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October 15, 2008

Early this morning, Cisco announced the extension of its AXP (Application Extension Platform) as well as a contest for Linux and open source developers in providing new applications to the Linux community.

Cisco's AXP is an open source Linux-based hardware module for the Cisco Integrated Services Router. Its Linux-based integration environment comes with a downloadable SDK (software development kit).

Additionally, Cisco announced 2 new AXP solution partners:

Tiani-Spirit

Global Protocols

Tiani-Spirit has developed AXP imaging formats for the healthcare industry to replace proprietary imaging formats for patient diagnosis and treatment. Global Protocols has developed Skipware on AXP for optimized satellite wireless communications.

The Cisco AXP provides an open platform to develop and host custom and third party applications directly on the Cisco ISR. The use of the ISR, WAAS (Wide Area Application Services) and Cisco's AXP forms the basis of Cisco's concept of Network as a Platform.

Today's announcement follows Cisco's introduction of the AXP exactly six months ago. It has enabled Cisco to open up its ISR (Integrated Services Router) and Cisco WAAS platforms to customers and third-party application developers.

AXP enhances the capabilities of the Cisco ISR by enabling a tighter integration between the branch network, IT and application infrastructure.

Additionally, Cisco announced today its Think Inside the Box Developer Contest. The open invitation to all software developers over the age of eighteen encourages proposals for applications on the Cisco Application Extension Platform (AXP).

Overall, Cisco will award a first prize of US $50,000, a second prize of $30,000 and finally a third prize of $20,000 to innovators or teams of innovators for the most creative and compelling entries. Developers have ninety days to submit their AXP applications.

The contest will end June 30, 2009.

"Thinking Inside the Box takes the idea for creativity that occurs outside the box and focuses on creativity within the router," explained Shashi Kiran, senior manager for Cisco Systems.

He added "we wanted to bring together a tie-in with the network administrator and the router. This is the first time we are opening up a global contest. We wanted to reach out to universities worldwide for the top engineering talent there."

Cisco also introduced its new Cisco AXP Network Module 502, which provides additional performance for the 2800 and 3800 Series ISRs. The units cost $4,500 and $5,300 respectively.

Another use for the AXP was developed by The Cardiovascular Group in Virginia. Cisco also released its new AXP-VM Developer Version, which allows developers to build applications easily using VMware. The apps can then be run on Cisco AXP modules.

It deployed Sagem-Interstar's XMediusFAX FoIP (fax over Internet protocol) solution on the Cisco AXP for increased employee productivity. The application satisfies regulatory requirements for a robust, fast and reliable HIPAA-compliant healthcare communication solution, said Kiran.

The problem the Cardiovascular Group faced was how to overcome delays in faxing from 250 employees at nine locations, which generated between 3,000 and 6,000 faxes per month.

The Cisco AXP-based XMediusFAX server reduced by 50 percent the time it took to process medical records with secure digitized faxes that meet HIPAA standards.

Since moving ahead on the concept of the Network as a Platform six months ago, Cisco is now attempting to grow the AXP. "We want to further eliminate the pain point and help IT consolidate network performance," said Kiran.

The Cisco AXP offers tighter integration between the network and business applications to help branch office customers achieve greater business efficiencies and innovation, he explained. The Cisco AXP is delivered via network modules and Advanced Integration Modules (AIMs) on the Cisco ISR. Multiple applications can be supported on a single AXP module concurrently, optimizing the footprint in branch offices.

"The big benefit of this is for the coders. We can access the API (application programming interface) inside the router and can extract more information than was previously possible. The AXP platform emulates the API model to allow me to write code as needed to develop applications," Jimmy Ray Purser, an engineer for TechWiseTV and the contest's cohost.

This process allows him to design applications his way on his laptop because he has the API with him, he explained.

Source: Cisco.

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