NexTone Simplifies VoIP Peering for Carriers And Enterprises

NexTone Communications introduced a new "FlexPeer" technology aimed at normalizing VoIP traffic at the edge of the network before it enters the network core. The technology, which is embedded within NexTone's Multiprotocol Session Controller (MSC), would enable carriers to adapt their VoIP network to the not-so-subtle nuances of reliably interfacing to VoIP solutions found in other carrier networks or enterprise campuses. Slight differences in vendor implementations of VoIP signaling, T.38 fax support and DTMF transport have caused carriers to use TDM to normalize traffic between back-to-back peering VoIP gateways. NexTone's FlexPeer provides the same function while remaining in IP format.
http://www.nextone.com

• iBasis is deploying NexTone's Multiprotocol Session Controller in its global VoIP network to address interoperability and security issues in peering with its large number of carrier customers. The NexTone MSC provides iBasis with call admission control, route enforcement and the regulation of bandwidth consumption to manage multimedia flows across IP interconnects for both carrier and enterprise boundaries.



• NexTone's customer list also includes ITXC. The Multiprotocol Session Controller on the border of ITXC.net serves as an intermediary to affiliate VoIP networks, providing dynamic call-admission control, SIP/H.323 signaling interworking and network address translation (NAT) capabilities. The NexTone solution also eliminates many of the T.38 fax interoperability issues that are common among different equipment vendors' VoIP gateways.



• NexTone Communications is based in Germantown, Maryland.

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3Com Offers Tri-Mode 802.11a/b/g Wireless Access Points

3Com introduced new Wi-Fi access points and client adapters supporting all three Wi-Fi standards of 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g. The products offer a number or security enhancements, such as WPA, AES and 802.1x.
http://www.3com.com

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RealNetworks Teams With Intel on Streaming to Home Stereos

RealNetworks is integrating support for Intel's Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Authoring Tools and home networking technology into the current version of its Rhapsody online music service. Through these efforts, consumers will be able to access Rhapsody's content library via a new generation of digital audio products that connect home stereos with home PCs or laptops.


Separately, RealNetworks announced that consumer usage of the Rhapsody Internet jukebox service jumped sharply again in October. Rhapsody subscribers streamed more than 28 million on-demand songs in October, an average rate of over 900,000 songs per day and an increase of more than 33% in subscribers' on-demand listening since September. Peak rates have exceeded one million songs per day.
http://www.realnetworks.com

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Telecom Italia to Offer Riverstone Products to Enterprise Customers

Telecom Italia will offer Riverstone Networks' routers and switches within its portfolio of enterprise solutions. Riverstone's equipment underwent extensive technical testing in Telecom Italia's labs and passed successfully. Telecom Italia has signed commercial agreements with system integrators Getronics and Telindus providing for availability of the Riverstone productshttp://www.riverstonenet.com

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Panasonic Deploys VocalData's IP Centrex for Japanese MSOs

Panasonic is now offering an enhanced residential cable telephony solution to its cable TV subscribers throughout Japan based on the application server developed by VocalData and provided by NTT Commware, a leading systems integrator. The deployment is currently serving 5,000 cable telephony users in Japan. The companies project a total of 20,000 lines by year-end. The cable telephony solution integrates the VocalData application server with Panasonic's Integrated Access Device, which lets residential users make VoIP calls using their existing telephones.
http://www.vocaldata.com

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BellSouth Issues 2004 Expectations

In its annual analyst briefing, BellSouth issued 2004 market guidance on some of its key operational initiatives. Some highlights for 2004:

• Revenue: flat to low single digit positive growth



• DSL: approximately 2.2 million subscribers by the end of 2004, compared to 1.3 million at the end of Q3 2003



• LD: more than 5 million subscribers by the end of 2004, compared to 3.4 million long distance customers at the end of Q3 2003



• CAPEX: 13-15% CapEx to revenue ratio, excluding Cingular
  
  
• Operating free cash flow: in the range of $4 billion, excluding Cingular

http://www.bellsouth.com

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Agilent Acquires Network Stress Tester for Layer 4-7

Agilent Technologies has acquired the intellectual property for Synthetic Networks' "NetPressure" network stress tester. Financial terms were not disclosed. The tester is designed to accelerate the development and deployment of connection- and content-aware devices that enable delivery of enhanced network services, including firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and virus/URL/SPAM filtering gateways. The tester focuses on layer 4 through 7 performance testing, and operates in an open systems environment. The product has been offered as the Agilent N4180A Network Tester since June 2003 under a distribution agreement with SNI.


