InfoWorld: Sun answers a phone call; Java framework to spur new wave of telecom convergence
June 8, 1998
By Laura Kujubu
Sun Microsystems will this week seek to bring the portability benefits
of its Java programming language to the telecommunications arena with a slew
of announcements at the SuperComm show, in Atlanta.
At the core of that effort is a Java Advanced Intelligent Networks (JAIN)
architecture, which is designed to let devices such as cellphones, Webphones,
and personal digital assistants harness the intelligence of the telephone
network. It has the potential to greatly simplify the development and
deployment of applications and services across WANs.
Initial reception to JAIN in the telecommunications industry appears to be
enthusiastic.
"Java is a powerful way to develop applications, and when you combine that
with intelligent network services, that's a powerful service creation
environment," said Fred Seigneur, chief technology officer at Convergent
Communications, a local exchange carrier in Englewood, Colo.
For corporations, JAIN means they will be able to write applications that,
for example, choose their own routing paths across the network. This, in
turn, will help define quality of service. They will also be able to more
easily set up a virtual private network or provide a unified messaging
service for both voice and electronic mail applications.
JAIN has already received support from large SS7 stack providers DGM&S
Telecom, ADC NewNet, and Ericsson Infotech.
"This is a programmable network vision," said Steve Northridge, vice
president of business development at DGM&S Telecom, in Mount Laurel, N.J.
"These services ... will eventually find their way to your desktop, cell
phone, personal digital assistant."
JAIN solutions will also benefit service providers and carriers by giving
them "service portability," in that JAIN will provide the flexibility needed
to mix and match Signaling System 7 (SS7)-based applications, and select new
services without incompatibility concerns with existing software and hardware
platforms.
Hilary Mine, an analyst at Probe Research, in Cedar Knolls, N.J., said Java's
"write once, run anywhere" capability helps reduce testing costs.
Currently, application developers "have to test stuff to death," Mine said.
"This is a more business-critical use of Java," said Ron Rappaport, an
analyst at Zona Research, in Redwood City, Calif. "This gives Java more
credibility -- it's not just vision anymore."
In addition to JAIN, Sun will announce at the show its Netra t 1120, a
dual-processor server for the central office, which the company said is the
ideal engine to deploy JAIN applications. Also on tap is Solaris for ISPs, a
platform designed to make it easier for enterprises to put together a large
intranet or for ISPs to develop extranets for their customers.
Netra t 1120 is available now, and pricing starts at $17,995. Solaris for
ISPs, available in July, will be priced starting at $5,995.
Sun said the JAIN initiative is complementary to last week's announcements of
a specification for an open network interface. (See "Plan to open up the
PSTN for app dev revealed," June 1, page 14.)
Sun Microsystems Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif., is at sun.com.
DATACOMS: SUN UNVEILS JAVA INTELLIGENT NETWORK TOOL FOR CARRIERS
Sun Microsystems Inc has brought out a tool called Java advanced intelligent network (JAIN) for developing intelligent network applications, such as call center applications, in the Java language. JAIN, which is aimed at large carriers, has been developed using SS7 stack technology from Ericsson Infotech AB, ADC NewNet and DGM&S. But Ericsson, the largest of the networking companies featured in the announcement, was fairly modest in its hopes for Java development by large carriers in the near term. Sun is also working with Northern Ireland-based services company Apion Ltd in an intelligent network application using JAIN. Ericsson says carriers are still moving away from the traditional programming language for intelligent networks, called SIB, to languages such as C++. It will be some time before Ericsson, which has developed just a few services in Java such as Freephone, will use Java fairly widely and even then it will remain just one of many languages, a manager from the company's intelligent network division said. However, Sun's manager of systems engineering on the telecoms side, Paul Tempest-Mitchell, said it was "unusual for someone like Ericsson," to says such things and he said carriers in the US are already using the language: "it is prime time," he said. Ericsson will not be involved in marketing JAIN and will continue to sell its own intelligent network development platform and services, Ericsson said. One of the most important things about Java in this arena, says Tempest-Mitchell is the standardization on one language, enabling service providers to select from a wider range of providers - if they all write their applications in Java, the theory goes. JAIN will be completely rolled out by the end of the summer, said Tempest-Mitchell. (c) ComputerWire Inc, 1998.
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