Telco Systems Strikes ARM Deal for uCPE

Telco Systems is hoping to bring a new dimension to the virtual CPE market, through a joint development agreement with ARM which will develop uCPE boxes based on ARM's RISC-based processors and Telco Systems' NFVTime operating system.

The five-year deal will engage both companies in developing uCPE and edge computing devices based on ARM Ltd. 's semiconductors and Telco Systems (BATM) ' NFVTime operating system. Initially, the focus will be on two existing system-on-a-chip vendors, NXP Semiconductors N.V. (Nasdaq: NXPI) and Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (Nasdaq: MRVL), but the partners will also build a larger ecosystem both of SoC vendors, including Cavium Inc. (Nasdaq: CAVM) and virtual network function (VNF) makers. The idea, says Telco Systems' CEO Ariel Efrati, is to enable VNF developers to be able to create their software once for certification on NFVTime, and enable that VNF to run on either an ARM or x86-based white box.

"We have an agreement to create generally available software that can operate in both of those environments that basically adds more NFV functions or VNFs to this," he says in an interview. "The initial development [will be in] around 12 to months and will include onboarding VNFs in three specific categories -- router, SD-WAN and firewall and introducing additional SoC vendors, between two and three into this market."

Telco Systems will lead the development effort while ARM contributes technical expertise and is investing in the effort.

— Carol Wilson, Editor-at-Large, Light Reading

This is an edited version of a story that was originally published on Telco Transformation's sister site, Light Reading. To see the full story, click here.