CloudShield Targets High-Volume IP Content Control

CloudShield Technologies, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California introduced a multi-function software platform that leverages deep packet inspection specifically to address the growing challenges of managing mixed, high-volume IP services traffic.



CloudShield, which supplies high-speed packet filtering platforms for the U.S. intelligence community, is now targeting its Layer 2-7 packet analysis systems at carriers and ISPs. The deep packet analysis could help carriers gain visibility into how subscribers and applications use the network. It could be used by carriers to develop and enforce policies on select packet traffic. It might also be used to secure the network from attacks.







To meet these aims, CloudShield is introducing a new Content Control Suite (CCS) that provides analysis, control and security to enable selective granular analysis and control of traffic at high speeds. It runs on CloudShield's FPGA-driven CS-2000 Content Processing Platform, which provides core content inspection and traffic control functionality. CCS application programming interfaces allow broadband policy managers, subscriber managers and billing software. New functionality in the suite includes:

• Signature Detection Module -- identifies traffic of interest using signatures from a variety of sources, including Snort.org, Kaspersky, and custom applications.



• Traffic Control Module -- enables a wide range of traffic controls including QoS marking, traffic shaping, redirecting, and MPLS or VLAN tagging.



• VoIP Tracking and Reporting -- identifies SIP- or H.323-based VoIP services for measurement and control, and detects DDoS attacks against VoIP infrastructures.



• Content Billing Module -- collects vital statistics on user flows for use in usage-based billing solutions.



• Traffic Measurement Module -- collects and reports statistics on selected traffic for greater situational awareness and network intelligence.






Data set modules include


• 3rd Party signature sets: CloudShield is making Kaspersky Lab's award-winning malware signature set available to run with the CCS Signature Detection Module.



• Open Source signature sets: the Signature Detection Module supports the open source Snort rules and can import rules from sources including Snort.org or BleedingSnort.



• Custom signature sets: partners and end users can create their own traffic selection / detection signature sets for service identification or classified security purposes.

CCS modules and data sets will become available in Q4 of 2006.

http://www.cloudshield.com

• CloudShield was founded in 2000 and has raised over $60 million to date.

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Telecom Italia to Acquire AOL Germany for EUR 675 Million

Telecom Italia has agreed to acquire Time Warner's AOL Germany Internet access business for EUR 675 million ($870 million, Equity Value) in cash.



Under the deal, AOL will provide co-branded audience services and content on a joint web portal for all of Telecom Italia's residential Internet access subscribers in Germany and will handle all online advertising sales. As part of a five-year partnership, AOL will also provide these services for Telecom Italia's entire residential Internet access customer base in Germany.



AOL Germany has operated as an ISP for over 10 years and competes in both narrowband and broadband Internet access. As of June 2006, AOL Germany, ranked second and third among German narrowband and broadband access providers, had 1.1 million broadband subscribers and approximately 1.3 million narrowband subscribers.



Telecom Italia said it is seeking to expand its presence in Germany, which started with its acquisition of Hansenet in 2003. Once its acquisition of AOL Germany's Internet access business closes, Telecom Italia will be Germany's second-largest broadband provider - with more than 3.2 million total subscribers, including nearly 2 million broadband customers. http://www.aol.comhttp://www.telecomitalia.com/

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National LambdaRail and Cisco Extend Partnership to 2013

National LambdaRail (NLR), a consortium of leading U.S. research universities and private sector technology companies, has extended its strategic relationship and agreement with Cisco Systems through July 2013.



"Cisco Systems has been a major corporate partner of NLR from our infancy," said Tom West, President and CEO of NLR. "This extension speaks volumes about Cisco's commitment to NLR and to the U.S. networking and scientific research community. Together with our member regional optical networks and affiliated projects such as TeraGrid, OptIPuter and UltraScience, we foresee additional, exciting opportunities for our community to incorporate networking into every aspect of science, engineering and humanities research."http://www.cisco.comhttp://www.nlr.net

• National LambdaRail (NLR) has reached fully-operational status, providing advanced optical, Ethernet and IP connectivity over more than 15,000 miles of fiber across the United States. The infrastructure provides researchers control over a nationwide network with up to 40 individual lightpaths running at 10 Gbps. The project is the result of over three years of work and nearly $100 million in funding by members.



