Media Processing

SURF Communication Solutions announced the launch of its line of Triple Play media processing products earlier this March. These products enable developers of Voice and Video infrastructure gateways, CTI applications, PackettoPacket applications, and a multitude of other Voice, Video, and Data applications, to provide Triple Play functionality using a single Texas Instruments TMS320C6412digital signal processor (DSP).

This new technology will revolutionize the way telecommunications infrastructure systems are designed. Currently, there are different systems or subsystems for each media type. Video systems are comprised of various subsystems, each handling a different media type. For example: Voice is handled on a TMS320C5x DSP and Video on a TMS320C64x DSP, others use hostbased processing for one of the media types. This separation of systems results in a variety of drawbacks: systems which are not costeffective, not scaleable, not balanced, and not synchronized.

In Surfs new Triple Play media processing products, all three media types can be processed simultaneously on a single DSP, using a single system. This revolutionary approach allows dynamic configuration of the ratio of Voice and Video channels running on each DSP in the system. The result is a costeffective and scaleable system allowing stepbystep migration from Voice only, to Voice intensive (with just a few Video calls), to a full Voice and Video system. This approach allows customers to leverage their investment in both the intellectual property developed and hardware purchased, since the same system will be used with a different number of Voice and Video channels, based on system requirements.

Surfs Triple Play enabling technology allows operators to shorten the Triple Play deployment cycle and increase ARPU by bridging their Voice, Video and Data networks, claims Eyal Zagagi, CEO of Surf Communication Solutions. It lowers the migration costs for equipment vendors, allowing them to integrate Triple Play solutions into their existing products today, providing them with a more efficient, integrated, Voice and Video media processing platform.

The new Surf Triple Play media processing products, which utilize the Texas Instruments stateoftheart TMS320C6412 DSP, provide costeffective high port density and flexible Voice/Video port assignment. As an integral component of the strategy, Surfs patentpending Open Framework design facilitates integration of thirdparty host applications and shortens timetomarket. It comes complete with builtin diagnostics API.

Surf has designed a system which takes full advantage of the performance available on the C6412 DSP, which has been optimized to reduce overall system costs and device board space in telecom infrastructure applications, said Ram Sathappan, DSP Solutions marketing manager, TI. By leveraging the capabilities of DSPs, Surf is able to offer customers a robust, programmable solution to drive the rapid adoption of Triple Play communications.

Applications for Triple Play Technology

Triple Play technology can be used in a variety of products, including Voice and Video gateway applications connecting mobile, broadband IP, wireless, and PSTN networks; CTI Applications, such as Voice, Video, and Fax mail, Interactive Voice/Video Response (IVR) servers, announcement servers, unified messaging servers, and call recording servers for Voice, Video, and Fax; InterWorking Function (IWF); and StandAlone Termination Applications, such as RAS, Conferencing Servers, Voice quality monitoring, and nonintrusive interception and security applications.

More About Surf's Triple Play Media Processing Technology

The SurfUP Triple Play Media Processing Framework comprises a media processing solution offering simultaneous support for Triple Play convergenceVoice, Video, and Data (Fax/Modem)all running simultaneously on a single DSP. Featuring the SurfUP patentpending open DSP framework, it enables customers to integrate userdefined algorithms into the DSP, based on simple and intuitive APIs that interface with Surfs DSP software. Utilizing Surf's robust and fieldhardened enabling technologies, customers can migrate their Voice systems to Triple Play today.

Separating Media and Control Paths

Traditionally, a multiDSP system contains a set of DSPs connected on one side to the TDM via an H.100 interface, and on the other side via a Host Port Interface (HPI) to a host processor. In this configuration, the host processor has two roles: 1) to aggregate DSP traffic; and 2) to run the control application. The aggregation task involves performing memory read/write operations to the multiple DSPs, encapsulating the traffic, and sending it to the network interface. The control application consists mainly of controlling each one of the individual tasks performed on each DSP, and implementing the signaling stacks. The high level operating system is not ideal for realtime handling of media packets, which need to be transferred from the HPI to the IP interfaces (and visa versa) in a restricted system with severe time constraints.

An alternative approach is based on the principles of a complete separation between the media and control paths, enabling allocation of the appropriate resources for the implementation of these two very different tasks. The Surf solution utilizes the DSPs direct TDM and IP interfaces. As a result, media is received and sent directly, without the need to be routed through the host processor.

Open Framework

Surfs Open Framework technology enables users to easily incorporate userdefined algorithms into the DSP framework without the need to recompile the DSP software components, drivers, or APIs. The procedure for adding such algorithms to the DSP framework is:

• Compile the new algorithm
• Link it to the existing code base to create a new executable
• Modify the host application to enable use of the new algorithm
• Execute the updated host application and DSP load
• Optimized for Carrier and CTI Applications

Many DSP software frameworks are optimized for a specific application. This is due to the architecture of the software, the DSP characteristics, and lack of external memory. The Surf solution is based on TIs C64x DSP generation and takes advantages of its prominent features, such as direct Ethernet interface and external memory of 32/64 MB. Using a DSP with several megabytes of external SDRAM enables the equipment manufacturer to easily add features without worrying about code and data size. It also allows large amounts of data, which were previously stored on the host system controller, to be stored on the DSP. This method relieves the host processor from performing rapid data transfers, which reduces overall system cost.

Having external memory in a DSPbased media processing device doesnt automatically imply that it will be used in the most effective manner. In order to make the best use of external memory, the system architect must ensure that the following applies to the system:

• External memory size and width comply with current application needs and leave enough room for future expansion.
• Access to external memory data is performed through a predictive caching mechanism. Accessing the external memory using a caching mechanism can reduce the memory access duration by up to five times.
• A mechanism for offline data transfer from the host to the DSPs external memory should be established. This mechanism will simplify the hostDSP interface, and enable the host to view the DSP memory as an expansion to its own memory.
• Access to external memory should be mainly through DMA operations that work in the background, transferring blocks of data from external to internal memory and visa versa.

Remote Diagnostics

In many systems, the diagnostics are not part of the release version. As a result, when a problem occurs in the field it is necessary to disengage the system and activate a debug version. This is due to software design considerations and lack of sufficient memory to support the larger version with diagnostics. In contrast, the Surf solution includes the diagnostics in the release version and allows the diagnostics to be engaged on per DSP/call/channel/media type basis.

Cross Platform