Tuesday February 13, 2007

The Sun Open Telecommunications Platform (Sun OTP) is the result of a collaborative effort from Sun and members of the Telecommunications Platform Initiative (TPI) that have come together to develop the requirements for a standardized, integrated telecommunications platform to simplify technology integration by enabling design, development and supply chain efficiencies.

Recognizing that technology integration is a common challenge for all Network Equipment Providers (NEPs), the TPI aims to create and foster telecommunications industry collaboration and establish best in class architecture and definition of an integrated platform.

By coming together to define industry platform requirements, NEPs can focus their resources on their core business and not on the underlying base platform. Although important, the base platform is not a primary point of differentiation for NEPs. Instead, the value is in the applications that NEPs build on top of Sun OTP.

As a result of this collaboration, Sun developed Sun OTP as a uniform foundation to help simplify technology integration by enabling design, development, and supply chain efficiencies. Requirements for Sun OTP are therefore, 100% TPI driven.

What is Sun OTP
Sun OTP is a Carrier Grade solution for NEP application development, deployment and hosting that leverages commercial off-the-shelf components.

Sun OTP delivers a fully integrated software stack with full software support and end-to-end Life-Cycle Management services for the life of the solution, as a single product offering. Sun OTP enables NEPs to re-invest their valuable R&D resources in the development of value-added applications and services that matter most to them.

The diagram above shows a graphical representation of the Sun OTP high level conceptual architecture. The basic building blocks of Sun OTP are shown in dark blue while the top portion called "OEM Value Added Services" represents the NEP value added applications.

Sun OTP building blocks include the HA middleware and the application and platform management software, operating in a Solaris 10 environment and pre-tested and qualified on a specific set of hardware.

Optional Application Middleware services will also be available, referred to as expansion packs, that may include application services, SAF, or realtime application services.

Life-Cycle Management

Life-Cycle Management (LCM) provides the methodology for end-to-end management of the service life-cycle, from initial design support to service retirement. LCM ensures continued reliability throughout the entire life of the services in a manner that is relevant to NEPs.

LCM includes service design support, sustaining activities, an extended cycle for bug-fixes, committed release schedules, platform-wide patch releases, and a single point of contact for issue resolution.

In addition, LCM provides a significant opportunity for NEPs to reduce their Total Cost of Ownership due to economies of scale and amortization of LCM costs over higher volumes.