prpl Foundation launches prplWRT, adding support for features required by service providers
prpl Foundation announced the release 1.0 of its prplWRT software stack. prplWRT builds on the long standing OpenWrt stack, adding support for features required by service providers while leveraging open standards to unify low-level APIs.
Focused on the requirements of carriers, prplWRT adds support for additional hardware, services, and management features common in the carrier’s infrastructure.
“We are very pleased to see our prplWRT project reach this important milestone as it progresses toward deployment,” said Robert Ferreira, President of the prpl Foundation. “The ecosystem needs such a platform-independent stack to converge and standardize software deployments on multiple CPE architectures.”
By providing a common multi-platform stack, service providers can leverage the combined development efforts of manufacturers and their OEMs towards a stable, well-tested and regularly updated software platform.
Combined efforts toward a common platform avoids redundant integration and verification efforts by each. The continuous addition of carrier-grade features emphasizes the long-term commitment of prpl and its members. It also paves the way for smaller industry players to deploy carrier-grade solutions.
This release of prplWRT builds upon the latest developments from OpenWrt and Linux ecosystems, as well as major device makers. prplWRT also supports standardized OCI-compliant runtime containers to help promote open industry standards.
This benefits ecosystem partners, allowing them to easily incorporate their micro-services into an open CPE architecture and accelerate the service velocity required by service providers.
prpl starts from existing community projects and continuously adds on carrier-grade security, software hardening, QA, testing and features like DSL support, remote management clients (e.g., TR-069 or USP), etc. Future releases of prplWRT aim at enhancing gateway and router OEMs with a plug and play stack to support PON, Device Management and IoT.
prplWRT enables a smooth transition from highly fragmented vendor-specific stacks, to a common baseline with open APIs and frameworks. This allows for high customization and differentiation without sacrificing security or updatability.
Several leading service providers, OEMs and technology vendors contribute to prplWRT including ADTRAN, CommScope, Intel, Iopsys, KAON, MediaTek, SoftAtHome, Verizon, and Vodafone. All project-related documentation and code can be accessed via the prpl git repository.
“We learned a lot from previous community projects which have been building modular frameworks for decades. By designing and developing along clear APIs with high coding standards, we make our software more portable and easier to maintain.
“Additionally, by agreeing upon an open source baseline across companies, and only working in patches on top of this baseline, all our software becomes more versatile and integration with other companies’ products becomes a straightforward process.” – David La Cagnina, Senior Product Line Manager, ADTRAN
“We see the first prplWRT release as an important milestone in the evolution towards open standards and APIs in the Gateway industry. At Iopsys, we remain committed to the OpenWrt community and the prpl Foundation.
“We believe that the projects supported by prpl are important to enable service providers to deploy new innovative services to broadband consumers around the world.” – Joakim Bennerholt, CEO, Iopsys Software Solutions AB