Spectra OE Operating Environment

Spectra 2 Operating Environment (Spectra OE) provides a high-performance, low-overhead, core framework and middleware implementation that runs on any mix of GPP, DSP, and FPGA processor technologies. Pre-integrated with a number of RTOSs, DSP BIOSs, and RTL processors, Spectra OE is the only Software Defined Radio (SDR) OE built, optimized, and supported by a single vendor.

Spectra OE is also optimized for performance across the complete run-time architecture (Core Framework, middleware, OS, and custom transport), a difficult, expensive and rarely achieved proposition for other Operating Environments with multiple vendors' components.

Spectra OE contains unique technology only available from PrismTech. A pioneer in embedded middleware, PrismTech has produced ultra-low footprint Standards-based middleware for both DSP and RTL processors to 'enable' these processing elements for SDR applications without those applications becoming highly hardware-specific. This breakthrough in hardware abstraction technology, to allow applications, middleware, and hardware to separately evolve, is a significant advancement for the whole wireless industry.

Spectra OE's vertically integrated design, Standards-compliance and hardware portability combine to disconnect the software and hardware lifecycles, thus enabling radio reconfiguration and code reuse. This in turn helps extend the life of software applications and reduce the number of hardware platforms a radio OEM needs to support. As a pre-integrated software platform, Spectra OE also greatly reduces the complexity of the run-time environment for the developer, providing a single API rather than multiple platform APIs and the associated compatibility, robustness, and evolution issues.

The Spectra 2 OE footprints for the various processor types are the smallest in the industry:
• < 1 MB memory for complete SCA-compliant OE on embedded GPP
• < 90KB of memory for software ORB on DSP
• < 3K logic cells/elements for hardware ORB on FPGA

The Spectra 2 OE offers a significant competitive advantage to radio vendors and system integrators as the only operating environment delivering the following features:
• Compliant with the leading standards and the most current versions (SCA, OMG SW Radio Specification)
• Commercially developed, maintained and supported (COTS)
• Architected to support all SDR processor technologies (GPP, DSP, FPGA)
• Scalable across a broad range of platform types and sizes
• Delivered pre-integrated with CORBA ORB and Services and for RTOS of Choice: LynxOS, VxWorks, Integrity, Linux variants
• Tested using JTeL Test Suite (JTAP)

Spectra 2’s high performance OEs ensures architectural consistency for SDRs and coupled with the complete and fully integrated Spectra Power Tools ensures code portability, re-use and extensibility as standards mature.


Spectra OE Advantages
• Standardize on OE that supports all your radio platforms, even small form factor radios
• Standardize on OE provider that supports multiple RTOS vendors and processor types: GPP, DSP, FPGA
• Standardize on OE that is backed by thought leaders and experts in SDR standards and communications middleware
• Reduce head count required to support current in house OE(s)
• Objectify OE choice for radio vendor partnering arrangements
• Reduce cost of ownership for OE support by freeing expensive internal resources
• Reduce time-to-market for new OE capability and platform support
• Increase ability to keep pace with and take advantage of evolving standards
• Deliver customers SCA waveform portability across processor types before the competition
• Access to most competitive OE offering in market from dedicated, motivated, and independent SDR software vendor
• Integrated SDR/SCA development tools: Spectra CX Toolkit