Download Provide DDS Communication Middleware Software for the

Provide DDS Communication Middleware Software for the development and deployment in
the Control System of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT)
Introduction
The E-ELT Control System comprises the hardware, software and communication infrastructure
required to control the EELT telescope, mirrors and dome.
The Control System will be deployed over a large network of inter-communicating, heterogynous,
distributed computing nodes. To support this communication topology, the Control System requires
an efficient and scalable asynchronous, publish-subscribe communication middleware. Further to this,
in order to address the risk of vendor lock-in, a communication technology standardized by an
international body and for which several compliant Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) or public
domain distributions exist, is sought. To this end the Object Management Group Data Distribution
Services (OMG DDS) standard has been identified.
The Communication Middleware product shall consist of software libraries, and development and
inspection tools required to implement the distributed control application software to be deployed
across the observatory computer nodes. The Communication Middleware does not include hardware
(computers or network infrastructure).
Managerial and Technical Qualification Criteria
Interested companies shall be mature and proven software manufacturers with experience in
providing a COTS communication middleware software product meeting the top level requirements
listed below.
Product Requirements
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Compliant with OMG DDS version 1.2 specifically:
o DCPS API
o DDSI (RTPS 2.1) with the UDP/IP profile
Operating System support for development and deployment on:
o Windows Operating System(s)
o Linux Operating System(s)
Language Support for development on:
o C/C++ (Visual C++ for Windows, gcc for Linux)
o Java
Scalability:
o Support round-trip transmission of 24k data blocks from one peer to 40 other distributed
peers, 500 times per second over a 1Gbps Ethernet network.
o Support discovery of, and communication with, 250 peers distributed over a 1- and 10Gbps Ethernet network.
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Reliability:
o Ensure stable, continuous operation for over 2400 hours.
o Failure of a peer or host will not affect continuous operation nor performance of other
peers.
Interoperability:
o Proven (e.g. by OMG) DDSI interoperability with other leading DDS implementations.
Support Requirements
The Bidder shall have in-place a mature and established support infrastructure including:
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A web-based support/issue tracking system and knowledge base
Telephone support
Optional on-site technical support and consultation for sites in Germany (Garching) and Chile
(Paranal). This would be on an exceptional basis only, for approximately 2 weeks per year.
Training and consultation service, preferably on-site, either standard or tailored to ESO’s
requirements.
Technical documentation and user manuals in English, in electronic format.
Product releases keeping abreast of current platform and language versions.
Product releases shall be backward compatible.
Commercial Qualification Criteria
We expect the Bidders to comply with the following selection criteria:
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more than 5 years in business as software manufacturer;
yearly company turnover: > 500KEUR averaged over the last 2 years (2013 and 2014);
total debt ratio = total debt/total assets <1 for each of the past 2 years (2013 and 2014);
net income: >0 for at least 2 of the past 3 years (2012 to 2014);
unconditional acceptance of the ESO status, ESO arbitration clause and applicable law
(Articles 29, 30 and 31 of the General Conditions of ESO Contracts, accessible here:
http://www.eso.org/public/industry/cp/docs/gen-conditions/GCEC_Munich_Dec_2014.pdf
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