• NLR has deployed Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing Systems across the country. The project is also using Cisco Systems' 15808 and 15454 optical transmission platforms.

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Sonim Raises $8.3 Million for IMS-based Push-to-Talk

Sonim Technologies, a start-up based in San Mateo, California, secured $8.3 million in funding for its IMS-based push-to-talk solution based on the new OMA PoC 1.0 standard. The OMA PoC 1.0 standard was largely driven by major European and Asian operators for low-cost push-to-talk service. Sonim's end-to-end product suite package is available for GSM operators.



The new funding came from Siar Capital along with its existing investors, including 3i, Accel Partners, Apax Partners and BV Capital.

http://www.sonimtech.com

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Lucent to Acquire Mobilitec for Content Delivery Mgt.

Lucent Technologies agreed to acquire Mobilitec, a provider of content management software for wireless service providers, for an undisclosed sum.



Mobilitec, a privately held company in San Mateo, California, supplies a platform that manages the complete content life cycle by offering software for processing submissions from a content provider, content management in catalogs, digital rights management, rendering to ensure content is formatted for the subscriber's wireless device, a Web-style page that can serve as the carrier's "storefront," and a delivery mechanism. Key customers include Vodafone, Orange Israel and M1.



Lucent said it intends to integrate the Mobilitec solution, which enhances Lucent's IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and Mobility (3G) portfolios, with Lucent's application products to enable intelligent, personalized context-aware content delivery and targeted advertising. This will make it possible for service providers to offer special promotions on their Web storefronts that are personalized based on content, profiles, preferences, location and availability. In addition, these promotions can be targeted by device or user segment, and sent to friends through buddy lists to support viral marketing.

http://www.lucent.comhttp://www.mobilitec.com

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Cortina Systems Acquires Intel's Optical Components Business

Cortina Systems, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, acquired the assets of Intel's optical network components business for $115 million, which consists of a minority investment position and an undisclosed amount of cash. Cortina has been a leader in components for the IP routing and transport markets, while Intel has primarily focused TDM and optical components.



Cortina also announced the completion of a new $132 million funding round led by new investor Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) as well as existing investors Canaan Partners and Morgenthaler Ventures. Additional investors providing funding include new investors Alloy Ventures, Bridgescale Partners, Doll Capital Management, and Sofinnova Ventures, and along with all of Cortina's existing venture investors. The transaction closed on September 8, 2006.



Cortina described the acquisition as a major step in its strategy of becoming the new leader in components for the infrastructure routing, transport, and enterprise markets, making it the top provider of Ethernet Framers, Ethernet PHYs, Optical Transport FEC framers, Ethernet over SONET service framers, and T1/E1 Line Interface Units.



As part of the acquisition, Cortina will add key Intel employees in engineering, product testing/validation, operations, marketing and application engineering as well as new facilities in Folsom, California, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Asia.



"We're honing Intel's focus in the communications and embedded market segments to align with our core businesses," said Bill Chatwell, general manager of Intel's Optical-Networking Components Division. "The optical-networking components segment remains a strong market opportunity, and we believe this business and its assets are an optimal fit for Cortina as it grows the business while maintaining customer commitments."http://www.cortina-systems.comhttp://www.intel.com

• Cortina Systems is headed by Amir Nayyerhabibi, who previously held executive and engineering management positions in private and public companies such as Cisco Systems, StratumOne Communications, Silicon Graphics, Inc., MIPS Computer Systems, and Intel Corporation. Mr. Nayyerhabibi was co-founder and Vice President of Engineering at StratumOne Communications, which was acquired by Cisco in 1999. He also managed the development of 12416 and 12410 Cisco GSR Router programs.

