Entrisphere Announces GPON Access Solution

Entrisphere introduced its GPON access solution including network platforms, software, network terminals and management systems.



The core of the Entrisphere GPON solution includes Optical Line Terminals (OLTs), Optical Network Terminals (ONTs), Optical Network Units (ONUs) and management systems. The solution also includes software upgrades that expand existing IP service-aware features such as IGMP multicasting, VLAN stacking and tagging, and security upgrades.



Entrisphere said its systems are ready for IMS integration. Key features include high density GigE uplinks and integrated voice gateways for increased TDM and VoIP support. Both the hardware and software components build on the existing base of BLM 1500, T-Series and EntriView systems, all of which have been deployed at major carriers for copper and B-PON networks.



The GPON ONTs and ONUs serve single family homes, businesses, residences in multi-dwelling unit buildings (MDUs), businesses in multi-tenant buildings (MTUs), and fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC) applications. All the applications meet North American standards in addition to G.984, including NEBS Level 3, GR-303/TR-08, 99.999% reliability and environmental hardening. By adhering to G.984 standards, both the OLT and ONTs are designed to be interoperable with other G.984-compliant GPON systems. The EntriView Element Management System (EMS) has also been upgraded to manage the GPON network elements.



In addition, Entrisphere announced a series of new product features that enhance the performance of the GPON OLT and ONTs in the access network. These new features include new SIP-based VoIP service on all of its ONTs and ONUs, coupled with integrated voice gateways to legacy Class 5 switches and H.248 softswitches in the BLM 1500. (As an alternative to using an integrated gateway, the system interoperates with external SIP and H.248 voice gateways.) http://www.entrisphere.com

Leverage Virtual Network Elements to Integrate Carrier Management Silos

Multi-Service Access Platforms enable new IPTV and packet voice services, and they lower capital costs by reducing the number of separate boxes needed to provide the various functions. But the very integration that makes MSAPs so attractive also causes problems for the legacy side of telco operations. The solution is to use software to abstract non-integrated, virtual views of the MSAP's functions from its integrated hardware.

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SkyPilot's SkyExtender TriBand Integrates Public Wi-Fi and 4.9 GHz Public Safety Bands

SkyPilot Networks introduced its SkyExtender TriBand product for integrating its 5 GHz synchronous mesh backhaul platform with two high-power access points, one dedicated to licensed 4.9 GHz public safety applications and one dedicated to 2.4 GHz public Wi-Fi access.



The SkyExtender TriBand is designed for the combined requirements of public/private partnerships between municipalities and service providers. Such networks may use US-licensed 4.9 GHz public safety spectrum to serve the field connectivity needs of first responders, including police, fire and emergency services, and may use 2.4 GHz to deliver public Wi-Fi access.



Through the use of industry standard IEEE 802.11a, SkyPilot enables connectivity with 4.9 GHz public safety solutions, including solutions from In Motion Technology, Padcom, and Ubiquiti Networks.

• In Motion Technology's onBoard Mobile Gateway (oMG) is a trunk-mountable, environmentally hardened wireless communications gateway for use in police cars, fire trucks, ambulances and other public safety vehicles. As part of a mobile service delivery platform, the oMG transparently enables multiple Ethernet, Wi-Fi (802.11i) or serial devices in the vehicle to connect securely with the agency's headquarters over SkyPilot's 4.9 GHz technology or carrier networks such as EVDO based on best available coverage.



• Padcom's TotalRoam Mobile VPN software provides a continuous mobile connectivity solution that integrates wireless broadband and public and private wide area networks, allowing users to seamlessly and securely roam between available networks without the need to reconnect. In addition, Padcom's in-vehicle Remote Access Router hardware platform manages mobile connectivity for public safety vehicles, such as police squad cars, fire trucks, and ambulances.



• Ubiquiti SuperRange4 Cardbus solution is a high-power 4.9 GHz Cardbus product that provides laptops with connectivity to the US-licensed 4.9 GHz public safety network.

