Cisco to Acquire Arroyo for VOD Servers

Cisco Systems agreed to acquire privately-held Arroyo Video Solutions, Inc., a developer of on-demand video servers, for approximately $92 million in cash.



Cisco said it plans to integrate the Arroyo platform into the Cisco IP-NGN (Next Generation Network) architectural framework "to help enable carriers to accelerate the creation and distribution of network delivered entertainment, interactive media and advertising services across the growing portfolio of televisions, personal computers, mobile handsets and emerging media capable devices in our increasingly connected lives."



The Arroyo team includes Drew Major, an original founder of Novell and industry icon recognized for his expertise in network operating systems, distributed systems and content delivery networking (CDN). Also joining is Paul Sherer, former chief technology officer at 3Com and key contributor to a broad portfolio of networking patents and technologies. Arroyo was founded in 2002 and has 44 employees based in California and Utah.



Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay The a
Upon close of the transaction the Arroyo team and product portfolio will be integrated into the Cisco Cable & Video Initiatives Group, within the Service Provider organization led by Volpi.

http://www.cisco.comhttp://www.cisco.com

• Arroyo's OnDemand video networking software allows the network operator to geographically distribute the functions of ingest, storage and streaming anywhere in the network and manage them as a cohesive unit. Multiple, distributed industry-standard servers can work together as one centrally managed virtual server. Arroyo also provides offers a workflow-based VOD management system.



• Arroyo also offers a network personal video recorder (nPVR) solution that enables operators to use existing set-top boxes. The system provides the ability to simultaneously ingest 4,000 channels of 3.75 Mbps MPEG-2 video in one rack of industry standard servers - 100 channels of ingest for every 1.75 inches of rack space.



• Arroyo is headed by Rick DeGabrielle (CEO), who previously was Vice President of Sales and Business Development for Catena Networks (acquired by Ciena for $500 million). Prior to Catena, Rick held executive positions at Network Equipment Technologies, AccessLAN, and Cascade Communications.



• Arroyo raised more than $25 million in venture funding, including a $12 million Series B round in March 2005. The round was led by Matrix Partners, a top venture capital firm, with participation by all existing investors including: DCM - Doll Capital Management, Foundation Capital, Time Warner Investments and Comcast Interactive Capital.

Cisco's Recent Acquisitions

Arroyo Video Solutions	VOD servers	$92 million	Aug 06
Meetinghouse Data Communications	client-side 802.1X supplicant security software	$43.7 million	Jul 06
Metreos Corp	IP communication application development and management environments	$28 million	Jun 06
Audium Corp	VoiceXML speech self-service application development and management environments	$19.8 million	Jun 06
SyPixx	video surveillance software and hardware	$51 million	Mar 06

More Cisco acquisitions:

http://www.convergedigest.com/mergers/mergersCisco.asp

 

 

 

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Micronas and Planetweb Partner on IPTV and Hybrid DVB Set-top Boxes

Micronas, which supplies application-specific IC system solutions for consumer electronics, announced an alliance with Planetweb, a leading provider of embedded software and developer tools for the consumer electronics industry. The companies are jointly working on fully-featured reference designs for IPTV and Hybrid IPTV/Digital Broadcast Television set-top boxes. The product designs incorporate both the Micronas DeCypher DHM 8100 High-Definition Multi-format Decoder and Planetweb's SpectraWorks user interface platform and applications.



The Micronas DeCypher DHM 8100 ASIC provides the ability to decode both H.264 high profile and VC-1 advanced profile at level 4. The DeCypher DHM 8100 is a streaming media processor that can be customized through its modular software architecture. http://www.micronas.comhttp://www.planetweb.com

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Infinera Hires VP of Systems Engineering

Infinera has appointed Rusty Cumpston as Vice President of Systems Engineering. Prior to joining Infinera, Cumpston served as Senior Vice President of Engineering at XenSource Inc. From 1998 to 2002, he served as VP of Engineering and then Chief Operating Officer at ONI Systems, a pioneer in metro DWDM optical systems. http://www.infinera.com

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Harmonic to Acquire Entone's Video Networking Software Business

Harmonic agreed to acquire the video networking software business of Entone Technologies, a privately-held software developer specializing in IPTV VOD and other digital video solutions for commercial broadcasters. The agreed upon purchase price of $45 million is comprised of $26 million in cash and the value of approximately 3.54 million shares of Harmonic common stock. In addition, Harmonic will assume certain liabilities of $1.5 million and invest $2.5 million in the form of a convertible note in Entone's consumer premise equipment (CPE) business, which will be spun out to Entone's existing stockholders immediately prior to the closing of the acquisition.