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Global Crossing Partners with Avaya, Launches VoIP Professional Services

Global Crossing has expanded its partnership with Avaya to include hardware, software and consulting services. Global Crossing is also launching VoIP Professional Services, which will encompass technical services, transition management and managed solutions. Common elements in many solutions may include network readiness assessment and design, network integration and implementation, and managed VoIP PBX services. The offer includes an initial four-hour consultation to qualified prospects, which is risk-free, with no charge or further obligation for customers. Global Crossing's agreement with Avaya also would allow Global Crossing to resell Avaya's IP telephony applications, systems and services as part of a complete VoIP-based solution.

http://www.globalcrossing.comhttp://www.avaya.com

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Cavium's Latest Security Processors Offer SHA-2, AES-GCM and KASUMI algorithms

Cavium Networks introduced its NITROX PX Security Processor family with 8 new products targeted at IP Security (IPsec), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Wireless security applications.



The NITROX PX family provides hardware acceleration for SHA-2, AES-GCM and KASUMI algorithms, and a PCI- Express interface in a single chip. The processors feature the GigaCipher v2 cores with increased code store and enhanced hardware queuing, which enables richer protocol processing and multi-protocol performance. All products are fully software compatible with Cavium Networks NITROX family of security processors and are offered with either a PCI-X 64/133 interface that is NITROX family pin-compatible or PCI- Express x4 interface.



The NITROX PX Family delivers scalable symmetric encryption performance, ranging from 500 Mbps to 2.5 Gbps, and asymmetric performance from 4000 to 17,000 RSA operations per second.



Cavium said existing secure networking equipment is being upgraded to incorporate new security algorithms that will be deployed in the market by 2008. These new algorithms include SHA-2 and AES-GCM. SHA-2, which consists of the SHA-256, SHA-384 and SHA-512 algorithms, offers increased and robust security protection over the currently deployed SHA-1 algorithm for hashing and digital signature applications. Rapid adoption of SHA-2 is being encouraged by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). AES-GCM is expected to replace the existing 3DES and AES-CTR encryption algorithms used for IPsec VPN applications as it provides an efficient implementation for confidentiality and data origin authenticity. http://www.cavium.com

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Lucent Enhances VPN Firewall with Deep Packet Inspection, VoIP

Lucent Technologies introduced its new VPN Firewall Brick 700 and the VPN Firewall Brick 1200 for large enterprises and service providers.
Both products feature advanced functionality such as high performance packet handling, deep packet inspection, an innovative Bell Labs-developed operating system, system failover that ensures continuity for VoIP and data sessions, built-in denial of service protections, hardware-based IPSec VPN acceleration, and benchmarking.



Both products also support real-time, latency-sensitive IP-based multimedia services such as VoIP and IP videoconferencing. Capabilities include Dynamic Pinholing, which uses layer 7 filtering to recognize IP communication packets and dynamically open ports on the system to move the packets only between the initiation point and the endpoint, closing the ports when the call is terminated. Lucent said this is a significant improvement over the current model for IP-based voice traffic which entails a firewall device permanently or temporarily "opening" a range of ports to allow IP voice calls. The control of dynamic pinholing reduces the chance that malicious hackers can exploit these open ports to gain entry to a Lucent-protected network through this technique.



The Brick 700 supports 1.7 Gbps firewall performance, 425 Mbps 3DES (Data Encryption Standard) VPN performance and 350Mbps AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) VPN performance with built-in encryption accelerator cards. The platform also features eight 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports and supports up to 7,500 simultaneous VPN tunnels, 4,094 VLANs, 350 virtual firewalls and 1 million simultaneous sessions.



The Brick 1200 is available in a standard and high performance 1200 HS model. The standard model supports up to 3.0 Gbps firewall performance, 1.1 Gbps 3DES VPN performance and 1.1 Gbps AES VPN performance with the built-in encryption accelerator card. The platform also features eight 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports and two mini-GBIC SFP Gigabit ports. It supports up to 10,000 simultaneous VPN tunnels, 4,094 LANs, 500 virtual firewalls and 2 million simultaneous sessions.



