Overture Networks Introduces Edge Platform

Overture Networks, a start-up based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina introduced a network edge platform designed for carrier Ethernet and TDM services. Like Overture's flagship ISG 5000 platform, the new ISG 2200 is a packet-based multi-service access platform for Ethernet-based private line, high-speed Internet access, virtual private LAN service (VPLS) and legacy T1/E1 voice/data/video. In addition to Ethernet services and transport, key features of the platform include "TDM pseudowire" and "Frame Relay pseudowire" capabilities over fiber rings. It also supports legacy OC-3, OC-12 and NxDS3 transport.


Overture's ISG 5000 provides four slots for either legacy or Ethernet interfaces. The platform has been installed in over 100 locations so far. The new ISG 2200 offers one interface slot. http://www.overturenetworks.com

• Movaz Networks resells Overture's platform as its RAYedge Multi-Service Access Platform for aggregation of Ethernet and TDM electrical services onto a variety of uplinks including OC12, Gigabit Ethernet and CWDM wavelengths. Overture also has a resale agreement with NEC Japan.



• Overture Networks is headed by Jeff Reedy, who formerly served as VP of Engineering at Larscom. The company has raised $18 million in two rounds of venture funding.

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Cable & Wireless Selects LayerOne to Maintain U.S. Links

Cable and Wireless plc will maintain its U.S. and international connections via an international point of presence (POP) with LayerOne. Cable & Wireless, which announced its intention to exit the U.S. domestic market last year, is also using LayerOne's services to maintain certain traffic flows to and from the United States and other international markets. LayerOne operates International Gateway POPs in Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami and New York. http://www.layerone.com

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SiGe Semiconductor Targets Cellular and Wi-Fi Modules

SiGe Semiconductor announced a product roadmap to build chip-scale RF front-end modules for multi-mode, dual-band Wi-Fi systems, and cellular handsets compliant to the GSM, CDMA, CDMA2000, GPRS and EDGE standards. Using its silicon germanium technology, the Ottawa-based company plans to build the world's smallest GSM RF front-end, and the industry's highest performance module for dual-band, multi-mode 802.11a/b/g WLAN systems. The roadmap also includes chip-scale solutions for 802.11b/g WLAN systems, quad-band CDMA handsets, and dual-mode GSM/WCDMA and GSM/CDMA2000 handsets. The front-end modules will integrate all of the RF circuitry required between the transceiver and the antenna, including the power amplifiers, power detectors, filters, switches, matching and bias components. http://www.sige.com

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Atheros Introduces Single-Chip 802.11g Solution

Atheros Communications introduced a single-chip 802.11g WLAN solution that integrates a Media Access Controller (MAC), baseband processor, and 2.4 GHz radio in a low-cost CMOS package. The new chip represents the company's third-generation 802.11g silicon. It was preceded by a three-chip solution launched in February 2003, and a two-chip solution launched in June 2003. Like the earlier designs, the new chip uses a multi-phase approach to signal processing, which extends the battery life of mobile devices by controlling the power of different sections of the wireless device according to the level of system and network activity. Atheros said this technique allows the chip to consume up to 98% less power than multi-chip WLAN solutions on the market today. It has the same range and throughput as the preceding Atheros multi-chip 802.11g solution. Pricing is $12 in 10,000 volumes. http://www.atheros.com

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Foundry Adds 40-port GigE Module to Switching Line

Foundry Networks released a new 40-port high density Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) fiber module and introduced two new modules for its flagship, terabit-capacity BigIron MG8 and NetIron 40G switches. The BigIron MG8 is Foundry's non-blocking 1.28 Tbps switch for enterprise applications requiring high-density Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE). The NetIron 40G is Foundry's non-blocking 1.28 Tbps Ethernet router designed for service providers. Foundry is introducing the following new modules for each switch to complement the currently shipping 4-port 10GbE (with XENPAK optics) and 40-port fiber-based GbE (with SFP Small Form Factor Pluggable Optics) modules:

• 40-port 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet over Copper with RJ45 interfaces


• 2-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet with XENPAK optics

http://www.foundrynetworks.com

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Occam and Minerva Test IP TV

SureWest Communications, a provider of advanced communications products and services in the Sacramento, California region, has selected and successfully tested a combined IP television delivery platform from Occam Networks and Minerva Networks.


