea OSE® ck); LINX inter-process communications (IPC) services (Enea® LINX); a high-performance database management system (Polyhedra®) as well as a carrier grade Linux real-time operating system (Wind River or MontaVista); high-availability networking and security protocols; NETCONF on-device management software (ConfD from Tail-f Systems); HPI interface software from PigeonPoint; Linux development tools (MontaVista DevRocket or Wind River Workbench); and world class adaptation, training and high-availability design services. 

The foundation for the Accelerator Platform is Element, a high-availability middleware platform that provides core services for instrumenting, monitoring, and synchronizing applications spread across multiple processors. It also provides network supervision, fault management, redundancy management, software management and shelf management services. These services make it possible to monitor, repair, and upgrade live systems as they operate in the field. 

The Enea dSPEED Platform, utilizing Enea's DSP-optimized Enea OSE ck real-time operating system, extends Enea Element's control plane management facilities to the user (data) plane, providing fine-grain debug, management, and control capabilities for data plane blades equipped with high-density DSP farms. The Enea dSPEED Platform's detection, DSP core isolation, recovery, coordinated restart, and notification features enable DSP failures to be contained and repaired, thereby reducing packet loss, network degradation and down time. 

A reference implementation of the Accelerator Platform is available for Kontron ATCA systems, which are equipped with a digital signal processing subsystem (for the dSPEED Platform) utilizing ATCA/AMC-based PowerPC and DSP cards from Embedded Planet and Mercury Computer Systems. The Accelerator Platform is also available with extensive demos showing all aspects of the integration, including Element, dSPEED, Polyhedra, and ConfD.