I was recently thinking about the financial challenges currently facing world wide markets, with their impact on the telecom industry, and how they impact companies trying to develop higher performance products, with fewer development dollars. What could the CP-TA message provide as a benefit? Well, a whole lot of benefit, in my opinion. 

As CP-TA strives to ensure interoperability across the ATCA form factor and its many ecosystem partners by delivering certification tools and methods, it reduces project development costs considerably. Speaking with engineers using these tools and methods, their resounding input remains positive in two areas.  First, CP-TA tools and methods create a common language across the industry that insures collaboration partners are all comparing the same results with the same language. It sounds a bit ambiguous, but when you think about it, this reduces the amount of time it takes to reach agreement.  For example, a chassis vendor states their chassis is B4 compliant, then I know which blades with certain thermal and power conditions will work in this chassis.  Testing can be minimized and costs cut even if you still check the validity of such claims. If we did not have a common language, we would communicate back and forth on what exactly was meant by XYZ thermal considerations and redundant tests would have to be run to ensure product compatibility.

Second, and a more powerful response from the engineers I spoke with, was the use of generally accepted testing guidelines proposed by the CP-TA technical groups for manageability interoperability and thermals.  Why would anyone write their own testing guidelines or specs in this area, when they can turn to a standard that ensures conformity to market-accepted standards? It adds time and engineering expense to re-invent the wheel.  For example, projects that adhere to the accepted guidelines and tests offered by Polaris Networks ATCA test tool, can speed up their development and interoperability across the various offerings in the market around the module management controllers (MMC).  These are fundamental building blocks for ATCA and re-engineering them over and over is inefficient and therefore costly in a world that does not reward budget over-spends.

I encourage you to check out these tools and see how they can increase your company’s development efficiency at the upcoming PICMG/CP-TA TCA-Interoperability Workshop 19 slated for March 16-19 at the Sheraton Gateway San Francisco Airport. I remain bullish on the benefits that CP-TA interoperability approved tools offer to the ATCA community. I look forward to hearing from those engineers using the tools and how they have benefited their own developments.