Sunday, August 5, 2007

Larry Roberts' Anagran Targets Flow-based Routing

Dr. Larry Roberts, who is known for his pioneering work on the ARPANET and his role in network equipment start-up companies, formally launched his latest innovation and new networking company, Anagran. The company announced the immediate availability of the Anagran FR-1000 Flow Router, a routing platform aimed improving media flows across the Internet.



The Anagran router resides at or just before the network edge and is designed to work seamlessly with any router or in conjunction with any WAN optimization or deep packet inspection product.



Anagran's "Fast Flow Routing" architecture looks at each packet as part of its higher level flow and based on specified priorities, intelligently delivers the most critical information at the highest quality of performance.



The company said it is using a new approach to traffic control and congestion management-- called " Intelligent Flow Discard" -- which proactively meters all incoming flows by class to fill the output capacity to a sustained 90 -- 95%, virtually eliminating delay and packet losses caused by traditional routers' large output queues under traffic overload. The FR-1000 keeps critical statistics on each flow in real time--the source, destination, the amount of traffic running, the duration, and other key statistics that define the nature and health of the flow. To ensure sustained performance and quality for critical "real time" services like video and voice, the router uses "Behavioral Traffic Control" to prohibit any flows from using more than their appropriate share of network resources by adjusting every flow's class, rate, or route to control P2P or any other traffic type.



Anagran is touting the low cost and power consumption of its 1RU platform (about $70,000) compared to typical Layer 3 edge routers.

http://www.anagran.com
  • Dr. Larry Roberts previously backed Caspian Networks, another high-profile, Silicon Valley start-up developing flow-based routers. Caspian ceased operations in 2006.



UNH-IOL Tests IPv6 for the Enterprise

The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) has completed a series of multi-vendor tests that assessed how well basic enterprise networking fares on Internet protocol version 6, the next incarnation of today's IP networking standard.



Using the Moonv6 network, the largest permanently deployed multi-vendor IPv6 network in the world, 13 companies tested networking-intensive office applications such as Adobe's Dreamweaver and Microsoft's MeetingPlace over the new protocol. The testing also essayed many of the essential components of basic enterprise networking, such as file sharing, printing and security. Still to be put to trial is e-mail and a greater variety of enterprise QoS and network management tools.



"Most issues were implementations, not the protocol, and this suggests that for common system admins there will be something of a learning curve in setting up for IPv6," said Erica Johnson, IPv6 consortium manager at the UNH-IOL.



The list of participating companies included major enterprise IT vendors such as Adobe, Alcatel-Lucent, Command Information, Counterpath, Hewlett Packard, Hexago, Ixia, Juniper, Konica Minolta, Microsoft and Xerox.



Additional information is online.

http://www.iol.unh.edu

Linux for Mobiles Foundation Adds Members

The LiMo Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit entity that strives to increase the adoption of Linux within the mobile industry, announced the following new Core members: Aplix, Celunite, LG Electronics, McAfee and Wind River. Additionally, ARM, Broadcom, Ericsson, Innopath, KTF, MontaVista Software and NXP B.V. have joined as Associate members.



Founder members Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics, and Vodafone announced the formation of the LiMo Foundation in January 2007. Its goal is to create the world's first globally competitive, Linux-based software platform for mobile devices.

http://www.limofoundation.org

Veraz Posts Q2 Revenue of $31.2 million, up 35% YoY

Veraz Networks posted Q2 revenues of $31.2 million, a year-over-year increase of 35% from the second quarter of last year. IP product revenues for Q2 were $21.4 million, an increase of 87% over the second quarter of 2006. Veraz recorded Q2 net income of $2.1 million, including $0.6 million in stock-based compensation expense, as compared to the second quarter of last year with a net loss of $6.2 million, including $0.2 million in stock-based compensation expense. http://www.veraznetworks.com

Time Warner Cable Offers Reward for Copper Thieves

Time Warner Cable is offering a $10,000.00 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person, or persons, responsible for vandalizing the company's equipment on June 19th and July 24th located at the 1-35 underpass near Dallas. Damage to fiber optic cable lines resulted when thieves attempted to steal the fiber's conduit, which appears similar to copper. The incident resulted in over 16,000 customers losing temporary access to phone, Internet and television. Previous damage suffered by the company resulted in the loss of service to over 45,000 subscribers and thousands of dollars in damaged equipment.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/dallas

