Object-oriented platform design for an ATM switching system

We present an object-oriented programming platform applicable to any real-time distributed telecommunication system. The proposed platform is constructed upon the extended version of the real-time, distributed operating system, SROS (Scalable Real-time Operating System), that is developed at ETRI and successfully operating in the ATM switching system for several years. The object-oriented software development and maintenance methodology will resolve the current software crisis in the area of telecommunication and switching systems due to the everlasting maintenance of the huge amount of the existing software and the ever increasing needs for the better and new communication services. In general, an object-oriented software platform realizes the object-oriented methodology and possesses many good aspects like high productivity, better reusability, easy maintenance, et al., but in the expense of the operation overhead that would decrease the system performance significantly. To counteract this problem, in the design of each integral part of the platform, we considered the real-time property as the most important design criterion. The platform is also designed to present a distributed multimedia service in addition to real-time event delivery. We have been implementing a couple of prototypes based on the proposed platform. Reflecting the evaluation result on these prototypes, the final platform specification is determined.