Dave Bass, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Data Networks Division, said the acquisition signals "a long-term commitment to the future of data network testing."http://www.agilent.com

• Synthetic Networks Inc. is a privately-held company based in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

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Superior TeleCom Exits Chapter 11, Eliminates $1.1 Billion in Debt

Superior TeleCom, a supplier of communications wire and cable products to telephone companies, emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection having eliminated $1.1 billion in debt. Superior Essex Inc., a newly-formed company, has become the parent and holding company for two operating subsidiaries: Superior Essex Communications (formerly Superior Telecommunications) and Essex Group. In addition to cable wire, Superior Essex supplies magnet wire for motors, transformers, generators and electrical controls. The company is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
http://www.superioressex.com

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Motorola Develops First Transistor with Multiple Vertical Independent Gates

Researchers at Motorola have developed a first-of-its-kind transistor featuring multiple vertical independent gates -- an innovation that packs more computing power into less space and reduces power consumption, while using existing semiconductor manufacturing processes. Traditional transistor structures have one gate built in a horizontal plane. Motorola said early experiments with double-gated transistors have been limited because typically the two gates have been electrically linked. With this breakthrough, Motorola has electrically isolated the gate structures so each one can be separately controlled with its own voltage.
http://www.motorola.com

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Motorola Acquires XtremeSpectrum for UWB Chips

Motorola agreed to acquire the assets of XtremeSpectrum, a start-up developing ultra-wideband (UWB) solutions for multimedia connectivity. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close within a week.


XtremeSpectrum supplies a UWB chipset capable of achieving 100 Mbps data rates while consuming less than 200 milliwatts (mW) of power. Potential applications include multimedia-centric devices, such as large screen displays, set-top boxes, DVD players, video recorders and digital cameras. The devices have already been sampled to several major consumer equipment manufacturers in 2003.
http://www.motorola.com
http://www.xtremespectrum.com

• In October, XtremeSpectrum issued a letter to the IEEE promising to offer RAND-Z (reasonable and non-discriminatory-zero licensing) access to the essential patents pertaining to XtremeSpectrum's proposal currently being considered for the IEEE802.15.3a standard, the high speed wireless PAN standard. The RAND-Z guarantees that the essential intellectual property within the XtremeSpectrum proposal will be available, royalty-free, to all of industry to the extent the proposal is selected as the IEEE 802.15.3a standard.



• XtremeSpectrum is headquartered in Vienna, Virginia. The company was co-founded in 1998 by Martin Rofheart, who previously was the founder and president of Soft Machine Resources (a privately held systems and engineering contracting firm), and John McCorkle , who previously developed UWB radar technology at the US Army Research Laboratories.



• In June 2002, XtremeSpectrum completed a $12 million round of venture funding with backing from POD Holding, a large Scandinavian venture fund; Cisco Systems; Motorola; Alliance Technology Ventures; Texas Instruments' venture capital initiative, Granite Ventures; and Novak Biddle Venture Partners.

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Agilent Files Suit Against Micromuse for OSS

Agilent Technologies filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Micromuse alleging unauthorized use of Agilent's operations support system (OSS) patented technology. The suit seeks to stop Micromuse from making, selling and marketing certain of its service management solutions in the United States.
http://www.agilent.com

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Comcast to Promote RealNetworks' Rhapsody Digital Music Service

Comcast will provide its nearly 5 million cable modem users with a co-branded website featuring RealNetworks' Rhapsody Internet jukebox service. The companies also are launching a free music promotion during November and December. Comcast customers and RealOne users will get seven days of free access to the Rhapsody service, with no credit card required. Comcast customers also receive an exclusive opportunity to burn 10 free songs if they subscribe to the service, which costs $9.95 per month.
http://www.comcast.com
http://www.real.com

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FCC Clears Way for Local Number Portability Between Wireline and Wireless Carriers

With just 14 days remaining before the implementation of local number portability (LNP), the FCC officially reaffirmed that wireline carriers must port numbers to wireless carriers under its current rules. In the new order, the FCC clarified that porting from a wireline carrier to a wireless carrier is required where the requesting wireless carrier's coverage area overlaps the geographic location in which the wireline number is provisioned, including cases where the wireless carrier does not have a point of interconnection or numbering resources in the rate center to which the phone number is assigned. The FCC also sought comment on how to facilitate wireless-to-wireline porting in cases where the rate center associated with the wireless number is different from the rate center in which the wireline carrier seeks to serve the customer. Finally, the FCC sought comment on whether to reduce the duration of the porting interval for ports between wireline and wireless carriers.


