FREMONT, Calif., March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadband Forum today announced it will provide an open source USP Agent implementation as it continues to evolve its User Services Platform (USP) to facilitate tomorrow's Connected Home and accelerate interoperable Internet of Things (IoT) deployments.
Created as part of Broadband Forum's Open Broadband initiative, the Open Broadband – USP Agent (OB-USP-Agent) project will provide vendors with a code base that they can either integrate into their devices or use as a reference implementation as they utilize USP. A necessary catalyst to adoption in today's software development world, OB-USP-Agent will facilitate USP deployment and result in faster time-to-market for USP-based solutions and innovation. Furthermore, as a standards-based solution, operators can have the peace of mind that they won't become locked into more costly and less flexible proprietary management solutions.
Published in April 2018, USP is an evolution of the TR-069 standard, currently installed in more than 1 billion households globally. USP has already seen significant uptake and currently has hundreds of active developers. For operators seeking a truly unified, common approach to securely deploy, manage and control network-aware consumer electronics, including home and enterprise Wi-Fi, IoT, and more, USP is an ideal solution.
"USP is designed to be flexible, scalable and secure, and the new open source agent implementation builds on this by allowing vendors to integrate it into their devices or use it as a reference implementation," said Barbara Stark, of AT&T, USP Project Lead at Broadband Forum. "This is a natural evolution for USP as the industry moves more and more towards software development. We are confident the new agent will not only help to increase interoperability but also support operators looking to launch new connected home services as additional revenue streams."
Using the same data models as TR-069, USP builds a network of controllers and agents to allow applications to manipulate service elements. This allows service providers, consumer electronics manufacturers and end-users to securely manage connected devices, carry out upgrades, for example, for critical security updates, and onboard new devices. Customer support is also improved by remote monitoring and troubleshooting of connected devices, services and home network links.