Motorola, IBM collaborate on Open Systems for telecoms

Chicago – IBM will offer Motorola NetPlane Core Services software as a key middleware component of the IBM eServer Integrated Platform for Telecommunications.

NetPlane Core Services is Motorola’s platform-independent implementation of the Service Availability Forum (SA Forum) Application Interface Specification (AIS) and Hardware Platform Interface (HPI). This open, high availability middleware was first introduced with Motorola’s Avantellis 3000 Series of AdvancedTCA-based communications servers.

The availability of NetPlane Core Services software on both the IBM eServer BladeCenter family and the Motorola Avantellis Series provides equipment manufacturers a highly flexible, cost-effective, common software environment “from enterprise to network edge.”

“This collaboration reflects the move to a commercial off-the-shelf-based (COTS) computing infrastructure to support the convergence of enterprise and communications computing applications in the telecom industry,” said Wendy Vittori, corporate vice president and general manager, Embedded Communications Computing, Motorola.

“Both IBM and Motorola are committed to open industry standards like SA Forum and OCAF for telecommunications equipment manufacturers and next generation networks,” said Jim Pertzborn, vice president of the Telecommunications Industry, IBM Systems & Technology Group. “The combined strengths of BladeCenter and middleware solutions like Motorola’s NetPlane Core Services will help accelerate the adoption of open computing platform standards for commercial off-the-shelf technology for telco applications and systems.”