Cisco Highlights IP NGN Momentum, IMS Enhancements

In conjunction with its Worldwide Analyst Conference 2005 this week in San Jose, Cisco Systems cited growing momentum for its IP Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture and announced a series of product enhancements for IMS-based applications. Cisco cited Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC) as a primary driver for IP NGN.


Recent service provider adoption of Cisco's IP NGN include China Telecom, Cable&Wireless (UK), Telstra (Australia), Hong Kong Broadband, SaskTel (Canada) and Euskaltel (Spain).


The Cisco Service Exchange Framework (SEF), which is the service convergence layer of the Cisco IP NGN architecture, has added support for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based applications aligned with IMS standards as well as non-IMS applications.


Key product enhancements being announced today include the following:

• Session Border Control (SBC) functionality integrated in the Cisco XR 12000 Series Routers. This builds on Layer 2/Layer 3 services with native IOS XR implementation and enables interprovider peering and provider access deployments with support for unified or distributed signaling.



• MPLS-enabled MGX 8880 media gateway -- for wireless, wireline and cable operators. The Cisco MGX is now PacketCable qualified and is optimized for IMS and non-IMS applications



• Cisco Call Session Control Platform (CSCP), Release 3.0 -- provides carrier-grade IMS Call Session Control Function (CSCF) for multimedia services delivered over IP networks. CSCP release 3.0 includes support for the IMS ISC application interface, enabling innovative standards-based applications for voice over broadband, push-to-talk, presence-based services, video telephony and FMC. Release 3.0 also provides enhancements in scalability, provisioning, security and QoS policy enforcement.



• Cisco Service Control Engine (SCE), Release 3.0 -- uses deep-packet inspection and application classification, allowing service providers to offer application-and-subscriber-aware services. Cisco SCE Release 3.0 provides monitoring of VoIP call quality in real-time and reports on individual subscriber experience on a per-call basis. Additional enhancements include integration with third party anti-virus, security and intrusion detection appliances and performance enhancements allowing the system to scale to support 10 Gbps or greater throughput, creating more efficient network deployments.



• PGW2200, Release 9.7 -- a media gateway controller that is widely deployed in VoIP networks, enabling interworking between IP NGN and fixed and mobile legacy telephony networks. PGW 2200 Release 9.7 supports Media Gateway Control Function (MGCF) for IMS and more than 90 SS7/C7 global signaling variants.



• BTS 10200, Release 4.5 -- a softswitch for voice-over-any-broadband access including T1/E1, Cable, ETTx, xDSL. BTS 10200 release 4.5 offers enhanced operational capabilities, new subscriber-focused features, platform support and IMS integration. The BTS 10200 interworks with IMS networks for advanced multimedia services and is deployable as a stand-alone Call Management Server or MGCF.

http://www.cisco.com

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Venturi Wireless Names CEO

Venturi Wireless named Bret Sewell as its new president and CEO. Sewell previously served as president of SnapTrack, Inc., a $50 million company that created the high-precision location-based wireless services market. Sewell pioneered SnapTrack partnerships with DoCoMo, KDDI, Sprint, Verizon, Alltel, Bell Mobility, SK Telecom, KT Freetel, China Unicom, and other carriers, as well as with wireless equipment manufacturers such as Motorola, Texas Instruments, Samsung, LG, NEC, and Alcatel. Earlier in his career, Sewell was the managing director of the Asia Pacific Divisions of Aspect Telecommunications and Octel Communications.


In addition, Tomas Isaksson, former CEO and chairman of the management board at Vodafone Netherlands, has joined Venturi's board of directors.
http://www.venturiwireless.com

• In November 2005, Venturi Wireless, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, introduced its optimization suite for consumer applications and wireless devices ranging from feature phones to smartphones and PDAs. Venturi Wireless aims to significantly improve the performance of multimedia services on wireless devices, by providing an optimized media server and client application capable of accelerating downloads up to three times. Video/audio streams would start two to three times faster. The architecture scales to enable mobile operators to meet the demands of the broad consumer market, supporting up to millions of optimized user connections without any degradation in service quality.
  
