Veraz Adds IMS-Compliant Softclient, Web Portal

Veraz Networks released a new multimedia softclient and a web portal application. The softclient, called "Veraz Virtu", is an IMS-compliant user application that enables end users to access services including voice, instant messaging, prepaid calling card and video telephony.



The web portal application is a service management tool that enables both softclient users and traditional subscribers to configure and manage account features such as user profiles, prepaid access, call forwarding, and presence information. The web portal application also lets users access a web-based telephony service, called "Portal Connect", that establishes phone-to-phone connections through the Internet.



Virtu and the web portal both work in conjunction with Veraz's ControlSwitch User Services Core (USC). The portal can be used as a stand alone graphical user interface or can be integrated into a service provider's own web interface.



Virtu provides access to various ControlSwitch service bundles ranging from basic phone functionality, including caller ID, speed dial, and address book, to more advanced business applications such as VPN groups. Virtu also supports premium functionality including presence based services, video telephony, picture caller ID and multi-party conferencing.
http://www.veraznetworks.com/

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NEC Launches Mobile WiMAX for North America

NEC Corporation of America announced the availability of its Mobile WiMAX solution based on the IEEE802.16e-2005 standard and also compliant with WiMAX Forum's Wave-2 System Profile for fixed and mobile broadband access services. The platform is suited for operation on Sub-11GHz licensed bands.



NEC's latest standards-based Mobile WiMAX solution includes Wave-2 System Profile features to provide enhanced system performance when compared to previous 802.16-2004 and Wave-1 System Profile standard solutions. This new standard addresses mobility extensions for future operator growth and enhanced coverage through embedded enhancements in the standard -- which delivers better uplink capabilities.



In addition, NEC said its Mobile WiMAX Air Interface adopts MIMO and Beam Forming techniques to further improve the transmission capacity of the radio system.

http://www.necwave.com

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One Italia to Launch 3G Video Calling using IP Unity Glenayre

One Italia is preparing to launch a 3G video calling service powered by a hosted platform from IP Unity Glenayre and Pradac Informatica.



Mobile users will be able to access and download content, such as ringtones and games, via a rich 3G mobile video experience, rather than traditional WAP methods.



One Italia has selected IP Unity Glenayre's "Versera Video Portal" as the user interface and presentation management platform for the deployment. The 3G hosted service from IP Unity Glenayre and leading Italian system integrator Pradac Informatica, will be incorporated into One Italia's content, billing and customer management (CBCM) platform.

http://www.ipunity-glenayre.com

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IMS Forum Plans Second IMS Plugfest

The IMS Forum is planning for the second IMS Plugfest to be held June 4-8th at the IMS Forum UNH InterOp Lab (IOL) in Durham, New Hampshire. The second IMS Plugfest will test interoperability for IMS voice, VoIP and Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC) services including IP PBX functionality, features management, billing and operational testing.



Interoperability veterans Empirix and Ixia will be Platinum level sponsors, and Sonus Networks a Gold level sponsor.



The list of companies announcing today their participation include Amdocs, Argela Technologies, Aricent Communications, CopperCom, Ditech Networks, Empirix, Ixia, Mu Security, Reef Point Systems, Starent Networks, Sonus Networks, Tekelec, and Tektronix.


http://www.IMSForum.org

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Microsoft Backs ZenZui Zooming Interface for Mobile Content

Microsoft is backing ZenZui, an independent company that is developing a "Zooming User Interface" to make it easier for people to engage, consume and interact with mobile Web content. ZenZui's Zooming User Interface technology was initially developed by the Microsoft Research lab in Redmond, Washington.



ZenZui's high-frame rate Zooming User Interface employs up to 36 individual "tiles" that are selected and customized by users to reflect their interests and lifestyle with relevant content, interactive communications and fresh data. The modular tile interface lets users sync, surf, and share digital content quickly, easily and in a distinctly new way.



Companies onboard for the initial trial include Kayak.com, OTOlabs, Avenue A | Razorfish and Traffic.com.

http://www.microsoft.com

http://www.zenzui.com

• ZenZui has raised $12 million in Series A funding from Oak Investment Partners and Hunt Ventures.

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Sonus and RadioFrame Extends GSM-Based Broadband-Cellular Convergence

Sonus Networks and RadioFrame Networks, a developer of IP-based picocell and femtocell solutions, are working together to enable broadband-cellular converged solutions to deliver voice services and multimedia applications to mobile handsets by leveraging customer-premise GSM access picocell and femtocell base stations.



RadioFrame is headquartered in Redmond, Washington.
http://www.sonusnet.com

http://www.radioframenetworks.com

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Siemens Carries 100 GigE over DWDM networks for 2400 km

Siemens Networks has successfully tested a 111 Gbps transmission over almost 2400 kilometers, setting the stage for the transport of 100 Gigabit Ethernet per wavelength channel over existing 10 Gbps DWDM infrastructure.



