Military and Commercial SDR – Same Objectives, Different Priorities

1. Military and Commercial SDR – Same Objectives, Different Priorities Steve Jennis – Sr.VP, PrismTech OMG SBC Workshop Arlington, VA – Sept 15, 2004

2. Introducing PrismTech

3. Speaker: Steve Jennis Sr. VP, Corporate Development Speaker Profile • Personal Profile: • Steve joined start-up PrismTech in 1994 after 15 years of international experience in sales, product marketing and management at Texas Instruments Inc • PrismTech has since evolved from a contract R&D software house to become a world leader in the supply of distributed and wireless software infrastructure products to blue-chip clients in the telecommunications and defense sectors • Steve has masterminded PrismTech’s overall product strategy, marketing focus and revenue growth. He is a member of the PrismTech board. • Steve is a Physics graduate of Loughborough University in the UK

4. Market-led software products company Telecom, Defense & Financial “Fortune 500” client base Middleware for Distributed and Embedded Systems 50+ people operating in the US and the Europe PrismTech Snapshot • Aiming to achieve a leadership position in the emerging high-growth market for wireless infrastructure software for Software Defined Radio (SDR) applications, a segment of the overall SDR market, which is set to grow from $700M in 2002 to over $30 Billion in 2008. Source: Pioneer Consulting.

5. World-Class Customer Base Nokia

6. JTRS Cluster 5

7. Agenda • Military and Commercial SDR perceived benefits • Same objectives, different priorities • Why synergy matters • SCA can provide a common basis, but… • Middleware vendors must produce “optimized” implementations • Conclusions

8. Military and Commercial SDR - Perceived Benefits

9. Information Sources • JTRS Community • Hardware vendors • Wireless Infrastructure Vendors • Market Research Reports • Research Projects • Commercial Telecom Standardization Efforts • Customers

10. SDR Perceived Benefits – Feature Based • Re-configurability • Application enhancement • Enable network resource optimization • Evolve with new standards • Multifunctional devices • Multi-mode • Multi-band • Shorter time-to-market • Differentiated products • Backward compatibility

11. SDR Perceived Benefits – Cost Based • Lower hardware costs • Re-use of devices • Use of more “standard” hardware components • “Agile” wireless software infrastructure • Re-use of applications • Portable applications – write once, run anywhere • Adaptable applications (code reuse) • Improved developer productivity • Standard APIs, open architectures • 3rd party application “plugability” • Middleware utilities in COTS products

12. Same Objectives - Different Priorities

13. Military Priorities – All of the Above! • Feature-based • Re-configurability • Application enhancement • Enable network resource optimization • Evolve with new standards • Multifunctional devices • Multi-mode • Multi-band • Shorter time-to-market • Differentiated products • Backward compatibility • Cost-based • Lower hardware costs • Re-use of devices • Use of more “standard” hardware components • Adaptable wireless software infrastructure • Re-use of applications • Portable applications – write once, run anywhere • Adaptable applications (code reuse) • Improved developer productivity • Standard APIs, open architectures • 3rd party application “plugability” • Middleware utilities in COTS products

14. Commercial Priorities – 3G BS OEMs • Feature-based • Re-configurability • Application enhancement • Enable network resource optimization • Evolve with new standards • Multifunctional devices • Multi-mode • Multi-band • Shorter time-to-market • Differentiated products • Backward compatibility • Cost-based • Lower hardware costs • Re-use of devices • Use of more “standard” hardware components • Adaptable wireless software infrastructure • Re-use of applications • Portable applications – write once, run anywhere • Adaptable applications (code reuse) • Improved developer productivity • Standard APIs, open architectures • 3rd party application “plugability” • Middleware utilities in COTS products

15. Commercial Priorities – Drivers • Short-term commercial focus on market share and profitability • Stock price driven by revenue; less technology premium since 2000 • Hence focus on cost reduction with only “mandatory” new features for short-term revenue growth • Urgent need to reduce base station development effort and cost • Improved developer productivity • Standard waveform APIs, open architectures • 3rd party product integration • Middleware/platform utilities in COTS middleware • Use of “standard” components • GPPs, DSP, FPGAs versus fully custom and ASIC • Continuous need to be first to market with next-generation products to increase market share • Shorter time-to-market • Medium-term need to support more waveforms in same base station (without costs rocketing) • Multifunctional devices

