Development of Open Carrier Grade-Based Platforms By Jeevithan Muttulingam A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Science in Technology Innovation Management Department of Systems and Computer Engineering Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6 December 2008 © Copyright 2008 Jeevithan Muttulingam Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47519-5 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47519-5 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada The undersigned hereby recommend to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research acceptance of the thesis Development of Open Carrier Grade-Based Platforms Submitted by Jeevithan Muttulingam In partial fulfillment to the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Science in Technology Innovation Management Victor C. Aitken, Department Chair Department of Systems and Computer Engineering AJ. Bailetti, Thesis Supervisor Carleton University December 2008 11 ABSTRACT The development of open Carrier Grade-Based Platforms (CGBPs) is an emerging phenomenon where the specification for the platform is defined by a consortium of Network Equipment Providers (NEPs), and third party telecommunications components suppliers, and the platform is developed internally by NEPs. Since the specification for the entire platform is open, it fosters an environment for platform development integrating off the shelf component and free open source software building blocks. This research uses three perspectives to examine the development of open CGBPs: ecosystems (Moore, 2005), platform development (Krishnan & Gupta, 2001) and technological infrastructure (Weiss & Birnbaum, 1989). The research provides a model that captures company motivation for participating in the development of open CGBPs, company behaviour, engagement dynamics, and outcomes from participation and propositions anchored around the model. in ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The dedicated guidance of my supervisor Professor Tony Bailetti, who has shown a great interest in the success of my graduate studies, has made this thesis a success. It was indeed my honour to have him as my supervisor. It is important for me to acknowledge the moral support and motivation my family has provided. From childhood, my parents have persuaded me to aim for higher goals in life. I'm grateful for their unconditional love and continuous encouragement. I'm also thankful to my friends who have always stood by me in good and bad times and for all their support. Further, my manager at Ross Video Ltd, Allan Pepper, has made this process easier by granting me the flexibility at work to complete my graduate studies. Hence, my sincere thanks to Allan. I also gratefully acknowledge all the executives and development managers who participated and provided valuable input to this research. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF EQUATIONS x LIST OF EQUATIONS x LIST OF ACRONYMS xi 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Deliverables 4 1.2 Relevance 4 1.3 Contribution 5 1.4 Organization 5 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 7 2.1 COTS/FOSS integration 7 2.1.1 Development and integration of COTS 9 2.1.2 Development and integration of FOSS 11 2.2 Benefits and risks of COTS/FOSS integration 12 2.2.1 Benefits 13 2.2.2 Risks 13 2.2.3 Approaches taken to mitigate risks 15 2.3 Platforms and platform-based product development 17 2.3.1 Platform-as-a-technological-infrastructure framework 17 2.3.2 Types of platforms 19 2.3.3 Benefits and risks in platform based product development 23 2.3.4 Platform's effect on product positioning 25 2.3.5 Platforms and COTS/FOSS integration 26 2.4 Literature review on business ecosystems 27 2.4.1 Modular architecture 30 2.4.2 Business ecosystems and anti-trust laws 31 2.5 Literature review on standards 32 v 2.5.1 Standards defined 32 2.6 Open standards in the telecommunications industry 34 2.6.1 PICMG and AdvancedTCA specification 34 2.6.2 SCOPE Alliance 35 2.6.3 OSDL and Carrier Grade Linux specification 36 2.6.4 SA Forum - Middleware standards 37 2.6.5 Mountain View Alliance 37 2.6.6 CP-TA 37 2.7 Lessons learned from literature review 39 3 RESEARCH METHOD 42 3.1 Research steps 42 3.2 Examined relevant literatures 42 3.3 Identified the SCOPE Alliance and open CGBP projects 43 3.4 Developed an initial model 46 3.5 Interview with a VSE architect 46 3.6 Developed a questionnaire and obtained feedback 47 3.7 Incorporated feedback and redistributed the questionnaire 47 3.8 Final model and outcomes were derived 47 3.9 Made observations and recommendations 48 4 RESULTS 49 4.1 Evolution of the model and propositions 49 4.1.1 Initial model and propositions 49 4.1.2 Model refined after the interview with a VSE architect 51 4.2 Final model and propositions 53 4.2.1 Propositions 55 4.3 Categorization of propositions 63 4.4 Issues identified with development of open CGBPs 64 4.5 Results on the next stage of open CGBPs 64 5 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 66 5.1 Ecosystem perspective 66 5.2 Product development perspective 69 5.3 Technological infrastructure perspective 71 5.4 Impact on product positioning and platform functionalities 72 5.5 Impact on opportunities for radical innovations 73 5.5.1 Effect of institutionalization on internal platforms 73 5.5.2 Effect of institutionalization on Internet based external platforms 74 5.5.3 Effect of institutionalization on open CGBPs 76 5.6 How to grow the ecosystem anchored around an open CGBP 76 6 CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS, AND FUTURE RESEARCH 78 6.1 Conclusions 78 6.2 Limitations 79 6.3 Opportunities for future research 79 VI 7 REFERENCE 80 APPENDICES 89 Appendix A: Summary of interview carried out with a VSE project architect 89 Appendix B: Sample questionnaire sent out to the participants 90 vn LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Developing proprietary platforms vs. developing open CGBPs 2 Figure 2: Development of an open CGBP 3 Figure 3: Individual-centric COTS/FOSS integration 8 Figure 4: Platform as a technological infrastructure 18 Figure 5: Open CGBP specification and implementation 22 Figure 6: Development difficulties when utilizing COTS/FOSS building blocks 27 Figure 7: Business ecosystem structure 29 Figure 8: Collaboration among standards groups (Figure source: Haddad, 2006) 38 Figure 9: Initial model constructed 50 Figure 10: First iteration of model refinement 52 Figure 11: Use of open CGBP and its impact 53 Figure 12: Various levels of company participation in an open CGBP ecosystem 59 Figure 13: Next stage of open CGBP development 65 Figure 14: Ecosystem anchored around an open CGBP 68 Figure 15: institutionalization effect in internal platform development 74 Figure 16: Institutionalization effect in Internet based external platform development... 75 viu LIST OF TABLES Table 1: COTS/FOSS integration risks and approaches taken to address risks 15 Table 2: Types of platforms 20 Table 3: Comparison of platforms 23 Table 4: Choices for platform based product development (Krishnan & Gupta, 2001)... 25 Table 5: Impact of open CGBP identified in the initial model 50 Table 6: Propositions from initial model 51 Table 7: Updated propositions after the first iteration 52 Table 8: Categorization of propositions 63 Table 9: Issues faced in developing open CGBP 64 Table 10: Roles undertaken by comapneis in the ecosystem 69 Table 11: Krishnan and Gupta's framework for platform based product development... 70 IX LIST OF EQUATIONS Equation 1: Components contributing to a product 72 x LIST OF ACRONYMS AdvancedTCA - Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture AIS - Application Interface Specification API - Application Programming Interface BSD - Berkeley Software Distribution CGBP - Carrier Grade Base Platform CGL