  
  The VClient acts as a transparent “media inter-mediator�? to the media server, using bit-rate estimation of network transmission speeds for smoother playback of multimedia applications. Client- and server-side audio/video buffers keep the data stream from freezing during playback.
  
  
  Venturi's "Adaptive Airlink Optimization" technology transparently replaces Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), including the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) for video, with a patented Venturi Transport Protocol (VTP) that overcomes the high latency and high packet loss issues that plague even next-generation wireless networks. VTP uses rate estimation to transmit data at full network speed, thus eliminating TCP's inefficiencies. VTP avoids TCP's congestion control reactions, which cause high latency and back-offs, leading to faster speeds and fewer dropped sessions, interruptions, and connection time-outs. Venturi said VTP also improves multimedia speed and reliability even in poor radio frequency (RF) conditions.

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MontaVista Support's TI's DaVinci with Linux

The MontaVista Linux Professional Edition (Pro) is the first available operating system for Texas Instruments' DaVinci technology. As part of the new DaVinci technology offering, TI will include MontaVista Pro together with two digital signal processor (DSP) -- based systems on a chip (SoC), multimedia codecs, application programming interfaces (APIs), frameworks and development tools for digital video systems.
http://www.mvista.com

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Cingular Wireless Deploys Kodiak for PTT

Cingular Wireless has deployed Kodiak Networks' Real-Time Exchange (RTX) System to power new voice services, including Push to Talk (PTT). The Kodiak RTX supports various capabilities included in Cingular's initial service launch, including:

• Mobile user availability -- displays the current availability of friends, family, co-workers, customers and suppliers to receive a wireless call. Availability includes "available", "silent mode", "do not disturb", and "offline" states.



• Voice Messaging - allows instant voice messaging from Kodiak-enabled phones to contacts/groups with any wireless or landline phone - without waiting to leave a message or ringing the other person's phone.



• Call Me Alerts - allows individuals to send onscreen call alerts to users who are away from their phone or have their phone turned off.



• Quick Groups - Allows users to quickly create groups on their handset by simply selecting contact names and then initiating a group call.



• Handset-Based Contact Management - Customers can manage their contact lists directly on their handset contacts or via a web interface. Contact information is automatically stored on the carrier network and can be instantly retrieved in the case of a lost or stolen phone.

Kodiak said its handset software and thin client is available on handsets produced by Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, LG, Kyocera, Sagem, TCL Alcatel and PalmOne.
http://www.kodiaknetworks.com

• Cingular Wireless is the tenth wireless operator worldwide to deploy the Kodiak RTX System.

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Japan's OnDemand TV Deploy Verimatrix IPTV Content Protection

OnDemand TV, a joint venture between NTT West, NTT East and Itochu, has deployed the Verimatrix Content Authority System (VCAS) to protect Video-on-Demand (VOD) and broadcast content. OnDemand TV is using IPv6-based fiber networks with MPEG-2 compression to deliver its extensive library of VOD movies and 27 broadcast channels to its FTTH subscribers across Japan.


VCAS was integrated with the SeaChange IP Video System, SkyStream's Mediaplex-20 video headend for video streaming and Buffalo's PC-STB1 set-top box. Itochu Technoscience Corporation (CTC) is the prime system integrator for OnDemand TV.
http://www.verimatrix.com

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TI Samples First DaVinci Digital Video Silicon

Texas Instruments released the first products based on its DaVinci technology, including two digital signal processor-(DSP) based system-on-chips (SoC), multimedia codecs, application programming interfaces (APIs), frameworks and development tools.


TI said the advantage of its DaVinci products is that developers are able to add digital video to an application by simply writing to an API.


The TMS320DM644x architecture is a highly integrated system-on-chip (SoC) that has absorbed many of the external components required for digital video, dropping hardware bill of materials by as much as 50% . Offering up to 1080i MPEG-2 decode and up to 720p MPEG-4 simple profile encode, the DM644x devices are based on TI's performance-leading TMS320C64x+ DSP core, an ARM926 processor, video accelerators, networking peripherals and external memory/storage interfaces all specifically tuned for video performance.


