MINO Wireless Raises $7 Million for Mobile VoIP

MINO Wireless, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, received $7 million for its VoIP service for mobile phones. MINO's technology is designed for international calling from mobile phones via existing Internet connections.



The funding came from Canaan Partners.

http://www.minowireless.com

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Sonus Announces Low-Power GSM Strategy for FMC

Sonus Networks is developing a suite of products to deliver voice service and multimedia applications using new Low Powered GSM (LP GSM) picocell and femtocell technologies. Sonus said the solution would be particularly beneficial to network operators in regions where regulators have released new wireless licenses designed to put unused or under-used spectrum into the market.



The FMC strategy would offer better in-building coverage through the use of picocells and femtocells that when combined with Sonus' IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)-based architecture, significantly reduces the costs for traffic backhaul.



In April 2006, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) in the United Kingdom was the first to release new wireless licenses into the market. With the release of this additional spectrum, network operators are able to move beyond traditional radio access networks (RANs) to also provide fixed and wireless broadband services. http://www.sonusnet.com

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Alcatel-Lucent Shows Unified Mobile TV across 3G and S-Band

At 3GSM World Congress 2007, Alcatel-Lucent showcased seamless access to TV channels delivered via 3G or broadcast networks, on a single device. This single device allows viewers to seamlessly access and browse among a selection of 3G-based TV channels as well as broadcast TV channels using the S-Band (2.2 GHz). The terminal used is a Pocket PC-powered PDA. The S-band capability of the terminal is achieved thanks to an S-Band chipset provided by DiBcom.



Additionally, for the first time in a public trade show, Alcatel-Lucent is demonstrating plain broadcast Mobile TV in the S-Band using SAGEM myMobileTV handsets.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Orange Business Services and Alcatel-Lucent Announce Marketing Deal

Orange Business Services and Alcatel-Lucent announced a global agreement focused on enterprise sales of IP-based communications solutions.



Both companies will provide enterprises with a set of end-to-end business critical solutions, supported from design to global implementation.
Key services emphasized in this agreement include: business telephony services, IP VPNs, fixed-mobile convergence solutions, Unified Communication software applications, and contact centers with multimedia traffic processing.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

http://www.orange.com

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Seagate, ST and Quantum Develop HDDs for Handheld DVRs

Seagate Technology is working with STMicroelectronics and Quantum SPA, a leader in handheld digital television technology, to produce hard drive-based mobile devices that will let consumers receive, record and playback digital television signals.



The solution, based on Quantum's QTM 1000 Pocket Television platform, will be built around STMicroelectronics' Nomadik mobile multimedia application processor and Seagate's mobile hard disc drives. The companies expect to market the solution to digital television providers, network operators, handheld device manufacturers, and others looking to participate in the growing availability of digital television signals around the world.



Shipments of the first product to come out of this partnership are expected in the third calendar quarter of 2007.

http://www.seagate.com

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Sonus and ip.access Partner on Fixed/Mobile Convergence

Sonus Networks and ip.access, which develops cellular picocell and femtocell technologies, announced a partnership targeting fixed/mobile convergence (FMC).



Sonus , which recently is working on solutions for delivering fixed-mobile service over GSM spectrum, will work together with ip.access, which will provide in-building picocell and femtocell solutions.



ip.access said the relationship validates its IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) roadmap. http://www.sonusnet.com

http://www.ipaccess.com

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DVB Project Adds Dolby Digital Plus to IPTV Specifications

The Digital Video Broadcasting Project (DVB), an industry consortium that develops global standards for digital TV, will include Dolby Digital Plus audio technology as an option in the latest version of its IPTV specifications. These specifications (TS 102 005) outline how IPTV digital television services may be delivered to home receivers over Internet protocol connections.



Dolby Digital Plus (technical name: E-AC-3) is an extension of the Dolby Digital format, an audio standard for DVD-Video players worldwide. Dolby Labs said its technology provides IPTV operators with a flexible and efficient multichannel audio solution that maintains many of the advantages of Dolby Digital, such as connectivity to millions of home A/V receivers, while offering lower data rates and added features. Support for the technology is being built into the current generation of chipsets for IPTV.

Dolby Digital Plus has been included in the DVB specifications at the request of operators and electronics manufacturers within the consortium. The Dolby Digital (originally known by its technical name, AC-3) format has also been included. According to the specifications, either technology may be implemented as the sole audio format in an IPTV system. Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital are already also featured in DVB specifications for digital cable satellite and terrestrial transmissions (TS 101 154) and have been selected as audio formats for HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

""Viewers of IPTV services want home cinema-style sound, just like they get on DVD and other digital TV services," commented Jason Power, Market Development Manager, Dolby Laboratories. "With Dolby Digital Plus now included in the DVB specifications, telecom operators can deliver the full Dolby surround sound experience at a data rate that's practical for IPTV."http://www.dolby.com

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Broadcom Launches Low Cost Mobile TV Cellular Handset Chips

Broadcom launched a new mobile television reference design platform for manufacturers that plan to integrate mobile TV into their handset designs. The new Broadcom platform includes integrated mobile TV software and a reference application. The solution consists Broadcom's BCM2724 VideoCore mobile multimedia processor, the BCM2124 GPRS/GSM baseband processor and the BCM2045 Bluetooth transceiver with enhanced data rate (EDR) technology. The Broadcom VideoCore processor performs multimedia processing, while the baseband processor provides GPRS and GSM connectivity to the cellular network.