The SkyExtender TriBand is currently in trials and is scheduled for first customer shipments in May. The list price of $4,199 is inclusive of the full dual access point configuration with 2.4 and 4.9 GHz omnidirectional antennas and synchronous mesh backhaul with a 5 GHz eight-way directional antenna array.

http://www.skypilot.co

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ANDA Expands EtherReach, Rogers Wireless Deploys for Wireless Backhaul

ANDA Networks has expanded its EtherReach 2000 product family with two new devices designed to help carriers migrate their Frame Relay or ATM customers to a native Ethernet service while also seamlessly introducing Ethernet services over a common transport infrastructure. The new EtherReach 2118 and 2210 deliver Ethernet and TDM service bundles over the existing access infrastructure, while offering QoS and rate-limiting granularity in 64 kbps increments.



Due to the converged services requirements of running multiple applications over a single Ethernet service, multiple services including VoIP, video, mission critical data, and Internet access require mechanisms to delineate and manage unique classes and quality of service levels as tariffed by carriers delivering multiple services over a single Ethernet connection. Each of these carrier service types will require its own separate VLANs for Ethernet Virtual Circuits (EVCs) based on customers' class of service types selected by their end-users.



The new EtherReach 2118 and 2210 supports up to 128 VLANs per Ethernet port allowing carriers to offer multiple services types over a single Ethernet private line.



In addition, the new ANDA EtherReach 2000 products will support optional X.86 or standard Generic Framing Protocol (GFP) for NxT1/E1 on the current EtherReach 2108 and the new EtherReach 2118, and DS3/E3 interfaces on the current EtherReach 2200 and the new EtherReach 2210.



Rogers Wireless has deployed ANDA Networks' EtherTone platforms on revenue generating networks across Canada to offer high-speed data and IP services to several Canadian provinces. In meeting the varying connectivity needs of wireless as well as wireline carriers, ANDA's EtherTone solutions are used to connect locations within the same metropolitan area, provinces or states, between Canada and the U.S., or worldwide.



ANDA said its EtherTone solutions provide cost-effective Ethernet access, aggregation and transport for consolidating Managed Ethernet Private lines such as E-Line and E-LAN, and now wireless backhaul applications, such as WiMAX, WiFi or cellular extensions.



In addition, ANDA Networks announced that Lucent Worldwide Services is providing global maintenance and deployment services for its Metro Ethernet products.

http://www.andanetworks.com

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Wind River Acquires Interpeak for Networking Middleware

Wind River Systems acquired privately-held Interpeak AB of Stockholm, Sweden, a provider of networking, security and mobility middleware software that enables next-generation devices to connect securely to the Internet. Wind River said the acquisition broadens its device software platform with complementary, high-quality, secure networking technology.



Wind River paid approximately $20 million in cash and restricted stock for Interpeak. Wind River anticipates this acquisition will be mildly accretive in Fiscal Year 2007 and is not changing its non-GAAP financial guidance for Q1 or the Fiscal Year that was given on March 8th, 2006 in its fiscal year 2006 earnings release. http://www.windriver.com/

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Alcatel Offer Compact Service Router

Alcatel introduced a compact version of its Service Routing platform optimized for mobile operators, service providers with smaller points of presence (POPs) and emerging markets. The Alcatel 7710 Service Router, which delivers 12 Gbps of throughput capacity, uses the same ASICs and provides the same QoS and high-availability features as the larger products in the series. It features a smaller form-factor with 12 horizontal slots for interfaces, including new 1/4 slot Compact Media Adapters. Key functionality includes low-speed aggregation of physical DS1 and E1 interfaces.

The Alcatel 7710 SR is positioned for delivering business services from smaller POPs, feeding traffic upstream into an IP/MPLS backbone, such as to an Alcatel 7750 SR. In mobile applications, it would feed traffic from the radio access network (RAN) into an IP core.

http://www.alcatel.com

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Nortel Extends Enterprise Secure Router Platform from Tasman

Nortel introduced a "Secure Router" portfolio designed to extend the power of convergence from main office locations to branch offices.