Entone's software solutions are designed to handle content ingest, distributed content management and video streaming -- facilitate the provisioning of personalized video services including video-on-demand (VOD), network personal video recording (nPVR), time-shifted television and targeted advertisement insertion. By combining Harmonic's industry-leading video headend, edge and access network solutions with Entone's on-demand software, Harmonic will be able to provide cable, satellite and telco/IPTV service providers an advanced and uniquely integrated delivery system for the next generation of both broadcast and personalized IP-delivered video services.



Entone claims over 35 deployments of its IPTV VOD solution, with over including PCCW, the largest IPTV operator.



Entone is based in San Mateo, California, with research and development facilities in Hong Kong.



"Our industry is in the midst of an exciting and fundamental transformation to an increasingly on-demand video experience," said Patrick Harshman, President and CEO of Harmonic Inc. "By bringing together Harmonic's market-leading encoding and stream processing products and Entone's innovative software suite for managing and streaming personalized video content, we will create a powerful and integrated solution for the emerging on-demand network. In the cable and satellite markets, where Harmonic enjoys strong customer relationships and a large installed base, this comprehensive solution will be a great benefit to our customers as they expand and extend their offerings with new on-demand services. In IPTV, where both Harmonic and Entone have established early leadership positions in our respective solution areas, the combination of our businesses creates a clear industry leader."http://www.harmonicinc.comhttp://www.entone.com

• In September 2005, Entone Technologies introduced its "Armada" asset allocation solution for managing libraries of VOD titles. The system goes beyond static VOD content distribution systems by dynamically and cost-optimally placing video assets in the appropriate location and storage media based on their real-time popularity.
  
  
  
  Entone's Armada asset allocation system anticipates that RAM will be the most appropriate storage medium for the most popular, but few video assets in a library. However, the cost of RAM storage is hundreds of times more expensive than other storage options (such as SATA) that are more appropriate for less popular "long tail" content.
  
  Armada distributes assets in real-time to the most optimal storage, server, or network based on real-time usage data. This compares to other video server solutions that typically rely on a static, “best guess�? approach to asset placement. Since viewer behavior can't always be predicted, Armada continuously makes adjustments to storage assignments so that every storage device is fully utilized with the right balance of streaming capacity to storage space.


• In October 2003, Entone secured $16 million in an oversubscribed Series B financing round. The round was co-led by Menlo Ventures, Palomar Ventures, and BA Venture Partners.

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Thales and Alcatel Encrypt DWDM Wavelengths

Thales and Alcatel announced a breakthrough in securing DWDM wavelengths -- a capability especially suited for financial and government applications. While traditional DWDM-based encryption services have been limited to the entire fiber, Thales and Alcatel have demonstrated per-wavelength encryption.



The Thales SONET "Datacryptor" has successfully demonstrated encryption of an aggregate SONET signal generated by an Alcatel 1677 SL provisioned with optional DWDM modules and Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFA). In addition to providing DWDM-based encryption, the testing validates that the Thales SONET Datacryptor does not introduce significant delays or impairments when used with ITU optics for SONET protection schemes, including Linear, Unidirectional Path-Switched Ring, and Bidirectional Line-Switched Ring.



The Datacryptor SONET devices are transparent to the Alcatel SONET switching equipment and offer customers scalability and central management. All of the Datacryptor products including the low speed link, T1/E1, T3/E3, 10/100M IP, Gigabit Ethernet and, SONET (OC-3, OC-12, OC-48, OC-192) can be managed by a single secure management application. The Element Manager is a key differentiator for the Datacryptor products.

http://www.alcatel.comhttp://www.thales.com

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NTT DoCoMo to Implement New Congestion Control System for 3G FOMA Network

NTT DoCoMo announced plans to separately manage call and data packet transmission congestion over its 3G "FOMA" network to prevent voice traffic congestion control from affecting packet communication traffic and vice versa.



Currently, excessive congestion in either voice or data transmissions can force DoCoMo to limit network usage for both voice and data in order to prevent network breakdown.



NTT DoCoMo said one result of the move is the increased ability to successfully transmit text messages via i-mode mail, or to DoCoMo's "i-mode" Disaster Message Board service, even if voice traffic should rise sharply during a major disaster.

The i-mode Disaster Message Board service, launched on January 17, 2004, enables i-mode subscribers to post text messages on a special i-mode site.