16. Why Synergy Matters

17. Benefits of Commercial Take-Up to DoD • JTRS JPO has a long-held goal of fostering COTS middleware products supporting the SCA specification • Military SCA OE Implementations • To reduce implementation complexity and customization (e.g. in the integration of RTOS, middleware, core framework, tools, etc.) • To provide a choice of SCA COTS products for radio vendors • To allow radio vendors to focus on application “value-add”, not rebuilding infrastructure • Commercial Telecom SDR OE Products • To generate a commercial “critical-mass” for SCA-derived wireless infrastructure products – security of supply, lower costs • To feedback implementation experience and new technology from commercial software infrastructure into SCA products • To prevent the SCA being “marginalized” by alternative commercial approaches that are unsuitable for defense applications - and thus increase long term costs.

18. Benefits of SCA “Take-Up” to Telco Sector • Don’t reinvent the wheel – optimize it for your vehicle! • Waveform APIs (yes, even defined in CORBA IDL) can be directly re-used • Small form-factor Cluster 5 radios will “prove the SCA concept” for highly resource-constrained devices • Benefit from $Ms of military R&D invested in SCA middleware • Middleware scaleability is build-in – OMG beware… • International standardization effort underway via OMG SBC DTF • Credible middleware vendors already exist • Focus on added-value through new application features and lowering costs

19. Benefits of SCA “Take-Up” to Vendors • Broader market access leads to • High sales volumes for standardized products • Greater overall market share in SDR • Greater internal efficiencies – lower support costs • Cross-fertilize technical advances – feature enhancement • World-class technology • Serving customers better

20. SCA Can Provide a Common Basis, But…

21. SCA Origins and Objectives • US DoD awarded a contract to the Modular Software Radio Consortium (MSRC) in late 1998 to develop a wireless software infrastructure specification which would be publicly available, open, non-proprietary and specify common radio interface formats • Successful MSRC Consortium included BAE Systems, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins ITT and others • Objectives • To facilitate waveform reuse and portability • To enable radio flexibility • To pioneer a “Windows-style platform” for SDR applications • To provide functionality not yet addressed by the commercial telecommunications sector • To foster competitive, yet interchangeable implementations

22. SCA Specification Maturing

23. 1995 1986 1992 First SCA Based Radio 2001 SpeakEasy I 1995 1999 2002 1991 1989 Courtesy of 1991 SDR Origins & Evolution JTRS Cluster 5, AMF Cluster & futures

24. SCA Specification Maturing • Currently v3 • Elements of the SCA specification being formally “standardized” through the Object Management Group SBC Domain Task Force (OMG) • On-going refinement through the JTRS Joint Project Office (JPO) • Including extension to the radio’s signal processing sub-system (SPSS), i.e. firmware resident on (re)programmable processors such as DSPs and FPGAs • Practical implementation feedback • Testing and compliance facilities established for JTRS suppliers (JTel)

25. Middleware Vendors Must Produce Optimized “SCA” Implementations

26. SDR Operating Environment (OE)

27. Optimized Products • For JTRS • SCA specification “granularity” • Optimized ORBs (e.g. e*ORB SDR) • Optimized core framework • Optimized development tools • Optimized integrated SCA Operating Environment • For commercial telecom OEMs • OMG SBC specification “granularity” • Optimized basestation middleware • Optimized development tools

28. Conclusions • Huge market opportunity for “SCA-derived” middleware beyond military – will benefit all SDR professionals • DoD and Military contractors will benefit • Focus for commercial telecom will remain on cost saving through 3G roll-out • Onus on OMG to ensure “flexibility” of SCA/SBC specs • Onus is on middleware vendors to “package” SCA/SBC-complaint middleware for different markets • Military radio OEMs need to view SCA as a product, not a “project” infrastructure - to achieve critical mass and “prove” SCA for broader markets • Timing is right, basestation vendors are re-looking at architectures for 3.x G – handsets/terminal designers look to basestations for technology guidance (+2-5 yrs) • OMG SBC has the opportunity to be at the centre

29. About PrismTech • Visit our booth or with • “Sam” Aslam-Mir - CTO • Andy Foster – e*ORB product manager • Murray Conarty – Account executive • Visit PrismTech’s Website at: • www.prismtech.com