Hanaro Reaches 1.25 million 100 Mbps Subscribers, 500,000 IPTV

Korea's hanarotelecom reported 32,000 broadband net adds and 66,000 voice net adds for Q2 2007. In addition, the company said that the number of 100 Mbps broadband subscribers exceeded 1.25 million in the 2nd quarter as 100 Mbps service coverage expanded to 9.8 million households as of the end of the 2nd quarter 2007 from 4.3 million as of the end of 2006.



Meanwhile, the number of hanaTV subscribers exceeded 500,000 and hanaTV revenues recorded KRW 7.7 billion in the 2nd quarter, more than double the revenues of the previous quarter. The company remarked that the profitability of hanaTV business is improving at a rapid pace as shown in an increase in PPV revenues from KRW 200 million to KRW 1 billion quarter on quarter.

http://www.hanaro.com/

CNC-AT&T to provide Dedicated China-US Link during Beijing Olympics

China Netcom Group Company Ltd. (CNC) and AT&T have been selected to provide telecommunications services between China and the U.S. during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The dedicated link will be used by NBC to transmit digital television coverage of the Games, which will be held Aug. 8 - 24, 2008, to the U.S. market.



In addition, AT&T is the Official Telecommunications Services Partner of the U.S. Olympic Team. AT&T provides a wide range of services to the U.S. Olympic Committee, including integrated long distance, data service and audio/videoconferencing services, virtual private networks, managed Internet Protocol services, wireless services and Web hosting. AT&T also has provided financial support for various U.S. Olympic Committee projects, including training facilities.



Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.att.com

http://www.china-netcom.com/

CacheLogic Appoints CEO

CacheLogic, which offers content delivery network services, announced the appointment of Phill Robinson as Chief Executive Officer. Robinson has been part of the management teams for Oracle, Sybase, Siebel and most recently Salesforce.com.

http://www.cachelogic.com

Motorola and Wind River Partner on AdvancedTCA/MicroTCA

Motorola and Wind River Systems announced a strategic alliance to provide integrated AdvancedTCA (ATCA) and MicroTCA communication platforms with Carrier Grade Linux and VxWorks runtimes. The companies are targeting bundled hardware and software solutions for next-generation networking designs for the telecom, military and aerospace, medical and industrial automation industries. The companies also will provide joint customer support, as well as collaborate on product development and on driving joint value for industry initiatives such as OpenSAF high availability software, virtualization technologies and development environments for multicore processors.



The first bundled solution, a MicroTCA-based COTS solution with Wind River Carrier Grade Linux, is now available through leading global distributors Arrow Electronics, Inc. and Avnet Applied Computing Solutions. Other solutions including the ATCA-9301 Cavium Octeon-based solution are expected to be available later this year.

http://www.motorola.com/http://www.windriver.com/
  • In June, Motorola introduced an AdvancedTCA (ATCA) blade that leverages two sixteen-core processors with built-in hardware acceleration engines to deliver 10Gbps packet forwarding throughput. The blade uses Cavium Networks' Octeon processors and Wind River's Platform for Network Equipment, Linux Edition (PNE-LE) operating system. The many-core processor with a standard Carrier Grade Linux programming environment allows both conventional programs and packet processing tasks to be handled on the same hardware. Target applications include data plane elements that employ deep packet inspection, such as network gateway and edge functions for 4G wireless and IPTV.

AT&T Partners with "The Cloud" for Wi-Fi Access

AT&T announced a Wi-Fi roaming deal with The Cloud, giving its customers access to over 9,000 new Wi-Fi locations in the UK, Germany and Nordics. The Cloud's 9,000 hotspots are split 7,600 across the UK, 900 in Germany and 500 in the Nordics.