The Brick 1200 HS supports up to 4.5 Gbps firewall performance, 1.7 Mbps 3DES and 1.7 Gbps AES VPN performance with the built-in encryption accelerator card. The platform also features fourteen 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports and six mini-GBIC SFP Gigabit ports. It supports up to 20,000 simultaneous VPN tunnels, 4,094 VLANs, 1,100 virtual firewalls and 3 million simultaneous sessions.

http://www.lucent.com

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Blue Coat Completes NetCache Acquisition

Blue Coat Systems completed the acquisition of assets of NetCache business from Network Appliance for approximately $23.9 million in cash and 360,000 shares of Blue Coat common stock. Blue Coat and Network Appliance have also entered into transition services agreements to continue product availability and support for NetCache customers, including continuing manufacturing services as well as sales, service and support.

http://www.bluecoat.com

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TI Raises Q3 Financial Guidance

Texas Instruments (TI) raised its financial guidance for Q3 and now expects total revenue to be between $3.71 billion and $3.87 billion, compared with the prior range of $3.63 billion to $3.95 billion. Semiconductor revenue is expected to be between $3.53 billion and $3.67 billion, compared with the prior range of $3.45 billion to $3.75 billion; and Educational & Productivity Solutions revenue is expected to be between $180 million and $200 million, unchanged from the prior estimate.



TI expects EPS from continuing operations between $0.44 and $0.46, compared with the previous range of $0.42 to $0.48.

http://www.ti.com

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Motorola and Nokia to Cooperate on Mobile TV Interoperability

Motorola and Nokia agreed to work together to achieve interoperability among their DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast - Handheld) enabled mobile devices and network services. Specifically, the companies will work together to support solutions based on open DVB-IPDC standards available for operator partners interested in deploying multi-vendor mobile TV services and trials in 2006 and onward. http://www.nokia.comhttp://www.motorola.com

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Tektronix Adds IPTV Diagnostics & Analysis Capabilities

Tektronix introduced its Spectra2|VQM v2.0, an integrated, multi-user video media quality, signaling and control protocol analyzer -- the latest in its suite of test, measurement and monitoring solutions for triple play and IPTV services.



Spectra2|VQM v2.0 leverages the company's existing VoIP and converged voice networks testing platform to deliver IP video and network quality metrics, such as presence, accuracy and delivery. Its signaling analysis capabilities include support of the two major video control protocols, Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) and Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP). The solution's discovery function automatically detects which video channels are active, and users can also manually add video stream channels, as needed. The discovery function provides a top-level view of all media channels currently detected and analyzed, including the active state of the channels, real-time bit rates, mode and status. Other features include the display of QoS statistics for real-time monitoring and rapid fault isolation of live video streams. Users can easily view pre- and post-FEC (Forward Error Correction) statistics on one screen, as well as determine QoS and QoE for IP video signaling and video transport.


Spectra2|VQM v2.0 includes support for MPEG Transport Stream (TS) directly over UDP, which helps users track MPEG TS metrics. The solution also supports simultaneous testing and monitoring of a high number of single program transport streams (SPTS). The session trace feature for video on demand (VoD) lets users see associated RTSP and media messages for each VoD session being analyzed, all from a single screen.

http://www.tektronix.com

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Lucent to Resell Westell's IMS Residential Gateway for FMC

Lucent Technologies will resell Westell's IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) gateway as part of its IMS-based solution. Lucent has integrated Westell's converged residential gateways into its IMS service delivery architecture to help enable voice services across cellular and WiFi networks.



Fixed mobile convergence (FMC) is the first of several IMS-based applications that the two companies are developing to help accelerate the introduction of new blended services for wireline and wireless carriers. The joint FMC application includes Westell's TriLink IMS gateway and the Lucent Feature Server.



Westell said its TriLink IMS gateway , which combines an ADSL2+ modem and router, enables seamless roaming between fixed voice over IP and wireless networks using a dual mode mobile/WiFi phone. The gateway can interface with GSM, UMTS, CDMA and EV-DO wireless network technologies. To assure that voice communication and data traffic can be simultaneously supported with consistent, uninterrupted quality, the Westell gateway supports multiple service set identifiers (SSIDs) and provides standards-based (IEEE 802.11e) Quality of Service and advanced power management capabilities, which maximize dual mode phone battery life.
http://www.lucent.comhttp://www.westell.com

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JDSU Offers QoS Tool for Large-Scale Business VoIP

JDSU announced a new software agent that helps ensure QoS for providers supporting the large-scale transition of their business customers to VoIP. The QT-50, which is part of JDSU's NetComplete Service Assurance VoIP portfolio, proactively monitors and troubleshoots issues and evaluate metrics that can affect voice quality - such as mean opinion score (MOS), R-factor, jitter, packet loss, and packet statistics -- by simulating the IP call experience as if at the customer premise.