The TMS320DM6443, tuned for video decode applications, provides all of the processing components required to decode digital video, including both analog and digital video output with integrated resizer and on-screen display (OSD) engines.


The TMS320DM6446, tuned for video encode and decode applications, adds video encoding capabilities through a dedicated video processing front end capable of capturing various digital video formats.
http://www.ti.com

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LSI Logic Introduces HDTV DVD Recorder Processors

LSI Logic introduced ATSC-compliant HDTV DVD recorder system processors. Based on the LSI DoMiNo architecture, DMN-8633 and DMN-8683 are highly-integrated, single-chip processors capable of simultaneously decoding and displaying HDTV content, while recording content onto DVD.


LSI Logic said that to address the FCC mandate that requires peripheral TV equipment such as VCRs and DVD recorders to be ATSC-compliant by March 2007, DVD recorder manufacturers will need to add HDTV/ATSC tuner capability (consisting of a digital tuner, an 8VSB demodulator, and an ATSC-compliant HD decoder processor) to their existing DVD recorder systems. The DMN-8633/83 processors both decode and display full HD video via HDMI, with DMN-8683 providing the additional capability of enabling time-shifting of HD video -- high-definition DVR capabilities. http://www.lsilogic.com

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Intel and ST Announce Common Memory Subsystem for Mobiles

STMicroelectronics and Intel announced a common flash memory subsystem to lower development costs for handset OEMs and enable them to get to market faster with feature-rich phones. The two companies agreed to provide hardware- and software-compatible NOR flash memory products based on common specifications.


The deal creates a "second source" for NOR flash products and subsystems marks the first time that ST and Intel have worked together on common memory specifications. The first Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NOR products based on the common specifications are 512 Mbit devices independently designed and manufactured on industry-leading 90nm process technology. These products are now available from the two companies. The common subsystem specifications will also extend to 65nm MLC NOR technology and will focus on single-chip 1 Gb MLC NOR products.


According to industry research firm iSuppli, 92.8% of the embedded flash memory shipping in handsets is NOR flash memory. Intel and ST provide more than 40% of the NOR flash memory in handsets today.
http://www.intel.com
http://www.st.com

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Moscow's COMCOR Selects Scientific-Atlanta

COMCOR (Moscow Telecommunication Corporation) selected Scientific-Atlanta equipment to deliver cable programming to customers in Moscow. Multiple cable operators will access COMCOR's signal that will be delivered to fiber nodes in its backbone network via the Scientific-Atlanta equipment. The two-year network expansion includes enhancements to COMCOR's existing Scientific-Atlanta digital headend, new Vision 1000 analog headends, the deployment of the iLYNX backbone system and associated fiber nodes, and the installation of Prisma II analog optics. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.saeurope.cohttp://www.comcor.ru

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Kenya Data Networks Deploys LightPointes Optical Wireless

Kenya Data Networks (KDN), has installed three LightPointe FlightStrata 155 optical wireless systems for a metropolitan ring network in the city of Nairobi. Huawei Technologies, a strategic OEM partner for LightPointe, led the network integration, provisioning and installation for the wireless network deployment.


In addition to KDN, Huawei is leveraging LightPointe's optical wireless products for several international carriers that provide a variety of subscriber services through mobile wireless and traditional wireline networks. http://www.lightpointe.com

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Global Crossing, SURFnet carry 19 Gbps Transatlantic Visualization Stream

Global Crossing supplied multiple 10 Gbps wavelengths to the Dutch research network operator SURFnet to set a world record in transatlantic visualization. Scientists SARA, the academic computer center in Amsterdam, displayed a visualization stream of 19.5 Gbps between NetherLight, the GLIF Open Lightpath Exchange (GOLE) in Amsterdam, and San Diego.


During the experiment, network usage peaked at 19.5 Gbps, with a sustained rate of 18 Gbps -- a world record for bandwidth usage by one single application showing actual scientific content. The experiment was conducted at the iGrid 2005 conference in San Diego where the display was located. The conference included workshops and real-time demonstrations of research innovations in LambdaGrid infrastructure in support of advanced science applications. Global Crossing is one of the major providers of lambdas to the Global Lambda Integrated Facility (GLIF) community.


