MontaVista Software has announced its new 5.0 release of MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition (CGE), the carrier grade Linux operating system preferred by 7 of the top 8 network equipment providers (NEPs). New MontaVista Linux CGE 5.0 provides telecom carriers with new scalability features to handle unexpected jumps in protocol traffic, new functions to increase reliability, new field-serviceability features, and new NSA-level security protection.

“Carrier grade” is a term for software and hardware products that support public telecommunications and data communications networks. Carrier grade products require extremely high degrees of reliability, scalability, and performance to provide an uninterrupted flow of the enormous volume of high-bandwidth data and voice needed for today’s multimedia communications. Leading network equipment providers such as Alcatel-Lucent, Iskratel, Motorola, NEC, and others have made MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition the most widely-deployed Linux in the carrier grade market.

CGE 5.0 includes features only available from MontaVista, especially new field-serviceability features that give field engineers the ability to fix and upgrade live systems while they are running with little or zero downtime. Unlike unproductized open source code, MontaVista Linux CGE is a field-proven production-quality operating system, has been integrated, tested, and debugged by MontaVista’s testing facilities, and is supported by MontaVista’s experienced support organization.

The heart of MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition 5.0 is an embedded Linux operating system designed for telecom and network equipment, including ATCA- and MicroTCA-based platforms, such as SGSNs, GGSNs, and softswitches. Because CGE 5.0 supports Linux standards, designers can add functionality by including off-the-shelf Linux utilities without worrying about function loss due to incompatibility. New CGE 5.0 also includes a rich development environment that enables engineers to more quickly design new equipment and applications. MontaVista Linux CGE provides reliability, scalability, and real-time performance proven in the field by major voice and data carriers such as NTT DoCoMo.

“These days, if a data communications network fails or suffers a security lapse, it interrupts businesses and people’s lives,” said Dan Cauchy, director of marketing for carrier and mobile products at MontaVista Software. “The carriers and NEPs who run their businesses on MontaVista Linux have worked closely with us to make certain that MontaVista Linux CGE 5.0 offers the highest levels of availability, field serviceability, and security of any carrier grade OS.”

MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition 5.0 will be available worldwide on December 17, 2007. Architectures supported will include Intel x86/x86_64 and PowerPC, with MIPS to follow in the first quarter of 2008. More details can be found here.