Open Microkernel Technology, Key to Evolving Telecommunication Systems and Networks *

Today's telecommunications companies are facing a serious software crisis. They need to preserve and leverage their enormous software base on rapidly evolving hardware architectures, while extending it as quickly as possible. The computer industry faced a similar problem and solved it with UNIX. However, traditional UNIX by itself does not meet the requirements of most telecommunication applications. In particular, it lacks high performance real-time, transparent distribution for scaleability, and dynamic reconfiguration for high availability. Open microkernel operating systems are key to address telecommunications systems requirements because they contain a high performance, scaleable, distributed, real-time core which can support multiple operating system personalities including UNIX and existing legacy real-time operating systems, and they can scale transparently over a full range of hardware and software configurations. This paper introduces open microkernel technology, as represented by CHORUS, and shows how this technology answers telecommunication systems and distributed processing environments (DPE) requirements. It introduces the main features of a CHORUS-based DPE that does not suffer from the shortcomings of current distributed platform technology when used as a basis for information networks' DPE. A market perspective parallel the impact of open microkernels to the microprocessor revolution of the 80Os.