Broadcom said its reference design supports the terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (T-DMB) standard (a digital radio transmission system for sending multimedia to mobile devices) at the mobile television front-end. Using Broadcom's mobile TV middleware, the current design can be adapted to other mobile broadcast standards, such as DVB-H, by substituting an appropriate front-end tuner/demodulator. The VideoCore multimedia processor also features MPEG-4 VGA or H.264 CIF video encoding/decoding at 30 frames per second and TV output. http://www.broadcom.com

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TowerStream Expands its Los Angeles WiMAX network

Towerstream, which provides fixed wireless Internet services in 7 metropolitan areas across the U.S., announced the expansion of its Los Angeles WiMAX network to include Century City. Through the addition of new Points-of-Presence (PoPs) throughout the metro area, Towerstream will offer wireless Internet coverage to businesses in the entire west side of Los Angeles. http://www.towerstream.com/

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Opnext Announces Initial Public Offering

Opnext announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 16,909,375 shares of its common stock at $15.00 per share (before underwriting discounts and commissions). Of those shares, the company is selling 10,000,000 shares and selling stockholders are selling 6,909,375 shares. In addition, Opnext has granted the underwriters the right to purchase up to an additional 2,536,406 shares at the initial public offering price.

Opnext shares will be listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol "OPXT."http://www.opnext.com

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Alcatel-Lucent Adds IP Dedicated Recording to IP-PBX

Alcatel-Lucent announced a new IP dedicated recording (IP DRlink) interface for its OmniPCX Enterprise IP PBX. The IP DRlink enables Alcatel- Lucent's IP phones to be connected to voice loggers and quality management systems for voice recording in call center, financial trading floor, public safety and other enterprise applications.



The company said the use of voice recording systems helps not only to ensure quality customer service, but also allows enterprises and governments to implement a wide range of business improvements including customer and emergency call audit and analysis.



The IP DRlink is a processing module for OmniPCX Enterprise servers that facilitates recording of inbound and outbound calls as well as internal calls, conference and contact center calls. A single OmniPCX Enterprise server with an IP DRlink can support up to 16 voice loggers with a capacity to record thousands IP phones simultaneously depending on the configuration. The module is compatible with the Alcatel-Lucent IP Touch Series 8 phones and with Alcatel-Lucent's OmniTouch and OmniGenesys contact center solutions.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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New DVB Spec Approved for Hybrid Satellite/Terrestrial Mobile Multimedia

The DVB Steering Board has approved the DVB-SH (Satellite services to Handhelds) specification. This approval includes a waveform specification and a description of the system.



DVB-SH is defined as a system which is able to deliver IP based media content and data to handheld terminals like mobile phones and PDAs via satellite. Whenever a line of sight between terminal and satellite does not exist terrestrial gap fillers are employed to provide the missing coverage.



The DVB-SH system has been designed for frequencies below 3 GHz, typically in the S-band. It complements the existing DVB-H physical layer standard and like its sister specification (DVB-H) uses the DVB IP Datacast (IPDC) set of content delivery, electronic service guide and service purchase and protection standards.



DVB-SH includes features such as turbo coding for forward error correction and a highly flexible interleaver in an advanced system designed to cope with the hybrid satellite/terrestrial network topology. Satellite transmission ensures wide area coverage, with a terrestrial component assuring coverage where the satellite signal cannot be received, as may be the case in built-up areas.



"DVB-SH enhances the range of DVB standards in the area of mobile digital television. At a time when frequency availability is at a premium, it's important to ensure that those wishing to deploy mobile TV in the S-Band can benefit from DVB's proven record in producing successful open standards," said Peter MacAvock, Executive Director of
The DVB Project.

http://www.dvb.org

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Ixia and Aeroflex Offer Handset Video Test Platform

Ixia and Aeroflex, a global provider of high technology solutions to the aerospace, defense and broadband communication markets, have developed a suite of products that collaborate to support video telephony certification testing. The collaboration will help ensure handsets conform to the test cases selected by the Global Certification Forum (GCF) and PCS Type Certification Review Board (PTCRB) for video telephony application enabler certification.

The suite, which consists of Ixia's IxMobile and the Aeroflex 6401 AIME/CT radio test set, performs base station and handset emulation to provide a repeatable and versatile test environment for handset certification. The IxMobile and Aeroflex 6401 AIME/CT are integrated using a proprietary interface allowing communication with the handset under test through a contained, RF interface.
http://www.ixiacom.com

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Ixia Expands its 3G Test with FMC Capabilities

Ixia has enhanced its IxMobile 3G telephony test solution with new capabilities that allow both wireless handset and media gateway manufacturers to test interoperability with key codecs used in fixed mobile convergence and 3G video telephony applications.



Specifically, IxMobile has now added GSM-AMR-WB and H.264 to its library of supported codecs. Additional functionality introduced to IxMobile includes integrated RF measurements, subjective audio and video media quality metrics to measure network impact on calls.

IxMobile is an operational test platform that emulates video telephony terminals communicating with handsets under test for protocol analysis, conformance and interoperability testing. Wireless handset manufacturers use IxMobile to develop and test 3G video applications, while network operators use IxMobile for handset interoperability testing and acceptance as well as video telephony network optimization, to continually assess and improve quality of experience for their customers.
http://www.ixiacom.com/ixmobile

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Grid-X Announces Seed Funding for 100GigE Offload

A stealth-mode start-up called Grid-X announced seed funding for its work developing an ultra high-speed offload engine. The company said its design uses proprietary algorithms and coding to implement low cost 100 GigE offload and connectivity on both WAN and LAN. The system is planned to be compatible with the future infrastructure of the Grid.



Grid-X said it has secured $250k in government contracts, to complement seed funds for developing the Grid-X series of offload engines. Beta sites include government laboratories and defense firms, requiring ultra high-speed offload and networking within their data centers, clusters, and grid computing systems.
http://www.grid-x.com

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