The FCC also said that wireless carriers do not need to negotiate interconnection agreements with wireline carriers solely for the purpose of porting numbers. In cases where parties are unable to reach an agreement on porting terms, the FCC requires that carriers port numbers upon request and receipt of appropriate technical information, with no conditions.


FCC Chairman Michael Powell said the order endorses "a customer's right to untether themselves from the wireline network -- and take their telephone number with them."http://www.fcc.gov

• In response to the order, Gary Lytle, Qwest Communications' senior vice president for federal affairs said "Unfortunately, over the long-term, customers stand to be the biggest losers with today's announcement. This is a one-way street that will leave millions of customers stranded without the ability to convert wireless numbers to wireline. "

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LSI Logic Introduces ADSL2 and ADSL2+ Processors

LSI Logic introduced a trio of ADSL2 and ADSL2+ capable network processors for ADSL customer premise equipment (CPE) manufacturers. The network processors are matched with a new ADSL2+ capable SpeedREACH analog front-end (AFE).


For low-cost CPE devices. LSI Logic is offering an ADSL2+ Ethernet network processor that integrates the DMT engine with a 200 MHz ARM922 processor, a hardware-based ATM SAR, a USB port and a SDRAM controller. For higher performance appliances, the company is introducing an ADSL2+ SOHO network processor that integrates an ARM1026 running at 250 MHz with DDR SDRAM and NAND Flash support, plus a crypto co-processor providing hardware acceleration for IPSEC applications. A PCI bus provides connection to mini-PCI 802.11a/b/g WiFi chipsets. For customers requiring an alternate configuration, a third design replaces the two Ethernet ports with an internal five-port switch.
http://www.lsilogic.com

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Cisco Adds SSL VPN Capabilities to Remote Access Concentrator

Cisco Systems has added support for new Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to its Cisco VPN 3000 Series Concentrators. SSL VPNs enable customers to remotely access applications from a standard web browser from virtually any client device. The Cisco VPN 3000 Series Concentrators already provided IPSec VPN connectivity. The software upgrade is provided at no cost.
http://www.cisco.com

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Kodiak Networks Targets Packet Switched Wireless Voice Systems

Kodiak Networks, a start-up based in San Ramon, California, introduced its Real-Time Exchange System for delivering Press-to-Talk (P2T) communications over existing core network infrastructures.


The company claims its platform will be the fastest P2T solution in the world with call volley measurements at 150 milliseconds, virtually eliminating latency and "talkovers." The platform will also be able to provide the ability to roam off network. In addition, people without P2T service or handsets can participate in P2T calls initiated by Kodiak Real-Time Exchange System users. Up-to-the-minute availability lists enable P2T customers to see in a glance the current availability of their customers, suppliers, colleagues, friends and family members on their handsets. Additional features include contact management on the handset, call-waiting, on-the-fly conferencing, multi-national group calling and permission-based privacy.


CDMA P2T phones supporting the Kodiak System will soon be available from Kyocera Wireless Corp. Kodiak is also forming partnerships with other global handset manufacturers.


Kodiak Networks is headed by Craig Farrill, who was previously CTO of Vodafone, AirTouch and PacTel. Kodiak is privately funded by Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers and Redpoint Ventures. The company has additional facilities in Plano, Texas, and Bangalore, India.
http://www.kodiaknetworks.com

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Broadcom Reaches 800 Million Ethernet Port Milestone

Broadcom announced a major product shipment milestone: 800 million Ethernet ports, including over 300 million complete switch ports, to networking and personal computer companies worldwide.


