Service providers have been given the open-source tools to deploy and remotely manage downloaded applications and services for the first time on both prplOS and Reference Design Kit – Broadband (RDK-B), as a result of the prpl Foundation’s Life-Cycle Management (LCM) project.
Traditionally, service providers have been limited to deploying static monolithic firmware images, which are very difficult to upgrade in the field. Through prpl LCM, service providers are now able to quickly develop, deploy and remotely manage new apps and services while ensuring a good, stable customer experience. LCM enables service providers to remotely deploy and manage the life-cycle of individual applications and services. By decoupling apps from the rest of the stack, each app can run in isolation with individually tailored constraints to ensure the stability of core triple-play (TV, voice, and internet) services.
Developed as part of the prpl Foundation’s LCM project, the platform-independent software provides open-source portability and is equally suitable for both the RDK-B and prplOS communities. As a result, service providers are now free to leverage open industry standards to remotely upgrade their existing CPE with innovative, next generation applications and services, in a similar fashion to the established ‘App Store’ concept. These downloadable applications and services can be made portable between RDK-B and prplOS by using prpl’s sister project currently in development, known as the High-Level Application Programming Interface (API).
‘Prpl LCM is a game changer yet remains firmly based on open industry standards from the Broadband Forum’, said prpl Foundation President Dr. Leonard Dauphinee. ‘The software is publicly available with a highly permissive open-source license, enabling service providers to effectively deploy CPE with capability for next-gen innovative Apps & Services to be downloaded and remotely managed, even on their previously deployed CPE.’
Prpl LCM is the only platform-independent open-source software that implements the latest open industry standards such as Broadband Forum TR-157, TR-181 and TR-369 USP, as well as the Open Container Initiative (OCI). Compliance with these standards makes it easy to integrate LCM with other protocols such as WebPA and CWMP.
‘Vodafone looks to provide exciting new services for use in the home which are built on industry standards and initiatives’, said Vodafone Head of Home Technologies and Products, Oscar Gallego. “The prpl Foundation’s LCM plays a key role in unlocking new features and capabilities for next generation Home Gateways within an RDK-B framework. Vodafone is committed to continue contributing to the wider industry efforts to port prpl LCM to RDK-B.”
Such cloud-based management capabilities were previously a novel concept to both the RDK-B and prplOS communities. Prpl LCM was jointly developed by prpl’s active open-source community, combining resources from service providers, original equipment manufacturers, system integrators and chip vendors.
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