The high bandwidth usage was required to refresh the large "tiled" screen 20 times per second in order to achieve high levels of resolution. The output was viewed on a display of 55 screens of the Electronic Visualization Laboratory of the University of Illinois, resulting in a total resolution of 17,600 x 6,000 pixels. SARA will be taking this experiment forward in February next year when once again they will use Global Crossing as the backbone for running a high-resolution visualization and videoconferencing simultaneously.
http://www.globalcrossing.com

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Verizon Consider Sale of Directories Business

Verizon Communications is considering strategic alternatives for the domestic operations of the company's wholly owned directories publishing business, Verizon Information Services (VIS). The division operates SuperPages.com and publishes approximately 1,750 telephone directories in 44 states and Washington, D.C.


Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg said, "With the MCI merger expected to close shortly, this is the right time for us to optimize our business mix and unlock value. We remain focused on a competitive strategy of operating the best networks to serve wireless, broadband and enterprise customers. We are satisfied with the current levels of investment in our network growth initiatives, and there is no change to our previously announced operating guidance for 2006."http://www.verizon.com

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Personeta Raises $12 Million for IMS Application Servers

Personeta, a start-up based in Naperville, Illinois with R&D in Israel, secured $12 million in additional equity financing in a series D round for its Network Service Control (NSC) and IMS application servers.


Personeta's TappS NSC speeds time to market and introduction of new service offerings. It also delivers the same services over any combination of network technologies -- fixed, mobile, VoIP and broadband. As an application server, TappS NSC interfaces directly with the Call Service Control Framework (CSCF) and HSS functions using standard interfaces. As an external application server, TappS NSC interfaces with a Parlay/OSA gateway to support access to multiple networks and to allow operators to securely open their networks to third-party partners.


New investor, Azure Capital Partners, a venture capital firm based in San Francisco with more than $500 million under management, led the round with current investors Duchossois Technology Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners also contributing.
http://www.personeta.com

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Reef Point Adds UMA Test Tools for its Security Gateway

Reef Point Systems, which supplies a massively scalable security gateway for the fixed mobile convergence market, introduced a suite of Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) test tools for production-scale implementations of UMA based on the IKEv2 protocol.


Reef Point said it developed the iQ UMA Test Suite to fully stress and validate UMA implementations including simulating hundreds of thousands of mobile station endpoints and exercising the entire authentication infrastructure at scale.


Reef Point's control and data plane test suite, which runs on its security gateway platform, tests IPsec tunnel scalability and IKEv2 negotiation rate, simulates IKEv2 DoS attacks and performs line rate traffic forwarding across IPsec tunnels. Service providers can test deployment-specific scenarios with a variety of configuration options including rate-configurable tunnel setups and teardowns. Formatted reporting enables fast and accurate interpretation of results. The new suite supports the complete UMA/GSM infrastructure including authentication with RADIUS servers, accessing the GSM databases Visitor's Location Register (VLR) and Home Location Register (HLR) as well as load testing access to UNC services over secure IPsec tunnels.
http://www.reefpoint.com/

• Reef Point Systems' UMA Security Gateway scales to as many as half a million simultaneous connections. The gateway provides secure WiFi roaming and provides subscribers with confidentiality by encapsulating the call and signaling data in secure IPSec tunnels. It provides robust threat defense including stateful firewalls with Denial of Service attack prevention, intrusion detection services, custom firewall filtering, dynamic virtual routing with Network Address Translation, and session limiting to protect against external threats. The Multiservice Security Gateway supports Internet Key Exchange v2 (IKEv2) and Extensible Authentication Protocol Method for GSM Subscriber Identity Modules (EAP-SIM) to provide scalable mutual authentication, encryption and data integrity safeguards for signaling, voice, and data.

