ZigBee Wireless Specification Finalized

The ZigBee Alliance ratified the first ZigBee specification for low-cost, low-power wireless networks. Expected applications for ZigBee include wireless sensor networks for remote monitoring, home control, as well as industrial automation.



The ZigBee Alliance, which includes more than 100 member companies, plans to validate the specification through expanded interoperability and scalability tests. http://www.zigbee.org

Read More

NTT DoCoMo Tests 1 Gbps VSF-Spread OFDM

NTT DoCoMo has successfully tested a broadband wireless access system with 1 Gbps downlink capability. The 4G radio access equipment employed variable-spreading-factor spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (VSF-Spread OFDM) radio access technology along with multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) multiplexing techniques and a new signal detection algorithm in order to achieve the 1Gbps data transmission within 100 MHz of spectrum.



NTT DoCoMo said it is currently conducting indoor tests with various radio conditions as preparation for future field tests to develop a 4G global standard in coordination with the ITU. http://www.nttdocomo.com

Read More

PacketFront Supplies In-Building Broadband for Tokyo's Four Seasons Hotel

PacketFront, together with NEO Index Corporation and Soliton Systems KK, are suppliying a new broadband network for the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Chinzan-so. The fully automated network will be based on PacketFront's Intelligent Broadband Solution and will offer 300 hotel rooms and conference facilities a selection of Triple Play services. Soliton Systems has built and is operating the network, while NEO Index Corporation offers Triple Play services to the hotel. The hotel is now providing access to a content library with over 5,000 video titles from major Hollywood studios, as well as Japanese films. http://www.packetfront.comhttp://www.neoinc.jp/e/index.html

Read More

KPN Selects Siemens Surpass for Network Upgrade

KPN selected Siemens as the strategic IP partner for its fixed network and mobile activities in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Under the five year agreement, Siemens Communications will set up a completely new IP environment for the whole of KPN, laying the foundation for a new generation of communication services.



Siemens will supply network elements and application platforms (IMS, IP Multimedia Subsystem) mostly based on its IP convergence architecture Surpass. Financial terms were not disclosed.



KPN is already a major supplier of IP-based services to businesses in the Netherlands and abroad, offering IP-PBX and IP-VPN connectivity. http://www.siemens.com

Read More

Thomson Completes TR-069 Testing with SupportSoft

Thomson and SupportSoft successfully conducted interoperability testing of the DSL Forum CPE WAN Management protocol. Known as TR-069, this specification ensures that DSL modems can be easily configured, activated and managed from a console in the network, helping service providers to effectively address the costs of deployment and support of their CPE as well as tightly manage broadband service delivery. TR-069 provides the necessary framework for efficient and scalable deployment of new services on top of the DSL broadband infrastructure. Thomson and SupportSoft have validated that Thomson's DSL CPE devices and SupportSoft's netConfiguration software interoperate in accordance with the DSL Forum TR-069 specification. http://www.supportsoft.comhttp://www.thomson.net

Read More

AMC-16 Satellite Launched from Atlas V

The AMC-16 telecommunications satellite, which was designed and built by Lockheed Martin for SES AMERICOM, was successfully launched aboard a Lockheed Martin-built Atlas V rocket provided by International Launch Services (ILS).



AMC-16, a hybrid satellite featuring the second operating Ka-band payload in the SES AMERICOM fleet, with 12 spot-beams and 24-36Mhz transponders of Ku-band capacity for both fixed satellite service or direct broadcast service. The Ka-band beams will be deployed in a pattern to take advantage of frequency re-use while eliminating interference between and among the beams.



SES AMERICOM has an agreement with EchoStar Communications Corporation, a leading U.S. satellite TV provider, to use both payloads on AMC-16.



AMC-16 is the fourth Lockheed Martin-built satellite ILS has launched in 2004 to expand SES AMERICOM's fleet of satellites, which provide global distribution of cable, broadcast television and radio programming, mobile communications, business television, broadband data and telecommunications services.



AMC-15, which features the first Ka-band operating payload in the SES AMERICOM fleet, was successfully launched in October aboard an ILS Proton vehicle from Baikonur, Kazakhstan in October. http://lmms.external.lmco.com/

Read More

MaxStream Adopts Freescale ZigBee Wireless

MaxStream, a supplier of embedded RF modules, has adopted Freescale Semiconductor's ZigBee wireless silicon. In Q1 2005, MaxStream will introduce the FCC and CE-type approved XBee family, which incorporates Freescale's ZigBee-ready and 802.15.4 chipsets onto MaxStream's RF modules. The XBee line of RF modules and stand-alone connectivity solutions will allow OEMs to add ZigBee wireless capabilities to their products.



