IWCE: M/A-COM debuts software-update solution

Feb 29, 2008 11:49 AM, By Donny Jackson

LAS VEGAS--Tyco Electronics’ M/A-COM this week at the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) introduced the SUMSplus automation server, which is designed to simplify third-party software maintenance in many of the company’s LMR networks.

SUMSplus is an enhancement of M/A-COM’s Security Update Management Service (SUMS), said Julia Morgan, network security product manager for Tyco Electronics. By using the SUMSplus automation server typically located in the network switching center (NSC), network managers can make software updates available throughout the network from an central location, she said.

“If you’re just using SUMS, you have to do it manually—you put the CD in the machine and you install them,” Morgan said during an interview with MRT. “If you have a simple network with five machines, it’s easy. If you have a complex network with 1000 machines, that’s not so simple. With SUMSplus, you don’t have to go around from machine to machine.”

Operating on a Windows 2003 platform, SUMSplus The SUMSplus Automation Server operates on a Windows 2003 server platform and supports third-party patch updates, policy settings updates and antivirus signature updates. The solution works on M/A-COM’s OpenSky, EDACS IP, NetworkFirst, P25 IP networks, as well as the company’s future TETRA networks, Morgan said.

In addition, Tyco Electronics M/A-COM unveiled the VIDA Console Exchange (VCE), a specialized dispatch switching center that enables dispatch functionality on all of the company’s VIDA (voice, interoperability, data, access) networks, including OpenSky, EDACS IP and P25 IP.

When operating in standalone mode, the VCE is a self-contained dispatch switch that supports consoles and legacy conventional channels—a solution that’s ideal for agencies operating on conventional systems that have plans to upgrade in the future, said Tom Burkett, Tyco Electronics’ product manager for switching and management products.

“We believe it will be popular in New York,” Burkett said, referencing the location of a statewide network M/A-COM is deploying.

In network-extension mode, the VCE provide fault-tolerant switching, which improved the efficiency and economy of backhaul between the primary NSC and the remote dispatch center.