An Analysis of the Pika Asterisk/Linux Appliance and the

Resulting Opportunities

By: Steven Henke, XELATEC, L.L.C.Presented to the Atlanta Asterisk Users Group, June 24, 2008

All Rights Reserved. Copyright ©2008 XELATEC, L.L.C.

http://www.xelatec.com/

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Presentation Summary

• Emergence of the the Appliance

• Evaluation of the Appliance

• Appliance Applications

• Recommendations and Resources

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Encountering the Pika Appliance at Astricon 2007

– USB Connector

– 12 VDC Power

– FLASH

– Open Development System.

– Single Piece Enclosure.

– Talk of a Wireless Slice.

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Obtaining a Pika Appliance

• Pika at AtlAUG February 2008

• Appliance won by Jim Caperton

• Delivered in May of 2008

• Experimentation and Evaluation Conducted at Xelatec Labs, Johns Creek, GA.

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Pika Appliance Development Constraints

• Not for Entry Level Developers - Requires an Experienced Embedded Systems Developer.

• Hardware - Host Computer w/ Linux OS

• Pika Application Development Software

• Cross Compilation and Networked File System

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Pika Appliance Development Process

• Design, Code, Debug on Host/Target System

• Burn and Learn Cycle

• Transfer resulting memory images to FLASH when complete.

• Deployment via Subversion Repository / Server

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Pika Appliance Development Pluses

• Well Written Manuals.

• Great Developer Support Staff.

• Gotcha Free.

• It Works!

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If You Like Working with Asterisk .conf Files...

• the Appliance is the product for you because the GUI is not yet fully functional.

• e.g. It does not support creating SIP trunks to VoIP Service Providers.

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Productization Issues

Clean up the GUI and/or

Develop proprietary provisioning toolsOne-Write System to configure:

OpenSER/Asterisk VoIP Services

Customer Premises Equipment

Billing and CRM Systems

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Specialized Hardware Features

• 12 Volt DC Operation - Battery Operation

• User Display - Local Fault Reporting

• Low Shipping Cost

• Enables “Lick and Stick” and End User Installation

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Unofficial Pricing WorksheetQty 1-9 Qty 10+

Description Each EachAppliance IP only 559.00$ 531.00$ Power Supply 50.00$ 48.00$ SD Card, 4 GB 19.95$ 19.95$

Total 628.95$ 598.95$

FXO or FXS 155.00$ 147.00$ FXO or FXS 155.00$ 147.00$

Total 938.95$ 892.95$

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PIKA Appliance Developers Kit Promotion $550.00 Buy It Now!

• PIKA WARP Appliance for Asterisk• Power Supply with cord• 4 port FXO (trunk) module• 4 port FXS (station) module• SD Memory Card (1Gb)• Serial Cable (programming)• Network Cable (CAT5e)

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Alternative Solutions

• Why a special piece of hardware when any old computer will do?– Productization, uniformity, branding, control.– Customer Retention.– Lowest Total Cost.

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http://www.mini-box.com/

Qty Item Description Each Amount1 MBD-I-D945GCLF Intel D945GCLF Mini-ITX motherboard 79.95$ 79.95$ 1 PWR-PICOPSU-90 PicoPSU-90 12V DC-DC ATX power supply $39.95 39.95$ 1 ENC-VOOMPC VoomPC PC (TM) enclosure $69.95 69.95$ 1 MEM-EDC-2000-4GB EDC 2000+ 4GB 40 pin Embedded Disk Card 115.00$ 115.00$ 1 MEM-DDR2-512MB 512MB DDR2 Memory $24.00 24.00$ 1 PWR-ACDC-12V-5A-60W AC-DC 12V, 5A Switching Power Adapter (110/220V) $19.95 19.95$

Total 348.80$ 348.80$

Linksys SPA-3102 69.99$

Total 418.79$

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http://www.logicsupply.com/

Qty Item Description Each Amount1 LF-5677 SolidLogic Little Falls 5677 Mini-ITX System 309.20$

Intel D945GCLF Mini-ITX motherboardPower Supply, BrickMorex 5677 Mini-ITX Case - BlackHD, 80 GBRAM, 512 MB

Total -$ 309.20$ Linksys SPA-3102 69.99$

Total 379.19$

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Pika EmbeddedReady to Go Applications Appliance PCServer, VoIP Asterisk yes yesServer, Samba, Media no yesModem, Internal DSL no yesFirewall no yesRouter no yesSwitch no yesWiFi AP no yesBluetooth Gateway no yesZigbee Gateway no yesServer, http no yes

Hardware Platforms and Application Capabilities

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Pika EmbeddedDescription Appliance PCBogoMIPS 1052 3195RAM 256 MB 512 MBPersistent Storage 4 GB 80 GB12 VDC yes yesBattery Run Time best goodSize micro compactROHS yes probablyCall Processing Capacity low mediumHard Drive no yesDevelopment Environment good betterSoftware Maintanance good betterCentos Linux no yesFreePBX no yesFXS included yes yesFXO included no yesBrandable yes yesPCI Slot none 1USB Ports 1 6Serial Port internal 1Parallel Port no yesProprietary Hardware yes noVideo/Keyboard/Mouse no yesMTBF specified depends

Price 598.00$ 379.19$

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Use the Pika Appliance If:

• You have a reasonable volume, repeatable application vertical market to serve.

• There are package size and number limitations.• You need an integrated End User Display.• Run time on 12 VDC battery backup is critical.• A complete package warranty is desired.• Total Cost and not just Unit Cost is considered.• You like products designed and manufactured in

North America.

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Xelatec and the Pika Appliance

• Pika Appliance Partner• Experience with VoIP and and Emphasis on

Wireless Systems• Project / Product Management• Asterisk Developer and Contributor

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Links and References

• Unlimitel Systems - VoIP Product and Service Provider - http://unlimitel.ca

• WARP Xtra - http://pikawarp.org

• PIKA Website - http://www.pikatechnologies.com

• PIKA Appliance Partners - Xelatec

• Got a PPAA (Possible Pika Appliance Application)? Contact Xelatec, LLC

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Thank You, Q&A and Demo

• Steven Henke• XELATEC, L.L.C.• IP Telecommunications Products and Services• Web: http://www.xelatec.com• E-mail: sph@xelatec.com• Tel: 678-248-2979

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Comments

• Xelatec offers highly experienced VoIP product and system development services. It can help make a back of a napkin concept into a mass market or narrow niche success. The principle developers have created new applications that run on the Pika Appliance and are ready for more.