The ZigBee wireless standard enables the connection of electronic devices in a short-range wireless mesh network. http://www.freescale.com/http://www.maxstream.net/

Read More

Sumitomo Electric Ships IP Set-top to NTT Communications

Sumitomo Electric Networks announced commercial shipment of its "StreamCruiser" IP set-top boxes to NTT Communications for its "OCN Theater" video distribution service.



OCN Theater is a VOD service for NTT Comm's OCN optical fiber "B FLET'S" service. It features Hollywood movie productions, Japanese movies and the currently popular Korean dramas. In addition to VOD, the service provides video kara-oke, games, news news, weather reports, maps and other content.



Sumitomo Electric's StreamCruiser IP-STB connects to the TV set in the home as a set-top box using an FTTH or ADSL. The product uses "Raptor" high-speed, low-latency, packet-loss recovery technology developed through the collaboration betwen Sumitomo Electric Networks and US-based Digital Fountain.



StreamCruiser is also available with NTT East Corporation's IPv6 network service (FLET'S.Net), and implements links with the Digital Rights Management (DRM) system using content encryption, supporting video distribution service on a fully commercial basis. http://www.sei-networks.comhttp://www.streamcruiser.com/

Read More

Nortel Softswitch Achieves Euro-PacketCable Qualification

Nortel's Communication Server (CS) 2000 has been awarded EUR-PacketCable Call Management Server (CMS) qualification status by the EUR-Cable Certification Board (ECB), a consortium consisting of 12 major European cable. EUR-PacketCable is the set of procedures for IP-based telephony over cable and builds on the North American PacketCable standard developed by CableLabs. The standard enables a range of multimedia services, including IP telephony, multimedia conferencing, interactive gaming, and general multimedia applications.



Nortel said it is the only CMS vendor with cable VoIP solutions qualified in both Europe (by ECB) and North America (by CableLabs). Nortel added eight new cable VoIP contracts in 2004. Announced cable VoIP deployments in EMEA include TeleCable (Spain), ish and Kabel BW (Germany) and Telenet (Belgium). http://www.nortel.com

Read More

TANDBERG TV to Acquire N2 Broadband

TANDBERG Television agreed to acquire N2 Broadband, Inc., a provider of scalable, open-platform solutions for on-demand entertainment, in a cash and stock transaction valued at $110 million to $130 million.



The companies said their merger would create a global force in the provision of enabling technologies for the delivery of digital multimedia content. TANDBERG Television is a market leader in digital video compression, offering a portfolio of standard definition and high definition compression solutions for MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC and SMPTE VC-1. The company is the primary supplier of digital cable head ends in Europe, with a strong position in the global DTH satellite market and a market lead in the provision of IPTV delivery systems to telcos around the world.



N2 Broadband provides an open-platform solution that enables network operators and content providers to efficiently and confidently offer on-demand services. The company serves the North American cable market and has established relationships with the top cable operators, and an engineering staff intimately familiar with current and next generation cable system architectures.



"The North American market represents the largest growth opportunity for TANDBERG Television's products and services over the next several years and N2 Broadband will immediately strengthen the route to market for our video compression systems into the US cable market," said Eric Cooney, President and CEO of TANDBERG Television. "Of equal importance over the long term is the expanding worldwide market for on-demand services such as VOD. Our pole position in European and Asian cable markets, as well as our global lead in the telco IPTV segment, provides an established route to market for N2 Broadband's industry-leading VOD software."http://www.tandbergtv.comhttp://www.n2broadband.com

Read More

Verizon Wireless Extends EVDO in California

Verizon Wireless announced the extension of its BroadbandAccess EVDO wireless service to nearly all of Los Angeles County and, for the first time, portions of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. California. Verizon Wireless said its BroadbandAccess wireless service is now providing typical download speeds of 300 - 500 kbps throughout nearly 4,400 square miles of Southern California.



In addition to its ongoing annual capital investment program to build network capacity and coverage, Verizon Wireless expects to invest $1 billion through 2005 to further deploy its EV-DO technology nationally. In California, the company has invested $3 billion in its network since the company was founded in mid-2000.



BroadbandAccess service is priced at $79.99 monthly access for unlimited use with a 1- or 2-year customer agreement. The notebook interface card is priced at $49.99 with a 2-year customer agreement or $99.99 with a 1-year customer agreement after $150 mail-in rebate.



Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess is currently available in 17 cities across the U.S. and in over 25 major airports. http://www.verizonwireless.com

Read More