The Nortel Secure Router 1000 portfolio is comprised of the 1001, 1002 and 1004 for small office and branch office deployments. It also includes the Secure Router 3120 for mid-range branch deployments. Nortel said its Secure Routers deliver more than double the performance throughput at 25% less cost than equivalent router from the leading competitor.

The platform was originally developed by Tasman Networks.

http://www.nortel.com

• Nortel purchased Tasman Networks for $99.5 million to provide a comprehensive end-to-end convergence solution and to round out the company's secure router portfolio for branch office environments. The deal closed February 24, 2006.

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Sierra Wireless Debuts EV-DO Rev A Cards

Sierra Wireless introduced its AirCard 595 wireless wide area network card and the MC5725 PCI Express Mini Card embedded module designed to take advantage of the increased speed and functionality offered by EV-DO Revision A networks.



EV-DO Revision A is an upgrade to current EV-DO networks that supports faster data rates and increased system capacity, offering peak data rates of 3.1 Mbps on the downlink and up to 1.8 Mbps on the uplink.

http://www.sierrawireless.com

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Sun to Offer Nominum's Next-Gen DNS / DHCP Solution

Sun Microsystems will deliver Nominum's Domain Name System (DNS) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) software to wireline, wireless and cable operators. The solution, made available through Sun and on a range of Sun's hardware platforms, has been optimized for Sun's Solaris 10.

Reference customers include THUS, Telefónica de España, NTL, Eastlink and Telewest.

http://www.sun.comhttp://www.nominum.com

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VeriSign to Acquire m-Qube for Mobile Content Infrastructure

VeriSign agreed to acquire m-Qube, a leading mobile channel enabler that helps companies develop, deliver and bill for mobile content, applications and messaging services, for $250 million dollars net of cash.



Verisign said the acquisition of m-Qube complements its recent acquisitions of 3united and Kontiki, extending VeriSign's digital content platform to enable carriers, Internet portals, media companies and consumer brands to provide anytime, anywhere, any device delivery of mobile and broadband services.



m-Qube's premium messaging and content services can reach more than 200 million wireless subscribers in North America. Its intelligent application platform is being used in the mobile storefronts and marketing campaigns of Sony Pictures, CBS, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, Warner Music Group, Reuters, GQ, Virgin Mobile Canada and Telus Mobility.



m-Qube, based in Watertown, Massachusetts, is privately held with 200 employees across North America.

http://www.verisign.comhttp://www.m-qube.com

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Spirent Enhances IPTV Test Solution

Spirent Communications has integrated "V-Factor" into its IPTV Quality of Experience (QoE) Test System. V-Factor, developed by QoSmetrics, is an implementation of the Moving Picture Quality Metric (MPQM) standard for network-delivered video assessment and displaces the older, primitive Media Delivery Index (MDI) approach.



Hitachi is one of the first IPTV network equipment manufacturers to employ Spirent's V-Factor enabled test system.



The Spirent IPTV QoE Test System along with V-Factor technology determines video quality as perceived by a subscriber and offers a high correlation with user's actual quality of experience.



V-Factor, which also includes audio performance assurance, takes into account network impairments such as delay variation and packet loss episodes that impact the video buffer used to restitute a video image as well as image complexity and the type of codec used. The technology enables the service provider to understand how network performance issues impact this perceived quality, in advance of the service being launched. Obsolescent testing metrics such as MDI merely attempt to infer subscriber QoE based on network performance indicators.



V-Factor is an objective measurement system that reproduces the subjective experience of the human observer. Network-based metrics are only capable of suggesting a coarse grade of subscriber QoE and are not sufficient for performance evaluation of video services like IPTV, especially in the context of a highly competitive broadband video market. MPQM, by comparison, is based on an objective evaluation method that is capable of filtering network-induced quality of degradation by properties of human vision.

http://www.spirentcom.comhttp://www.qosmetrics.com

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HomePNA Begins Work on 320 Gbps over Coax and Phonelines

The HomePNA alliance is developing significant enhancements to the HomePNA 3.0 specification, aiming to deliver up to 320 Gbps over exising wires in homes. The HomePNA 3.1 specification, which builds upon HomePNA 3.0 technology standardized by the ITU in May 2005, is intended to provide the highest speed option for in-home distribution of new triple-play services such as IPTV.



