Just some quick news to share about Artesyn Communication Products which is partnering with MontaVista to offer Linux Carrier Grade Edition (CGE) for its telecom blades and modules. Embedded Linux is becoming more imporantant in the telecom sector and not just Asterisk enterprise solutions, but in the carrier sector as well.

Artesyn will offer bundled, certified MontaVista CGE solutions for its PICMG 2.16, AdvancedTCA, AdvancedMC, ProcessorPMC blades and modules, preinstalled in flash memory. Artesyn blades and modules equipped with MontaVista CGE provide a modular open architecture platform for building scaleable, high-availability network infrastructure equipment.

“Embedded Linux is emerging as a dominant platform for building high-availability network infrastructure products, and we are committed to offering our telecom equipment OEM customers the finest carrier grade Linux solutions,” said Todd Wynia, vice president of marketing at Artesyn. “Soon, Network Equipment Providers (NEPs) will be able to purchase MontaVista’s carrier grade Linux directly from Artesyn, certified by MontaVista, and pre-installed in flash on our telecom blades and modules.”

MontaVista Linux CGE is an open and flexible development platform designed specifically to address the unique and demanding requirements of carrier grade class applications, with a strong focus on open standards and high availability services. MontaVista CGE is the industry’s most field tested and proven Linux distribution. It is the only carrier grade Linux deployed by the world’s leading NEPs in carrier networks for over three generations of product, and it serves as the foundation for advanced telecom solutions currently in design. MontaVista CGE is also the only carrier grade Linux operating system that complies with both the Service Availability Forum (SA Forum) Application Interface Specifications for high availability services and the Open Source Development Lab’s (OSDL) requirements for Carrier Grade Linux 2.0.

“As the telecom industry responds to the extreme pressure to redesign their networks and introduce new advanced capabilities, NEPs are requiring a reliable, robust and flexible software platform to build out sophisticated designs while not putting their project schedules at risk,” said Peder Ulander, vice president of marketing at MontaVista. “Artesyn has been a pioneer in the development of open architecture telecom platforms and recognizes the need for the telecom industry to leverage cost-effective off-the-shelf (COTS) components with advanced Linux technologies. MontaVista atop Artesyn’s blades and modules gives our joint customers a tested, out of the box, best of breed foundation for building and deploying reliable, feature-rich, carrier-class solutions.”

MontaVista CGE is available immediately from MontaVista for Artesyn’s PICMG 2.16 Katana 750i, 752i, 3750 and 3752 blades, which feature PowerPC processing complexes, high-performance packet-switched backplane interfaces, PMC/PTMC mezzanine expansion, and integrated IPMI system management. MontaVista CGE is also available for Artesyn’s PowerQUICC-based Pm8560 protocol engine, an octal E1/T1 card optimized for SS7/SIGTRAN signaling. Artesyn will announce bundled, certified MontaVista CGE solutions for select PICMG 2.16, AdvancedTCA, AdvancedMC and ProcessorPMC blades and modules at a future date.

“We’re excited to see Artesyn and MontaVista join forces, and look forward to working with them on future PowerPC- and PowerQUICC processor-based high-availability Linux platforms,” said Jeff Timbs, a marketing director at Freescale Semiconductor's Networking and Computing Systems Group. “Artesyn blades running MontaVista CGE provide an excellent open architecture platform for developing and deploying telecom infrastructure applications targeting Freescale processors.”