The QT-50 works with JDSU's operations support systems (OSS), called NetAnalyst and NetOptimize, to deliver both on-demand testing and performance management capabilities. It places and receives active test calls between other software agents and JDSU QT probes (such as the QT- 600 Ethernet and triple-play probe) deployed across a provider's network.



By creating meshes of synthetic VoIP calls throughout the network, it proactively identifies potential degradations end-to-end (i.e., between hundreds of office buildings) for continuous and active monitoring of VoIP quality, helping providers gain a solid understanding of their customer's VoIP service experience. The measurements and reports generated by the QT-50 provide the key QoS metrics needed to instill confidence that call signal and voice clarity are of an exceptional level and meet customer expectations.

http://www.jdsu.com

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MobiTV to Test Service over Mobile WiMAX in No. California

MobiTV has joined the WiMAX Forum and will be leading its Proof-of- Concept trial with the mobile WiMAX network that will span a number of Northern California cities.



The Northern California based Proof of Concept network will provide an environment to evaluate a variety of mobile WiMAX applications, including mobile television broadcast, video-on-demand, navigation and general network access. A second Proof of Concept network will be deployed in Taipei, Taiwan under the direction of the National Taiwan University.



At this week's TIA Wireless IT & Entertainment show in Los Angeles, MobiTV is demonstrating live High-Definition television delivered over a pre-mobile WiMAX network. The real-time demonstration will showcase the MobiTV service running over Navini's Ripwave MX equipment to both fixed and mobile customer premises equipment.

http://www.wimaxforum.orghttp://www.mobitv.com

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V2OIP Quality Alliance Sets Charter

Ditech Networks, Empirix, Global IP Sound, JDSU, Polycom and Telchemy have established a new V2oIP Quality Alliance to help shape and support the direction of voice and video- over-IP (V2oIP) quality issues. The new alliance aims to leverage the expertise of key technology providers, service providers and industry experts to define industry best practices as well as help educate the market about relevant technologies, standards, and deployment methods.

The V2oIP Quality Alliance will include a diverse range of V2oIP solution vendors, service providers, system integrators, and forward-looking enterprises-each of whom offers a unique perspective on V2oIP issues.

http://www.v2oipqualityalliance.org

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DSL Forum Appoints Robin Mersh as COO

The DSL Forum appointed Robin Mersh as its new Chief Operations Officer (COO). Mr. Mersh will be responsible for executing the DSL Forum strategy effectively and ensuring funding and internal resources are managed wisely and in line with key initiatives and external relations goals.



Robin started in sales and sales management for Cable & Wireless and subsequently worked for BT before moving to the US in 1999. Most recently, Robin has worked in business development and alliance management for various OSS software companies in the US.

http://www.dslforum.org

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TELUS Awards 3-year, $150 million Broadband Contract to Nokia

TELUS has awarded Nokia a three-year, $150 million contract to provide integration and installation services for its IP broadband access network in Canada. The agreement covers integration, installation and deployment services.



The announcement follows the November 2005 agreement that TELUS would use Nokia broadband infrastructure equipment, including the Nokia D500 IP DSLAM equipped with ADSL2+ technology.



TELUS has announced plans to invest $600 million in broadband network infrastructure . to pave the way for exciting emerging IP applications including high definition TELUS TV. http://www.nokia.com

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Shanghai Media Group Readies IPTV Expansion

Shanghai Media Group (SMG) and Shanghai Telecom Co Ltd. are planning to expand their IPTV service in China's largest city to between 80,000 and 100,000 by the end of the year, according to The China Daily. The companies target 300,000 IPTV users in Shanghai by the end of next year.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2006-09/08/content_684236.htm

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