HomePNA 3.1 will retain the significant features that make HomePNA 3.0, including QoS, low cost, robust performance, and the ability to operate simultaneously over both phonelines and coax cables. The highly efficient protocol will enable user throughput close to the data rate while additional enhancements will enable HomePNA 3.1 to also support multi-band operation for even higher network throughput.



Work on the new specification is expected to be completed summer 2006. HomePNA member companies intend to present recommendations based on version 3.1 to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) after it has been released to the membership.



HomePNA also announced new executive officers to its board of directors. David Alsobrook, Director, IPTV Products at Scientific Atlanta, a Cisco company, takes on the role of Secretary, and Jaime Fink, Director of Product Marketing at 2Wire, takes on the role of Treasurer for the alliance. Rich Nesin, VP of Marketing at Coppergate Communications, will continue in the role as president of HomePNA. Additionally, the HomePNA board selected Phyllis Anderson, technical standards manager at AT&T Labs, to serve as chairperson of the HomePNA technical committee.

http://www.homepna.org

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Broadwing Offer DTM Multicast over Fiber Service

Broadwing Communications launched a fiber-based, real-time media multicast service that allows media and broadcasting outlets to more efficiently and cost-effectively distribute media content to multiple locations.



The Dynamic synchronous Transfer Mode (DTM) Multicast service, which is managed by Broadwing's Television Operations Center (TOC), is available from any of Broadwing's 180+ network Points of Presence (POPs).



Broadwing said its DTM Multicast solution delivers optimized, asymmetrical bandwidth provisioning with 100% QoS, which makes much more efficient use of network resources and translates into better price and performance for customers. Customers can allocate bandwidth in 512 Kbps increments from 1 Mbps to 1 Gbps.



"Our customers can leverage this unique service using their native media applications without the need to introduce a higher layer protocol, such as ATM or IP," said Del Bothof, vice president and general manager of Broadwing's media services group. "Our DTM Multicast technology is a highly efficient and reliable customer solution -- like having a satellite solution on the ground."http://www.broadwing.com

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Wave7 Optics Introduces EPON CPE

Wave7 Optics introduced its new "EFM" customer premises equipment, based on the IEEE 802.3ah "Ethernet in the First Mile" specifications. The new ONT equipment consists of the following:

• Model ONT-E100i - a "data only" device featuring one 10/100 Ethernet port for the delivery of high-speed data up to 100Mbits, IPTV and VoIP services. General availability - now.



• Model ONT-E1000i - a data only device featuring one 10/100/1000 Ethernet port for the delivery of data up to 1 Gbps, IPTV and VoIP services. General availability - 2Q 2006.



• Model ONT-E221 - a "triple-play" device featuring two 10/100 ports, two POTS telephone lines and one RF Video port for the delivery of data with up to 200Mbits of throughput, standard telephony service (POTS), IP Telephony (VoIP), IPTV and RF Video overlay. General availability - 2Q 2006.

http://www.wave7optics.com

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Veraz Awarded 37 VoIP Contracts in 2005

Veraz Networks was awarded 37 VoIP contracts in 2005 of which 50% were the result of new customer wins and the remainder represented installed base growth. The Veraz's VoIP footprint now extends into over 50 countries and its broad-based success includes contracts with multiple Tier-1 and Tier-2 wireline and wireless service providers in both developed and emerging markets.

http://www.veraznetworks.com

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Sprint's Local Division Launches Muni Wi-Fi in Nevada

EMBARQ, Sprint Nextel's local communications business, has launched a mesh Wi-Fi broadband network trial in portions of Henderson, Nevada.