The reported trial carried 10 independent wavelength channels of 111 Gbps at 50 Giga Hertz channel spacing over nearly 2400 kilometers of Standard Single Mode Fiber (SSMF).



The reported trial has been partly supported within the project EIBONE (Efficient Integrated Backbone) from the German Government BMBF (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung).



CoreOptics supplied its proprietary digital signal processing technology to enable the extraction and translation of additional properties of the optical signal into electrical domain.


http://www.siemens.com

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Microsoft Expands Xbox LIVE Movie and TV Content Library

Microsoft will begin offering downloadable TV series and movies from A&E Network, ADV Films, National Geographic and TotalVid.com on its Xbox LIVE platform, which adds to the more than 1,500 hours of downloadable entertainment content already available.



In addition, Paramount Pictures will offer its feature films for download in high definition.



Microsoft noted that downloads on Xbox LIVE have grown in double-digits, month-over-month, with a 400 percent increase since the service began offering TV shows and movies late last year.

http://www.microsoft.com

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Fraunhofer IIS and STMicroelectronics Develop ASIC for

STMicroelectronics and the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS agreed to jointly develop a dedicated low-power ASIC for Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) applications such as fixed and portable radios, car receivers, software receivers, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).



Digital Radio Mondiale is a universal, open standard digital radio system with FM-like sound quality available to markets worldwide for long-wave (LW), medium-wave (MW), and short-wave (SW) frequencies. DRM uses the existing Amplitude Modulation (AM) broadcast frequency bands (below 30MHz) more efficiently. The DRM signal fits into the AM broadcast-band plan and can be carried by many existing AM transmitters.

http://www.drm.orghttp://www.st.com

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Taiwan's Chunghwa Tops 4 Million BB Lines, IPTV Grows to 249,000

Chunghwa Telecom, the incumbent operator in Taiwan, added 192,000 new HiNet subscribers over the last twelve months to bring the total number of Internet subscriptions to 4.30 million at the end of December 2006. The number of broadband subscribers, including ADSL and FTTB subscribers, increased to 4.04 million at the end of December 2006. A total of 197,000 new ADSL subscribers and 165,000 new FTTB subscribers were added during the year.



Chunghwa added 150,000 Multimedia On Demand (MOD) subscribers in fiscal 2006, which brought the total to 249,000. Chunghwa's MOD is an IPTV service that offers a wide range of video-on-demand, near VOD (NVOD), karaoke-on-demand and linear broadcast channels.



Some other trends for 2006:

• Chunghwa's data business continued to grow, and was up 6.6% primarily due to increased leased line revenue and the contribution from Chief Telecom recognized in the fourth quarter of 2006.



• At the end of December 2006, Chunghwa had 8.49 million mobile subscribers, up 4.0% from the previous year. Chunghwa remained the leading mobile operator in Taiwan for 2006, both in terms of 2G revenue and 2G subscriber market share, with 35.7% and 40.9% respectively. Chunghwa added 646,000 3G subscribers in fiscal 2006, which brought the
  total to 943,000. At the end of year 2006, 3G ARPU was 31% higher than that of 2G.



• At the end of 2006, the number of fixed-line subscribers totaled 13.12 million, slightly down by 1.0% compared to 2005. The company's market shares for local, DLD and ILD remained flat through 2006.



• Total revenues for fiscal year 2006 grew year-over-year by 0.9% to NT$186.34 billion, of which 33.8% was from fixed-line services, 39.2% was from mobile services and 24.9% was from Internet and data services.



• Mobile revenue remained flat in 2006. Declining fixed-to-mobile traffic, tariff reductions for mobile-to-fixed calls, and an increased amount of promotional packages were offset by 3.4% increase in usage minutes and 30% revenue growth from mobile VAS.



• Fixed-line revenues declined by 5.0%, the result of a 4.3% local revenue decrease due to mobile and broadband substitution, a 9.7% domestic long distance revenue decrease due to mobile substitution and VoIP, as well as an International long distance revenue decline of 3.7% from the impact of increasing wholesale minutes compared to total ILD minutes on unit price.

http://www.cht.com.tw

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Motorola to Supply 802.16e WiMAX from Chile's VTR

Motorola has been selected by VTR to deploy a 802.16e WiMAX network in Chile. In December 2005, VTR obtained the license to offer wireless communication in Chile from regions I to IX and the Metropolitan Region. Commercial launch of the WiMAX network is targeted for March 2008.



VTR is one of Motorola's nine agreements for WiMAX network deployments worldwide.



VTR is owned 80 percent indirectly by the U.S. Company Liberty Global, Inc. and 20 percent by Cristalerias de Chile S.A., a local company.

http://www.motorola.com

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Cisco to Acquire SpansLogic for Packet Processing

Cisco Systems agreed to acquire SpansLogic, a start-up based in Mountain View, California, for an undisclosed sum. SpansLogic, which was founded in 2004 and has 14 employees, is developing packet processors for Ethernet switching. Product plans have been publicly disclosed.

http://www.cisco.com

http://www.spanslogic.com/

• Cisco's acquisitions for 2007 include: Spanslogic, WebEx, NeoPath Networks, Reactivity, Five Across, and IronPort Systems.