Minerva provides IP television headend equipment and middleware, as well as consulting and integration services. Occam offers an IP-based loop carrier platform that delivers both traditional and packetized broadband services from a single access network. Minerva is a member of the Occam Packet Access Network (OPAN) alliance. http://www.occamnetworks.comhttp://www.minervanetworks.com

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AMCC Offers Quad SONET/SDH Phys for System "Face-lifts"

Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC) introduced two new quad SONET/SDH physical layer devices designed for new high density line cards as well as the remodeling of legacy line cards. For reworking earlier system designs, the new quad OC3/12 SONET/SDH 8-bit transceiver requires only that customers update the optical front-end of the design, while the rest of the system, such as the framers, pointer-processors and software, can remain intact.


The first device (S1213) operates in either SONET/SDH OC-12 or OC-3 with a CDR feature, and can also be provisioned to support a combination of OC-3 and OC-12 data for individual channels. Features including diagnostic loopback, line loopback, serial clock loop timing and parallel loop back modes. It also provides customers with maximum flexibility and efficiency when adding new components to legacy systems.


The second device (S1212) consists of four CDR modules, all of which can run independently at the OC-12 or OC-3 data rate. It can also be provisioned to mix and match OC-3 and OC-12 data streams within the same device and configured in MII mode or non-MII mode. http://www.amcc.com

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voiceglo Deploys Acme Packet Session Border Controllers

voiceglo, a provider of consumer and business VoIP services based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is using Acme Packet's Net-Net session border controllers for both hosted IP service delivery and peering to IP-based PSTN termination networks. The Net-Net session border controllers enable voiceglo to interconnect with other IP networks. http://www.acmepacket.com

• voiceglo was founded by Michael Egan and Edward Cespedes. Egan is the Founder and former CEO of Alamo Rent A Car, which he directed to become one of the nation's largest car rental firms before selling it to Republic Industries. Cespedes is a former investment banker with JP Morgan and also serves as President of theglobe.com and voiceglo.

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Slovenian Carrier Selects Juniper for TV-over-ADSL

SiOL, the leading Slovenian ISP, has deployed Juniper Networks' M-series routing platforms and E- series broadband aggregation platforms with the Juniper Networks SDX service deployment system to offer new advanced IP services such as broadband TV over ADSL.


Smart Com, Juniper Networks' partner in the Slovenian market, serves as systems integrator. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.juniper.net

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Orthogon Extends its Broadband Wireless to 130 km

Orthogon Systems, a start-up based in Ashburton, UK introduced a new wireless Ethernet bridge with high-gain external antennae that enable the system to span greater distances, even over large bodies of water, and overcome more challenging obstacles in its path. The company said its new OS-Gemini C product with external antennae provides a 400x increase in signal gain over its existing OS-Gemini I product (integrated antennae), connecting distances of up to 130 km (81 miles).


Orthogon noted that sending wireless signals across water has long posed seemingly insurmountable challenges. Called the ducting effect, the marine layer over water causes radio waves to bend, either sending the radio wave up into space or down into the water, ending the connection. With its combination of antennas and Orthogon's Multi-beam Space Time Coding technology, the OS-Gemini C mitigates the ducting effect of water.


