CP-TA and PICMG sign agreement to exchange information.

Press Release Summary:



Communications Platforms Trade Association and PICMG have completed a liaison agreement that promotes implementation of open specifications within telecom industry. CP-TA is focused on defining and managing interoperability testing based on PICMG's AdvancedTCA® specification. In addition to working together on joint Interoperability Plugfests and training sessions, groups are coordinating marketing activities through membership in Mountain View Alliance.



Original Press Release:



CP-TA And PICMG Sign Liaison Agreement To Drive Interoperability For Open Specification-Based Communications Platforms



BEAVERTON, OR - January 24, 2007 - The Communications Platforms Trade Association (CPTA) and PICMG today announced they have completed a liaison agreement that will allow the two organizations to exchange information. The goal of the liaison agreement is to promote the implementation of open specifications within the telecom industry. CP-TA, in its efforts to accelerate the adoption of open specification-based communications platforms, is currently focused on defining and managing interoperability testing based on PICMG's Advanced Telecom Computing
Architecture (AdvancedTCA®) specification. The groups will work together on joint Interoperability Plugfests, training sessions and more. They are already coordinating marketing activities through their membership in the Mountain View Alliance.

"By defining and managing interoperability testing for AdvancedTCA, CP-TA will enable a true commercial off-the-shelf marketplace, thereby making it easier for building block vendors to adopt the specification," said Joe Pavlat, PICMG president. "We look forward to cooperating with CP-TA to advance interoperability in the telecommunications space. PICMG will continue to manage and refine the AdvancedTCA specification and its derivatives."

PICMG formed the Requirements Engineering Subcommittee (RES) last year to make sure that PICMG documents are organized to be compatible with documents from CP-TA and the SCOPE Alliance.

"We will release our first Interoperability Compliance Document (ICD) for AdvancedTCA in February and welcome PICMG's input in the process," said Shlomo Pri-Tal, CP-TA Chairman. "The benefits of interoperability are tremendous. Companies that implement open specification-based interoperable building blocks will no longer have to develop proprietary solutions or devote resources to custom developments of interoperability test suites, allowing them to focus on their unique value-add, reduce their time-to-market and reduce lifecycle costs."

The ICD will address thermal, manageability and data transport interoperability for AdvancedTCA. In the near future, CP-TA will also address interoperability requirements for PICMG's MicroTCA and AMC specifications.

About CP-TA
The Communications Platforms Trade Association is a global organization of communications platform and building block providers whose mission is to accelerate the adoption of SIG-governed, open-specification-based communication platforms by certifying interoperable building blocks. For more information about CP-TA, visit www.cp-ta.org.

About PICMG
Founded in 1994, PICMG is a consortium of more than 400 companies that collaboratively develops open specifications for high performance telecommunications and industrial computing applications. PICMG specifications included AdvancedTCA, AdvancedMC and CompactPCI. The members of the consortium have a long history of developing and using leading edge products for these industries. For information about PICMG membership or to obtain PICMG specifications, visit the PICMG Web site at www.picmg.org.

Contact:
Rob Davidson
PICMG
805.542.0999
davidson@picmg.org

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