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Juniper M120s Deployed in Canada's ORION Research Net

The Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION) has selected Juniper Networks M120 Multiservice Edge Router for the second phase of a network upgrade.



ORION, one of the world's largest and most advanced fully optical research and education networks, is expanding to 5,800 kilometers from its current 4,300-kilometer span.

Juniper's new M120 routing equipment is to be installed by the end of March 2007 at ORION Points of Presence (PoPs) in Peterborough, North Bay, Toronto and London, Ontario.

http://www.juniper.nethttp://www.orion.on.ca

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Alcatel-Lucent Outlines Advancements in Optical Transmission

In a series of papers presented at this week's OFC/NFOEC conference in Anaheim, California, Alcatel-Lucent outlined a series of advancements in optical networking, including:

• The potential for upgrading existing 40 Gbps transparent long-haul transport networks to 100 Gbps Ethernet. Researchers at Bell Labs transmitted ten closely spaced 100 Gbps WDM data channels over a 1,200 kilometer optical transmission distance in a systems experiment that included six optical add/drop nodes like those used in today's transparent mesh networks. Using this design, the researchers achieved an unprecedented spectral efficiency of 1 bit per second per Hertz (b/s/Hz) over the 1200 Km distance using only a single polarization of light.
  
  
• The use of coherent detection instead of conventional direct detection for unmatched resistance to fiber impairments at 40 Gbps. The use of coherent detection instead of conventional direct detection makes the introduction of promising techniques easier, such as using polarisation division multiplexing on top of wavelength division multiplexing, making possible to generate data at 40 Gbps with just 10Gsymbol/s rate. Based on this approach, an ultra long-transmission over 4080 km has been demonstrated for the first time.



• The ability to receive and convert serial 107 Gbps optical data into lower rate data streams. The company is developing an optical receiver integrates a 100-Gbps photodetector with a 1:2 electronic demultiplexer in a single high-speed package. At such high speeds, packaging these two components in an integrated fashion allows for superior performance compared to having separate photodetector and demultiplexer modules. This is a significant step towards the commercial realization of 100 Gbps serial transmission systems.



• The first WDM transmission of channels based on serial binary modulation format exploiting full Electronics Time Domain Division Multiplexing (ETDM). Company researchers have demonstrated the WDM transmission of 10 channels, each carrying 107 Gbps bit rate information over 480km. After a recent single-channel demonstration, this is the first WDM transmission of channels based on serial binary modulation format exploiting full Electronics Time Domain Division Multiplexing (ETDM), both at the transmitter and receiver sides.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Alcatel-Lucent Carries 25.6 Tbps over Single Fiber

Researchers at Alcatel-Lucent have transmitted a world record 25.6 Terabits per second (Tbps) of optical data over a single fiber strand, using 160 WDM channels. This surpasses the previous transmission record of 14 Tbps, established in September 2006.



The experimental system transmitted 25.6 Tbps of data through three 80-km spans. The data used wavelength division multiplexing in both the C (conventional) and L (long) wavelength bands and, to double the total capacity, polarization multiplexing in each wavelength was employed. Distributed Raman amplification was used to increase the received optical signal-to-noise ratio and to allow the use of a single dispersion-compensating fiber for both bands after each span.



Maximizing spectral efficiency, which is the amount of information that can be transmitted within a unit bandwidth, was also critical to realizing this world record. In this experiment Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs researchers in New Jersey and Alcatel-Lucent's Research and Innovation researchers in France used an advanced signalling format called RZ-DQPSK (return to zero differential quadrature phase-shift keyed) to realize a record-breaking 3.2 bits/second/Hertz (b/s/Hz) of spectral efficiency. This is a significant improvement over today's commercial systems that generally operate at spectral efficiencies of between 0.2 and 0.4 b/s/Hz.



Also involved in this experiment were scientists from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technologies in Tokyo (NTIICT), and also from Sumitomo Osaka Cement in Chiba, Japan.


http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Alcatel-Lucent to Supply CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A for Mexico's Iusacell

Iusacell, the largest CDMA operator in Mexico, awarded a one-year contract to Alcatel-Lucent to expand and enhance its existing mobile network to support CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A (Rev. A) technology. The new EV-DO Rev. A network will enable Iusacell to continue the deployment of unique services such as IusaTV, BAM-Banda Ancha Movil (mobile broadband services) and other multimedia services such as video telephony to its growing consumer base.



As part of this project, which will begin in June 2007, Iusacell's existing Alcatel-Lucent-supplied base stations and core network will be upgraded to support EV-DO Rev. A technology. Alcatel-Lucent also will provide its 9400 AWY Digital Microwave Radio links to transport network traffic and transmission lines and antennas from Radio Frequency Systems. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will provide integration, deployment, maintenance and project management services.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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