The new system will initially apply only to selected handsets. A similar control system for the 2G mova network was implemented in April 2004.

http://www.ntt.co.jp

• In January 2004, NTT DoCoMo launched an i-mode Disaster Message Board service that allows subscribers in Japan to post personal messages for friends and relatives who might not otherwise be able to contact them in the immediate aftermath of a national disaster, such as a high-magnitude earthquake. NTT DoCoMo said that should a major disaster occur, its network will undoubtedly be extremely busy as — in addition to the heavy traffic among administrative and relief agencies, ordinary users in the affected locale typically attempt outside contact to worried relatives and friends. In the event of severe network congestion, the new packet-based i-mode Disaster Message Board will be given sufficient priority to ensure that it continues to function. Each i-mode user in the disaster area would be able to click an on-screen menu enabling him or her to post up to 10 messages of 100 Japanese characters each. Someone wishing to check for a message left by a person in the disaster area would connect to the Disaster Message Board site, and input that person's cell phone number to display any registered messages.

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Hughes Validates SPACEWAY Broadband IP Capabilities

Hughes Network Systems completed a 30-day program of over-the-air (OTA) testing of the broadband IP capabilities of DIRECTV's SPACEWAY 2 satellite. Hughes was able to conduct performance tests in the areas of transmission, user traffic stability and reliability, air interface protocols, user network interfaces, and back-end systems for billing and customer service.



The verification of hardware and software systems were in preparation for the launch of SPACEWAY 3, scheduled for early 2007, with commercial service planned later in the year.



Hughes developed the SPACEWAY system with Boeing as the major subcontractor on the space segment components. As a full IP-based system, SPACEWAY supports a large variety of web, data, voice, and video services for both unicast and multicast applications in a standards-compliant fashion. SPACEWAY terminals also implement custom enhancement proxies for application acceleration using TCP and HTTP protocols.



Hughes has built a scalable Network Operations and Control Center (NOCC), installed at its Germantown Maryland headquarters, which anchors control functions for network addressing, registration, network security, admission control and multicasting. The NOCC also provides satellite payload management, capacity planning, terminal management, customer care and network management functions. The SPACEWAY architecture can scale up to two million terminals per satellite and will provide coverage with multiple spot beams across the U.S. including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, as well as in selected areas in Canada, Mexico, and major cities in South America.



Hughes said the successful completion of these tests has validated the SPACEWAY design, large-scale software development, and custom ASIC and hardware development for small format terminals.

http://www.hns.com

• In December 2005, Hughes Network System (HNS) awarded a launch services contract to Sea Launch for the launch of the SPACEWAY 3 satellite projected for early 2007.
  
  
  
  The SPACEWAY 3 satellite will operate in the globally assigned Ka-band spectrum at 95 degrees West Longitude and will support a range of new high-speed communications services for IP data and multimedia applications to North American enterprise, consumer, and government customers.
  
  
  
  SPACEWAY 3 is a Boeing 702 spacecraft and will have the ability to switch and route traffic on board, enabling single-hop communications between any two satellite terminals and eliminating the need for the traffic to be routed through a central hub earth station. SPACEWAY's advanced antenna technology allows the dynamic formation and shaping of spot beams, creating the opportunity to manage capacity flexibly and to deliver true bandwidth-on-demand services.

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Verizon Business Adds IP Tollfree Service and IP IVR

Verizon Business introduced three new IP-based capabilities for its Contact Center Services and VoIP portfolio: IP Tollfree Service; IP IVR, an interactive voice- response system for contact center services; and new IP Trunking options.



IP Tollfree -- routes incoming toll-free calls over IP to enable greater efficiency and support multiple-contact media, such as phone calls, e-mail or instant messaging from around the globe. The service enables contact center agents to transfer calls using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Because IP Tollfree is a network-based service, companies do not have to own and operate gateway equipment.



IP IVR -- provides call processing in a pure IP environment over a carrier-grade, global network infrastructure, enabling customers to benefit from network efficiencies such as voice compression and dynamic bandwidth allocation. The service offers administrators a selection of call- routing and processing features and terminates incoming calls to both Time Division Multiplexer (TDM) and IP endpoints.



IP Trunking -- delivers VoIP access and essential telephony features to locations with as few as 200 and as many as 1,000 or more end-users. Verizon Business' IP Trunking is available in the United States and select European markets.



Verizon Business has designed and certified IP Tollfree and IP IVR to be compatible with Avaya Communication Manager with SIP enablement services (SES) 3.1 software and other leading SIP- enabled endpoints. Avaya Communication Manager with SES is also certified for IP Trunking. With IP Trunking, companies that have already invested in Avaya IP phones to now connect on a single, converged access line for both internal and external traffic.

http://www.verizonbusiness.com

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Ball State University Deploys Firetide Wireless Mesh

Ball State University, named Intel's "Most Unwired Campus" in 2005, deployed Firetide's mesh solution to provide students with a variety of wireless services including live video and a mobile WiFi mesh network for the campus shuttle bus.