Genesis Wireless, a wireless ISP and system integrator in Minnesota, is using the new OS-Gemini C for a wireless broadband link spanning 32 km (20 miles) downhill and over rivers with trees and large plateaus obstructing line-of-sight. The connection runs at 99.999% availability, with an average throughput of 28 Mbps, according to the company. http://www.orthogonsystems.com

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Boingo Wireless Adds First Wi-Fi Mesh Roaming Partner

Boingo Wireless signed a roaming agreement with Verge Wireless, which operates Wi-Fi mesh networks in key cities in the southern U.S. The agreement is the first for Boingo with a broadband Wi-Fi mesh- networking operator. An example of Verge's mesh network capabilities is its recent announcement of New Orleans' first mesh network in the Warehouse District. The company has also deployed service in Baton Rouge, LA. http://www.boingo.comhttp://www.vergewireless.com

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Canada's Allstream Launches Ethernet Private Line Service

Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada) introduced an Ethernet Private Line service that provides up to 1 Gbps connectivity within and between Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. The Ethernet Private Line is carried over a private connection on Allstream's optical network. Allstream said its new service is designed for applications such as server aggregation, synchronous database mirroring, VoIP, corporate data centre connectivity, multi-campus workgroups and data warehousing. The carrier will offer a 99.999% uptime availability option. Additional services to be rolled out shortly include Storage Area Network (SAN) channel service, Gigabit Internet, and High Bandwidth VLAN service. http://www.allstream.com

• Allstream has 29 CLEC networks and has some 537,940 access lines in service. Its fiber network spans some 18,800 kms across Canada.

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AFC Launches Marketing Campaign Focused on "Pure-Play Access"

AFC launched a marketing and advertising campaign to articulate the company's strategy as a "Pure-Play Access" supplier . The "AFC-The Acronym for Access" campaign touts the company's heritage in voice and broadband solutions and highlights the importance of the access portion of the network as the primary arena for differentiation and competition among carriers. Marketing initiatives include a redesigned web site and advertising. http://www.afc.com

• Earlier this month, AFC agreed to acquire Marconi's North American Access (NAA) business for $240 million in cash. Marconi NAA's major products include a fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC) platform and DLCs. The acquisition would also provide AFC with a greater ability to penetrate major RBOC accounts. Notably, Marconi's fiber-to-the-curb platform is deployed extensively at BellSouth, which has been pursuing a fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC) architecture since 1995. Nearly one million homes have been fiber-passed out of a market of 14 million homes in BellSouth territory. Meanwhile, AFC's fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) solution was recently selected by Verizon.

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Hammerhead Secures $25M for Next Gen Edge Migration Switch

Hammerhead Systems, a start-up based in Mountain View, California, raised $25 million in Series B financing, bringing its total funding to $43 million. Hammerhead Systems is developing a next generation "edge migration switch" to help service providers transition Frame Relay/ATM services to an MPLS backbone. Hammerhead's platform is currently in trials with a Tier 1 RBOC and a leading U.S.-based network service provider. Product details have not yet been announced.


Pequot Ventures led the round with new equity participation and Pequot General Partner Greg Rossmann joins Hammerhead's board of directors. All first round VCs participated including Mayfield, Foundation Capital, and Enterprise Partners.


"We're initially targeting the sweet-spot of corporate data services -- the $20 billion Frame Relay/ATM market -- which represents the carriers' most profitable data services as well as the primary method for transporting mission critical applications among the Fortune 1000," said Joe Sigrist, Hammerhead's President and CEO. http://www.hammerheadsystems.com

• Hammerhead Systems was founded in January of 2002 by Rob Keil and John Yu. Keil previously served as VP of Marketing at optical networking start-up Zaffire, and before that spent 5 years working with the original StrataCom/Cisco engineering group. Dr. Yu previously was Director of Network Architecture at Zaffire and is credited as co-author of 10 IETF/OIF drafts on GMPLS and Optical UNI. Prior to Zaffire, Yu spent 4 years as the Principal Data Services Architect for SBC/PacBell's Frame Relay, ATM and ADSL service deployments.



• Hammerhead is headed by Joe Sigrist, who previously served as President of Lucent Technologies' Edge Access Systems division. Prior to the Lucent acquisition of Ascend, Joe was the Vice President of Product Management for Ascend's remote access business.

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