Integrating object databases into IPTV components providing advances for multimedia industry and content providers

Versant Corporation (NASDAQ: VSNT), an industry leader in high performance data management software, and Berlin based Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems (Fraunhofer FOKUS) have entered into an applied research agreement. Teaming-up together as strategic lab partners, the IT company and the German research facility aim to demonstrate how IPTV technologies can benefit from object databases to advance the multimedia industry, content providers and telecom enterprises.

The first milestone of the joint project was successfully completed in the beginning of June 2010. The partners integrated Versant’s Object Database into key components of the Open IPTV Ecosystem, a technology under development by Fraunhofer FOKUS. This proof of concept demonstrates how certain IPTV services and applications may perform up to 10x faster and provide a much more robust and scalable platform, essential for serving large numbers of subscribers.

“We are excited about our new lab partnership with Fraunhofer FOKUS, helping us to further validate Versant’s versatility in leading edge telecom applications. The Open IPTV Ecosystem is a perfect software environment to benchmark Versant’s outstanding performance for current and future telecommunication services,” says Dirk Bartels, Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Product Management at Versant. “The lab partnership will help telecom service providers evaluate database requirements in a real world context of a highly demanding use case, including low to zero latency session management and a large volume of content requests. Implementing the IPTV Content & Media Guide of Fraunhofer FOKUS and their IPTV Session Controller in our database provides a robust carrier grade sub system. The newly developed solution benefits from Versant’s high performance database engine, horizontal and vertical scalability, and its toolset for enterprise-class high availability”, stresses Bartels.

The Open IPTV Ecosystem provides for seamless Web based media functions into IPTV and telecommunication environments. As a result, interactive elements for personalized media experience can be used across TV, Mobile and Internet platforms. Developed in line and ahead of standardizations, including specifications from Open IPTV Forum (OIPF), ETSI TISPAN, HbbTV and OMTP, the Fraunhofer FOKUS Open IPTV Ecosystem is the first to offer practical end-to-end implementations. All components are adapted specifically to the customer’s needs in such markets as consumer electronics, telecommunications and broadcasting.

“The strategic partnership with Versant Corporation enables us to integrate an object database into the Open IPTV Ecosystem”, says Dr. Stefan Arbanowski of Fraunhofer FOKUS. “The Open IPTV Ecosystem definitely benefits from Versant’s multi session management, transparent object persistence and enterprise class high availability and scalability. The transition from our traditional implementation was easy and straight forward, and the technical benefits in terms of performance and scalability are quite impressive.”

Versant Object Database
The Versant Object Database (VOD) provides powerful advantages to developers creating C++, Java or .NET object models, supporting massive concurrency and large data sets. The advantages of VOD’s performance and scalability provide for a more efficient production environment, often supporting 10x more concurrent users and 10x faster data access speed compared to relational databases.

FOKUS Open IPTV Ecosystem
The Open IPTV Ecosystem represents a test environment and reference implementation for standardized IPTV, as specified by different Standard Development Organizations (SDO) including ETSI TISPAN (http://www.etsi.org/tispan/) and the Open IPTV Forum (http://www.oipf.tv/).
(http://www.fokus.fraunhofer.de/en/fokus_testbeds/open_iptv_ecosystem/index.html )

About Fraunhofer FOKUS
The Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems (“Fraunhofer FOKUS”) is a Berlin-based research facility devoted to studying and developing communication and information technologies. In particular, it specializes in multi-domain networks and interoperable, user-centered solutions.

With more than 20 years experience, Fraunhofer FOKUS (http://www.fokus.fraunhofer.de/) is an important IT research partner for the telecommunications sector, the automobile industry, media services, and public administrations. It frequently cooperates with governmental agencies and software companies to create need oriented e-government solutions, and is a leading collaborator in projects funded by the European Union as well as by national-level sponsors.

About Versant
Versant Corporation (NASDAQ: VSNT) is an industry leader in database management software, helping software developers to create unique applications handling complex information and high performance / high availability requirements. Versant customers cut hardware costs, speed and simplify development, and significantly reduce administration costs. Versant’s solutions are deployed in a wide array of industries, including telecommunications, financial services, transportation, manufacturing, and defense. With over 100,000 installations, Versant has been a highly reliable partner for Global 2000 companies such as Ericsson, Verizon, Siemens and Financial Times, as well as the US Government. For more information, call 650-232-2400 or visit www.versant.com.

Media Contacts:
Versant Corporation
Deborah Lin dlin@versant.com Tel +1 650 232 2418

Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems
Eva Sittig  eva.sittig@fokus.fraunhofer.de Tel +49 (0) 30 3463 7212