NextHop, Enea provide embedded platform for routing, switching platforms

NextHop Technologies Inc. and Enea Embedded Technology recently agreed to jointly provide seamless integration between NextHop's GateD routing software and the OSE real-time kernel.

By Control Engineering Staff August 5, 2004

NextHop Technologies Inc . and Enea Embedded Technology recently agreed to jointly provide seamless integration between NextHop’s GateD routing software and the OSE real-time kernel. This combination will give network equipment, security appliance, and original design manufacturers (ODM) the ability to bring cost-effective, reliable core, edge, enterprise, and SOHO (small and home office) devices to market faster while supporting advanced routing, MPLS, and IPv4/IPv6 functionality.

GateD routing and MPLS software is reportedly a complete control plane solution with required protocols packaged for inclusion in a variety of networking devices. Available GateD protocols include RIP, OSPF, BGP, IS-IS, DVMRP, IGMP, PIM-SM, PIM-SSM, PIM-DM, MSDP, MP-BGP for IPv6, IS-IS for IPv6, OSPFv3, MPLS, Virtual Routing Environment (VRE), and VPN (layer 3 MPLS-BGP RFC 2547 virtual private networking) support. Equipment manufacturers can pick and choose from these components, or license a variety of packages targeted at specific applications.

Built for the communications market and based on an easy-to-program software architecture, the partners’ OSE RTOS reduces development efforts for complex systems. It also helps to extend product lifecycles and flexibility by enabling products that can easily be maintained and updated throughout their lifetime and without being taken out of service. In the development of communication infrastructure, OSE’s software concepts provide features, such as built-in high-availability, that ensure reliable “five-nines” availability, which means less than one second of downtime per day.

“We are extremely pleased to be working with Enea to offer customers this reliable, cost effective solution. NextHop continues to look for ways to best help customers meet the critical routing requirements of next-generation networks and we see this as a strong fit for a variety of market segments,” says Dennis Tsu, NextHop’s marketing VP.

Anders Flodin, Enea’s strategic alliances director, “Integrating Enea’s OSE RTOS with NextHop’s proven and reliable GateD 10.2 routing software offers network equipment manufacturers a complete off-the-shelf networking software solution.” Network equipment manufacturers reduce project risk, software integration and testing effort, while increasing the focus on product differentiation and improving time to market.

—James Montague, news editor, Control Engineering, jmontague@reedbusiness.com