PORTLAND – A large number of the telecom industry’s suppliers, including such names as Nortel and Motorola are behind the Communications Platforms Trade Association (CP-TA)
The organization, announced last month, "is an association of communications platform and building block providers dedicated to accelerating the adoption of SIG-governed, open specification-based communications platforms through interoperability testing and certification," says the press release.
With industry collaboration, the CP-TA plans to drive a mainstream market for open industry standard communications platforms by certifying interoperable products, which sounds like what CableLabs has done for years in the cable industry.
"The CP-TA brings together industry leaders who are collaborating to establish a true standards-based ecosystem that delivers interoperable products from multiple vendors," said Shlomo Pri-Tal, CP-TA chairman. "CP-TA will focus on certification, the essential ‘third element’ required to realize the full benefits of an open, standards-based communications platform. We are working closely with PICMG, the Service Availability Forum and the SCOPE Alliance, complementing their processes to realize this interoperability vision."
Currently, the communications platforms industry has developed a rich set of open specifications in order to build modular communications platforms. However, the number of optional requirements and inconsistent interpretations of mandatory requirements have prevented the industry from moving to the next level of interoperability, says the CP-TA.
The new group "intends to drive the creation of the mainstream market for open industry standard communications platforms by certifying hardware and software building block compliance to interoperability test requirements. CP-TA will develop interoperability test requirements coupled with detailed test procedures, and supported by industry-harmonized automated test suites and benchmarks," it says.
CP-TA-certified building blocks and base platforms consistent with SCOPE profiles will help network equipment providers simplify the selection process, increase supply chain flexibility, increase predictability of successful integration and reduce lifecycle management costs. Service providers will be able to increase the flexibility and scalability of their network as well as realize faster time to market with new, innovative services.
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