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VeriSign Activates Internet Domain Server Cluster in Australia

VeriSign activated a new regional server cluster in Sydney serving as the authoritative registry for .com and .net domain names.com in Australia. VeriSign now operates a global constellation of 18 geographically-dispersed Internet server clusters that monitor and mirror the world's Internet traffic for .com and .net. The company said it is processing more than 15 billion queries daily in its operation of .com and .net Internet infrastructure.
http://www.verisign.com

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Cisco CRS-1 Adds IP-over-DWDM

Cisco Systems announced over IP over Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (IPoDWDM) on its CRS-1 Carrier Routing System, enabling integration between the IP layer and the optical transmission layer. Cisco said the capability will help service providers increase the throughput of existing DWDM infrastructures from 10Gbps to 40Gbps to efficiently manage traffic growth from video/IPTV services.


The Cisco IPoDWDM integration strategy features three key integration points: Element Integration, Control Integration, and Management Integration.


Element integration minimizes optical-electrical-optical conversions in the network to reduce expensive stand-alone transponders and complex electrical switching equipment. Cisco today is introducing two interfaces for the CRS-1 with integrated transponder functionality, enabling the CRS-1 to originate fully tunable ITU-grid compatible wavelengths. The new interfaces feature two industry firsts:

• a one-port 40 Gbps tunable DWDM Packet-over-SONET (POS) interface that is designed to be compatible with existing 10 Gbps DWDM systems.



• a four-port 10 Gbps Gigabit Ethernet Tunable DWDM PHY interface with SONET/SDH-like Operations, Administration, Maintenance and Provisioning (OAM&P).

Both interfaces support enhanced integrated Forward Error Correction (FEC) providing up to a 5X increase in reach and 50 percent reduction in optics. The interfaces are fully compatible with the Cisco ONS 15454 Multiservice Transport Platform (MSTP) and are also designed to interoperate with any existing installed DWDM infrastructure.


Control integration enables providers to migrate from a manual provisioning process to a dynamic service activation provisioning process. Cisco is announcing the Segmentation model of GMPLS (S-GMPLS) available on the CRS-1.


S-GMPLS leverages the power of GMPLS IP control protocols for auto-configuration of wavelengths while keeping the topology of the routing domain isolated from the topology of the DWDM domains, providing a way to deploy GMPLS while respecting organizational boundaries.


Management integration provides flexible operating models designed to enable separate management of the IP and the DWDM equipment by separate operating groups, and, alternatively, to enable providers to deploy a unified management model to achieve operational cost efficiencies and reduce time to service deployment. The CRS-1 supports integration with third-party interfaces through Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).


"Comcast's and Cisco's shared vision of integrated 10 Gbps and 40 Gbps DWDM interfaces was one of the key reasons for our selection of the CRS-1," said Vik Saxena, Comcast Director of IP Architecture. "As we move to transport all services over IP, including broadcast video and video on demand, cost-effectiveness, scalability, reliability, and service flexibility become critical."http://www.cisco.com

• In 2004, Cisco introduced OC768c optical interfaces on the CRS-1, delivering 40 Gbps trunking for high capacity terabit POPs and central offices and also launched its Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs), which integrate photonic switching into optical multiplexers.

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Ericsson Supplies ADSL2+ in Vietnam

Ericsson was selected by Vietnamese operator Saigon Postel (SPT) as the main (key) supplier for its network upgrade to ADSL2+. Ericsson is providing network design, supply, delivery and installation
of its IP-DSLAM EDA system, as well as relevant training and support
services. Deployments are underway in Ho Chi Minh City.
http://www.ericsson.com

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ntl Expected to acquire Virgin Mobile -- UK Quadruple Play

ntl is in talks to acquire Virgin Mobile, possible creating a UK "quadruple play" communications company with cable TV, high-speed broadband, mobile phone and fixed-line voice services.


In October, ntl confirmed plans to acquire Telewest for GBP 3.4 billion ($6 billion), creating the UK's second largest communications company with a cable footprint covering more than 50% of the nation's households. The combined company will have nearly 5 million customers, including 2.5 million residential broadband subscribers and the second largest fixed telephony supplier with 4.3 million subscribers.


Virgin Mobile is backed by billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and uses T-Mobile's network. Since its launch in November 1999, Virgin Mobile has attracted more than 5.6 million customers. Branson is expected to hold 14% of the combined company once the merger is completed.
http://www.ntl.com
http://www.virginmobile.com

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