In tracking GbE controllers, Broadcom counts an integrated MAC and PHY as one Ethernet port, defining the pair as a complete solution that is shipped to a PC or server manufacturer. The same is true in determining switch ports since a complete enterprise switching solution typically includes a PHY, MAC and switch fabric.
http://www.broadcom.com

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Hanaro Telecom Deploys Force10

South Korea's Hanaro Telecom will deploy Force10 Networks' E-Series switch/routers for 10 Gigabit Ethernet routing and Gigabit Ethernet aggregation services. Hanaro Telecom will use the equipment to extend its IP service offerings to include native Gigabit and 10 Gbps connectivity. About 30% of South Korea's 10 million broadband subscribers are Hanaro customers. CommVerge Solutions will provide integration services for the project. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.force10networks.com

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Larscom & Lucent Show Interoperable Multilink Frame Relay

Larscom and Lucent Technologies demonstrated a Multilink Frame Relay (MFR) solution that would enable service providers to deliver 3 Mbps (2xT1) or 6 Mbps (4xT1) bandwidth services using either Frame Relay or ATM. Interoperability testing was recently completed demonstrating the compatibility of the Lucent CBX 500 Multiservice WAN Switch with the Larscom 6000 access device for Multilink Frame Relay. The Larscom 6000 is an IP- and Frame Relay-Aware access device for the customer's premise that is compliant with the Frame Relay Forum's (FRF) FRF.12 and FRF.16 standards.


MFR is a standards-based frame transport protocol developed by the Frame Relay Forum.
http://www.larscom.com

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Procket Networks Releases Router Enhancements

Procket Networks, a start-up based in Milpitas, California announced new performance and feature enhancements to its PRO/8801 and PRO/8812 routers, including new capabilities in system management, network security, and system availability. The enhancements include:

• the ability to deploy IPv6 based services along side current IPv4 services with no performance hit. The new software release enables Procket to support simultaneous IPv4 and IPv6 throughput of 960 Gbps in the PRO/8812 and 80Gbps in the PRO/8801.



• Substantial performance improvements to Procket's Policy Control List feature -- providing wire-speed throughput for 2500 line access lists over four OC192c interfaces



• MPLS facility based fast reroute, providing near-instant recovery for failed links in the network.



• enhanced high availability features for the Route Processor modules in the PRO/8812 routing platform.



• Statistical Packet Reporting, enabling per-flow industry-standard accounting of network traffic



• Multicast enhancements including Bidirectional PIM, enabling high bandwidth 'many-to-many' communications

http://www.procket.com

• The Procket platforms are based on a customized chipset that includes a fully programmable 40 Gbps network processor and a Terabit Switch Engine. The scalable chipset can be used in platforms that range from 80 Gbps to 960 Gbps. The PRO/8801 router features 80 Gbps of total capacity and can support up to 40 high speed interfaces in a chassis that takes up 1/8 of a rack. The PRO/8812 router features 960 Gbps of total capacity and a forwarding rate of 1.2 billion packets per second. The routers support OC-3c, OC-12c, OC-48c, OC-192c, Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. All Procket routers use common line cards and media adapters, and the company estimates that its systems offer a reduction in power consumption and floor space of up to 50%. Procket's software is designed with self-monitoring, self-correcting, self-configuring, and self-protecting features. The company said its software is portable, platform- and processor-independent, and fully interoperable with existing IP routing software, including MPLS.



• As of March 2002, Procket Networks had raised $272 million in funding.

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European IPv6 Task Force Publishes Roadmap

The European IPv6 Task Force published a "roadmap report" that calls for greater action at the EU level to ensure a smooth transition from IPv4 to IPv6. Specific recommendations included the following:

• promote the adoption of IPv6 at the top-level NICs (those responsible for holding the root-level DNS for each country)



• public and private organizations should require IPv6 capabilities in their procurements of all hardware devices and software



• promote the adoption of IPv6 by universities, schools, governments and the EC



• create a panel of experts to explore the non-technical market barriers to IPv6



• create a research center of excellence to drive IPv6 R&D



• create a European competition on best IPv6 practices, including a prize for IPv6 innovation.

Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, said "the importance of IPv6 to European competitiveness in general cannot be overestimated. Europe needs to match its first-class research with political commitment to make IPv6 happen."http://www.eu.ipv6tf.org

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8x8 Offers Free Unlimited SIP Calling

8x8 began offering unlimited worldwide calling to other Packet8 users and subscribers for a one time equipment purchase of $75 for a Desktop Terminal Adapter (DTA-310). Upon registering, users will be given a unique Packet8 telephone number so they can make and receive calls from any Packet8 subscriber or partner phone number. The service includes voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, conference calling and unlimited talk time.
http://www.packet8.net

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