The municipal Wi-Fi trial is believed to be the largest carried out by a local telecommunications operator in the United States.

http://www.sprint.com/mr

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Siemens Introduces VDSL2 Modem

Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices is introducing its Gigaset SE267 VDSL2 Modem at this week's TelecomNEXT in Las Vegas. The modem supports up to 100 Mbps upstream and downstream providing the capacity to deliver services such as HDTV, video-on-demand, videoconferencing, high-speed Internet access, and VoIP. Key features include a 10/100 Ethernet port which provides full-rate LAN performance.

http://www.siemens.com

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Siemens Unveils Residential Gateways with "IntelliSteer" Smart Antenna

Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices unveils two new residential ADSL2+ wireless gateways featuring IntelliSteer smart antenna technology. Siemens said its patented beam steering technology typically doubles signal strength over conventional antenna solutions while minimizing interference from and with other wireless neighbors.
Whereas, traditional wireless antennas transmit and receive energy more or less equally in all directions, IntelliSteer monitors the network connection and redirects antenna power for maximum network performance and reduced interference.



The new Gigaset SE567 and SE568 Gateway's IntelliSteer actively switches between directional beams to get the strongest signal for each connected device thereby maximizing throughput and range, providing a dramatic improvement over standard antennas. The Gigaset SE567 and SE568 Gateways include four 10/100 Ethernet ports; one may be configured as a WAN interface for a two-box solution for services such as FTTP. The Gigaset SE568 includes an added USB port. Both Gateways include powerful security features such as a configurable ICSA-compliant stateful inspection firewall with Denial of Service (DoS) protection. A robust QoS subsystem incorporating separate QoS Classifier, Queue Manager and Scheduler guarantees the highest quality subscriber experience.

http://www.siemens.com

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RCN Launches 20 Mbps Cable Modem Service

RCN launched its new MegaModem Mach 20 service in Falls Church, Virginia, and Woburn, Massachusetts, delivering downstream data at up to 20 Mbps an up to 2 Mbps upstream to residential subscribers.



RCN's subscribers can receive its Unlimited Local Phone with calling features, Full Basic Cable TV and 20 Megabits per second service bundle for $129.99.



"While Verizon's new FIOS service may have a higher data speed, you pay more but get less," explained Tim Dunne, RCN Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. "The differentiator is that MegaModem Mach 20 comes bundled with our outstanding Cable TV programming and high-quality telephone service and is priced below what Verizon charges only for its high-speed data service."http://www.rcn.com

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XO Deploys Hatteras' Ethernet Service Edge Platforms

XO Communications is using Hatteras Networks' HN4000 and HN400 networking platforms to deliver Ethernet services nationwide. Now available in more than 60 metropolitan markets, XO Ethernet Services are enabling businesses at copper-fed locations to take advantage of the types of services previously reserved for buildings connected by fiber.



In addition, Continental Broadband, a leading telecommunications provider for managed services with locally branded business units serving business customers in Chicago, is deploying its HN4000 and HN400 platforms to deliver Metro Ethernet business service in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Boston, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Richmond and Hampton Roads.



At this week's Comptel conference in San Diego, Hatteras Networks is demonstrating symmetrical service over standard voice-grade copper twisted pairs with over 200 Mbps of capacity. Hatteras said the demonstration of over 200 Mbps of Ethernet traffic highlights its ability to layer multiple services over a single physical connection with the Quality of Service (QoS) and Class of Service (CoS)http://www.hatterasnetworks.com

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BT Vision Targets Autumn Launch

BT's nationwide next generation TV service will be called "BT Vision" and is on-track for commercial launch this Autumn.



The service will combine access to digital-terrestrial channels through an aerial with broadband-powered video on demand. BT will use a software platform powered by Microsoft and a set-top box made by Philips. There will be no mandatory monthly subscription.



BT Vision will be enabled by the BT Hub, a device which is at the heart of BT's strategy for the converged home. The hub will also allow wireless networking for the family's PCs and laptops and up to five different calls to be made at the same time using VoIP.



BT's most recent announcements of content deals for the new service include a deal with leading TV production company Endemol to license programming and develop cutting-edge interactive content for BT Vision. The company also recently signed a deal with Cartoon Network to license its most popular programming such as the Powerpuff Girls and Dexter's Laboratory and to develop interactive content for BT Vision.



BT has begun taking customer registrations for the upcoming service.

http://www.btplc.com

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