Firetide nodes are self-forming and self-healing. Because Firetide's mesh is rooted in Ethernet technology, ports can be used for video surveillance cameras as well as other devices. Using redundant paths, the system allows for continuous connectivity if a node is disabled or a line-of-sight obstruction enters the picture.



Equipment for the project included both indoor and outdoor Firetide mesh nodes operating at 5.8 GHz. This frequency was selected to reduce the possibility of contention with other wireless equipment already installed on campus. For its wireless mesh network, the school acquired five Firetide 3203 HotPort outdoor wireless mesh nodes and two Firetide 3103 HotPort indoor wireless mesh nodes. Gateway connections in nearby buildings linked the wireless mesh to the rest of the schools' wired campus network.

http://www.firetide.com

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Novera Optics Launches 16 DWDM Access Transport Platform

Novera Optics introduced a DWDM fiber-to-the-x (FTTx) optical access transport platform that utilizes identical colorless Gigabit Ethernet DWDM optical transceivers to deliver 20 Gbps of symmetrical bandwidth over a single feeder fiber. Based on Novera Optics' "Lambda-PON" automatic wavelength-locking technology, the new TurboLIGHT16 platform eliminates the need for expensive wavelength-specific optical network units (ONUs). It carries 16 1.25-Gbps bidirectional data streams using 32 independent wavelengths. In addition, the system provides the flexibility of mixed-mode capabilities, allowing transport at different bit rates (125 Mbps to 1.25 Gbps) on the same platform. Novera's existing "SpeedLIGHT" modules provide a bit rate of 125 Mbps.



TurboLIGHT16 is being offered in both modular form for integration by system vendors and in complete system form for plug-and-play use by telecom carriers deploying FTTx broadband access technologies, for which it greatly reduces capital equipment costs and operating expenses. The product will be available in Q4 of 2006.

http://www.noveraoptics.com/technology/turbolight.php

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Verizon Plans "Bandwidth-on-Demand" Optical Test in NYC

Verizon Partner Solutions, the company's wholesale services unit, will begin testing a new control plane capability aimed at reducing the time it takes to establish new high-capacity circuits (DS-3, SONET, or Ethernet) from months to, in many cases, minutes.



The trial, which is expected to start next week in New York City, involves bandwidth on demand provisioning within the optical network.



Verizon said its Bandwidth on Demand Just in Time Provisioning (JiT-P) trial will reduce the provisioning time of private line OC-n and Ethernet services. This will be accomplished by the use of Optical Transport Networks (an end-to-end all optical transport network including the loop and Interoffice Facility (IOF)) and Next Generation Add Drop Multiplexer (NGADM) network elements with control plane functionality.



The implementation of Optical control plane is based on ITU-T G.807 and G.8080 architectural guidelines.



"One of our top priorities is finding ways to continually improve how we serve our customers," said Verizon Partner Solutions Vice President Quintin Lew. "Once this initial test is successful, we'll be able to react very quickly to customer needs, along with providing high-quality, reliable telecom services."http://www.verizon.com

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Embarq Migrates Millionth Customer to Packet

Embarq has migrated its one millionth customer from a circuit network to a packet network. The company began its packet conversion with Nortel in May of 2003 serving customers in Gardner, Kan. Since that time, Embarq has steadily progressed moving customers to the new network technology.



To support Embarq's network migration, Nortel has deployed its Carrier VoIP and Metro Ethernet solutions, including the Communication Server (CS) 2000 and Metro Ethernet Router Switch (MERS) 8600 as well as provided turn-key migration services from the Nortel Global Services Portfolio.



"The platform allows us to provide converged voice and data services," said Jim Hansen, senior vice president of Network Services for Embarq. "Products like an integrated voicemail platform serving both wireline and wireless devices, or Smart Connect where customers' phones switch seamlessly between a wireline and wireless network aren't as practical on a circuit-based network, and much more difficult to make available. The packet network makes it easier for us to make innovative products available to our customers much more quickly than in the past."http://www.embarq.com

• Embarq, the former local communications division of Sprint, completed its spin-off from its parent company in May 2006.

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QUALCOMM Appoints Exec for Asia-Pac

QUALCOMM announced the appointment of Mr. Jing Wang to senior vice president and chairman of QUALCOMM Asia Pacific. Ted Matsumoto, who had served as senior vice president and chairman of QUALCOMM Japan/SEA-Pacific, has accepted a position as executive vice president and chief strategy officer of Softbank Mobile.



Prior to joining QUALCOMM in 2001, Mr. Wang served as head of the Asia Practice Group for more than 12 years at Reed Smith, LLP, where he represented many prominent corporations, including QUALCOMM.

http://www.qualcomm.com

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