Introduction
IRISA/RT is the core module of
an Irisa multimedia communication server
solution.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and e-commerce solutions demand robust and advanced infrastructures for all external communication channels.
The Irisa solution is developed to meet those exacting
requirements and issues, ensuring the successful implementation of strategic
projects.
IRISA/RT allows native integration of many media types with centralised administration tools, efficient and common development methods and shared access mechanisms to legacy systems.
Key features
Architecture principles
IRISA/RT offers an N-tiers architecture divided into layers
called sub-systems (DRI servers) for each specific function needed in the
execution of a multimedia service (presentation, processing, monitoring,…).
Sub-systems can be distributed on heterogeneous
platforms, networking and communicating with each other using the DRI protocol (Distributed Resources
Interface).
DRI is an asynchronous
communication bus using IP, designed by DATAMEDIA to be the IRISA communication
protocol. Sub-systems, including applications, communicate with each other
locally (inside one machine) or between multiple remote machines, through DRI.
This mechanism allows an Irisa system to be
scaled accordingly as business volumes increase.
IRISA/RT features
·
communication layers for each media
(X25, ISDN, HTTP)
·
Call Routing sub-systems for X25 and ISDN
·
Context and session management sub-system (PM)
·
Samples DRI servers to access legacy and back-office systems
·
Centralised administration
and monitoring sub-systems :
·
A monitoring and directory name server sub-system (BRK)
·
A reporting sub-system
(LOG)
·
A license manager (LIC)
·
A sub-system for SNMP supervision
(SNMP)
Security / Resilience
·
Distributed architecture guarantees redundancy
and resilience in the event of
failures
·
The BRK sub-system monitors all other sub-systems state and
automatically restart them in case of failure
·
IRISA/RT offers a “group management” mechanism for requesting load
balancing among a group of processes
managing the same function (group). Request distribution rule among the group
takes into account the dysfunction of one sub-system in the group.
Performance
·
Distributed architecture addresses performance requirements
·
IRISA/RT is a run-time environment for
both multi-processes and single-process applications while managing either single or multi threaded
processes
Media
IRISA/RT includes standard tools :
·
For X25
networks :
·
A communication sub-system specialised in X25 communication
·
A Videotex
Access Point (PAD sub-system) to X29/X3, X25 networks which allows communication
between a terminal in character mode and X25 servers in packet mode
·
A screen/Page
Editor
·
A minitel emulator (IP)
·
For ISDN or PSTN networks :
·
An IVR sub-system to manage voice cards (ISDN, PSTN, switchboard)
A voice processing
tool for creating and manipulating most voice formats (RIFF WAVE, AU, G711
A-law and MU-law, G721, G723, DVI, PCM, ADPCM, …)
·
For Internet/Intranet/WAP/HDML :
·
Execution environment for dynamic web services
based on CGI (Common Gateway Interface), NSAPI from Netscape(Netscape
Application Program Interface), ISAPI from Microsoft (Internet Server API), or
Servlet technologies. Based on Web Servers from the market (Netscape, Internet
Server from Microsoft, Apache, …) integrated into the IRISA environment (for
administration, supervision and log management) via an HTTP sub-system
·
A context and session management mechanism
·
HTML, HDML and WML objects for application development
·
For all media :
·
Sample applications
·
Development libraries
·
Sample DRI server to access to external applications or information
systems
·
Unified administration and monitoring tools
·
Leading edge media support (WAP, Interactive TV, …)
Administration/Supervision
Three
supervision levels :
·
The BRK sub-system provides
centralised real-time supervision
and allows the halting and restarting of sub-systems
·
Most sub-systems provide a graphical tool for monitoring
·
Integration to management frameworks such as Tivoli, Openview, SunNet
Manager, etc., using the SNMP
supervision sub-system
Reporting :
·
The LOG sub-system is an
efficient and centralised mechanism for real-time reporting. Data collected by
the LOG sub-system is stored in text files and can be used by any tool. Each
event logged by the active sub-systems is collected and is dated and identified
by an " event code ".
·
The LOG sub-system communicates with the UNIX “syslog” or the NT
“eventlog” mechanism of the operating system. This allows integration of IRISA
into the standard administration processes of the operating systems.
Benefits
IRISA/RT is a
global offer :
·
Management of all types of channels (X25 networks, ISDN, HTTP)
·
Managemenent of all phases of a multi-channel solution along with a set of tools covering the development cycle
of a multimedia service
·
Common management methodology for all communication channels, ensuring
the easy adoption of IRISA based systems
·
It provides unified configuration
and supervision tools for each
media type
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·
It provides an efficient cross-media development method - event and
object oriented - and all the libraries to
develop multimedia applications. They are all the more improved if
used within the IRISA/DK development environment
·
It is scalable
·
It benefits from proven performance
and stability
·
It is independent of the communication infrastructure used
·
It is multi platform
·
It has a distributed architecture to fit smoothly into
all existing IT environments. IRISA components may be installed on
different machines, communicating via TCP/IP.
Distinctive characteristics
·
Homogeneous and open-ended architecture for all channels
·
Multi-platform
·
Distributed Architecture
·
Interaction management for all media types
·
Unique development method for
all media types
·
Graphical configuration, supervision and administration tools unified for all media types