Legra Systems Unveils WLAN Switch, Raises $8.5 M

Legra Systems, a start-up based in Burlington, Massachusetts, unveiled a stackable, WLAN switching architecture featuring an extensible Wireless Operating System, a "Smart Radio" technology, and upgradeable security. Legra said its platform supports tens of radios and hundreds of users per switch, enabling a WLAN to scale in step with a large enterprise.


Legra also announced the closure of $8.5 million in a Series A round of financing. Investors include Kodiak Venture Partners and Genesis Partners.
http://www.legra.com/

• Legra Systems was co-founded by Israel Drori, the former CEO of MeetU (acquired by Polycom) and previously a Vice President of Wireless Access at BreezeCOM, and Tom Ermolovich, who previously was VP of Engineering at American Internet (acquired by Cisco Systems).

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New Fraud Charges Against Enron Broadband Services Execs

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an amended complaint charging five additional former executives of Enron Broadband Services (EBS) with fraud and personally reaping more than $150 million in unlawful profits. Among the false statements identified by the SEC was the claim that the Enron Intelligent Network (EIN) contained built-in intelligence - a software control layer called the "Broadband Operating System" (BOS) - that allowed it to perform more sophisticated applications than other networks. The SEC alleges that the BOS and its predecessor, InterAgent, did not work as Enron claimed and were not able to perform the broadband delivery applications the company was touting. Linda Chatman Thomsen, the SEC's Deputy Director of the Division of Enforcement, said that "at a point when Enron's touted groundbreaking broadband technology was little more than a concept - and its business model was not commercially viable - these defendants played important roles in perpetuating the fairy tale that Enron was capable of spinning straw - or more appropriately, fiber - into gold." Defendants include Kenneth D. Rice, former CEO of EBS; Joseph Hirko, another former CEO; Kevin P. Hannon, former COO; Rex T. Shelby, former Vice President, and F. Scott Yeager, former Vice President.


Separately, the Department of Justice filed additional charges against former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, his wife and seven other Enron officials. The grand jury also returned a 218-count superseding indictment expanding charges relating to Enron's failed Internet division, Enron Broadband Services. Previously, two EBS executives, Kevin Howard and Michael Krautz, were indicted for their roles in a transaction that allegedly enabled Enron to book more than $100 million in fraudulent revenues. The new, 218-count indictment, which includes securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges, alleges that Rice, Hirko, Hannon, Yeager and Shelby orchestrated a long-running scheme to defraud the investing public and others through a series of false statements and press releases that portrayed EBS as a resoundingly successful business. In fact, the company never got beyond the development stage. The indictment charges that the executives knew they were deceiving the public and that they deliberately sold large quantities of stock, generating nearly $186 million in proceeds for themselves.
http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2003-58.htmhttp://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/May/03_crm_268.htm

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IBM Creates Electrically-controlled, Single-molecule Light Emitter

IBM has created an electrically-controlled, single-molecule light emitter using carbon nanotubes. Researchers at IBM engineered a carbon nanotube to be "ambipolar", so they could simultaneously inject negative charges (electrons) from a source electrode and positive charges (holes) from a drain electrode into a single carbon nanotube. When the electrons and holes meet in the nanotube, they neutralize each other and generate light. The researchers detected light with a wavelength of 1.5 micrometers, which is used in optical communications. The development is expected to spur further research in the use of carbon nanotubes in nanoscale electronic and photonic devices.
http://www.research.ibm.com/pics/nanotech/

• Positive and negative charges are simultaneously injected into a carbon nanotube through the source and drain electrodes at its two ends to generate light with a wavelength of 1.5 micrometers. Source: IBM

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Staccato Raises $7.5 Million for Ultra-wideband

Staccato Communications (formerly Discrete Time Communications), a start-up based in San Diego, raised $7.5 million in Series A funding for its development of Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology. The company has completed a silicon prototype of a new architecture for UWB that is both compliant with the FCC's regulations and enables high bit-rate UWB in CMOS for the first time. Investors include Bay Partners, Charles River Ventures, and Allegis Capital.
http://www.staccatocommunications.com

• Staccato Communications (DTC) was formed in early 2002 by Roberto Aiello, former founder and CEO of Fantasma Networks, and other UWB veterans, to pursue a fabless IC business model.



• In February, the FCC issued new rules to allow commercial use of UWB radios in 7500MHz of spectrum between 3.1GHz and 10.6GHz. Shortly following this ruling, the IEEE formed a standards committee, 802.15.3a, which is in the process of developing a standard specification for UWB for use in Personal Area Networks (PANs).



• A new WiMedia Alliance has been organized to guarantee interoperability between various manufacturers much the same way that the WiFi Alliance does for 802.11 wireless LAN. http://www.wimedia.org

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Telecommunications Association Predicts Uptick in Enterprise Networking

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is predicting an uptick in spending on enterprise voice and data equipment for 2003 with the growth-rate approaching a "high single-digit" rate over 2002. Key trends supporting the more optimistic outlook include the growing acceptance of IP in call centers and corporate PBXs, an increased need to manage Internet-based customer communications, new applications and products supporting new business processes, and hope of an improved business climate. Some major findings from the TIA's 2003 Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast include:

• 4.8 million traditional PBX line shipments and 1.8 million IP PBX line shipments are expected in 2003, down 7.2 percent and up 80 percent from 2002, respectively. IP PBX shipments have more than doubled each year from 1999 through 2002.



• $4.2 billion in total PBX revenues are expected in 2003, up 12 percent from 2002. Total PBX spending is expected to grow at a 7.2 percent CAGR from 2003-2006, following three straight years of decline.



• Targeting the small and medium business market, centrex and IP centrex offerings will continue to increase the installed base through 2006, with overall growth at a 4.5 percent CAGR from 2003-2006. Competition from IP PBXs and those managed telecommunications service providers that are not centrex-based will lead to slower annual growth rates than in past years.

http://www.tiaonline.org/media/press_releases/index.cfm?parelease=03-56

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ITU Approves Two Fiber Standards

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approved two new performance measurement standards aimed at making it easier for service providers to deploy Sealed Fibre Optics and Passive node elements. The global standards provide performance specifications for sealed optical closures in outside plant.

• ITU-T Rec. L.51 contains a summary of parameters that are relevant for the performance of optical nodes. It describes environmental classes and installation conditions, as well as circuit separation and transient losses during network maintenance activities.



• ITU-T Rec. L.13, focusing on sealed optical closures for outside plant, has been revised according to L.51. The new recommendation provides a performance specification and test plan. The user has the flexibility to select the applicable installation environment, the desired level of optical stability and a level of circuit separation.

The ITU expects to complete a similar recommendation on the performance of Optical Distribution frames (ODF) by the end of the year.
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2003/NP04.html

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