AT&T's total global Wi-Fi service area now exceeds more than 57,000 hotspots in 83 countries. More than 28,000 Wi-Fi access points are located across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

http://www.thecloud.net/http://www.att.com
  • In July 2007, AT&T announced that it will provide its broadband customers with free access to its nationwide Wi-Fi network, which includes nearly 10,000 hot spots at popular locations across the country, including leading airports, McDonalds restaurants, Barnes & Noble bookstores, coffee shops and popular sporting venues. Effective now, qualifying new and existing residential and small business AT&T broadband customers can get the free unlimited Wi-Fi connectivity at company hot spots. Qualifying AT&T broadband packages include: AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet Pro (up to 3.0 Mbps downstream), AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet Elite (up to 6.0 Mbps downstream), FastAccess Xtreme (up to 3.0 Mbps downstream) and FastAccess Xtreme 6.0 (up to 6.0 Mbps downstream).

Metalink Raises $19.2M for DSL + WLAN Silicon

Metalink announced deals with institutional investors for a $19.2 million private placement of its ordinary shares and warrants to purchase its ordinary shares.



Headquartered in Yakum, Israel Metalink offer an 802.11n-draft-compliant silicon solution as well as a range of symmetric DSL and VDSL products.

http://www.metalinkdsl.com

Alcatel-Lucent Highlights Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) Spectrum Relocation Services

Alcatel-Lucent is providing relocation solutions to clear the 2.1 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band to make way for service providers that will be introducing mobile voice and data services following the recent auction of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum. Alcatel-Lucent expects that many incumbent 2.1 GHz microwave communications network operators will choose to relocate to other microwave bands.



Alcatel-Lucent is introducing a new microwave radio that can operate in unlicensed spectrum at 2.4 GHz or licensed spectrum at 2.47 GHz, enabling most incumbents to re-use their existing 2.1 GHz antenna systems. This also avoids challenging tower modifications or significant increases in tower lease rates. http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

Bush Administration Upholds ITC In Favor of Broadcom

The Bush Administration decided to let stand the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) order barring the importation of QUALCOMM chips and certain cellular phones containing those chips that infringe a Broadcom patent. Broadcom said it was gratified by the decision.



QUALCOMM issued a statement saying it will appeal and renew its request for a stay of the International Trade Commission (ITC) ban on imports of future 3G mobile broadband handset models.

http://www.broadcom.com

http://www.qualcomm.com


"Protect America" Act Extends NSA Wiretapping

President Bush signed into law the "Protect America Act" aimed at updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and giving law enforcement authorities greater leeway in intercepting foreign electronic communications without a specific court order. The law targets telephone or Internet communications in which one party is "reasonably believed to be located outside of the United States" or that transits a communications hub in the United States. Such surveillance is conducted by the National Security Agency. Under the law, telecommunications companies are compelled to cooperate with these efforts and immunizes them from legal liability for doing so. The law sunsets in six months.

http://www.whitehouse.govhttp://www.nsa.gov


Sonus Enhances Network Border Switch

Sonus Networks launched the latest version of its Network Border Switch designed to deliver secure connectivity between enterprises and operators, as well as secure connectivity between disparate operators' networks. Sonus' Network Border Switch (NBS) is based on the company's GSX9000 platform and provides IP-to-IP border control and PSTN media gateway capabilities -- integrating security, session control and media control. It supports government required capabilities, such as Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) and Enhanced 911 or E911.



The latest release of the Sonus NBS includes new features to support direct media, Denial of Service (DoS) protection for access networks and consumer VoIP deployments, advanced encryption support for call set-up, and additional Secure Real Time Protocol (RTP) to protect call content. In addition, the platform upgrade includes new features for advanced management and Operational System Support (OSS) functionality.

http://www.sonusnet.com


Sony Pictures Imageworks Deploys Gear6 Centralized Caching Appliances

Sony Pictures Imageworks is using Gear6's "CACHEfx" scalable caching appliances to accelerate image rendering for digital film production. The centralized caching solution delivers I/O response times under one half of a millisecond for applications running on thousands of processors.



Digital effects and animated film production require rapid processing of terabytes of data to create high quality visual effects. In particular, rendering applications involve millions of random I/O Operations per Second (IOPS) that can generate a heavy workload for traditional disk-based storage systems. Imageworks selected centralized storage caching from Gear6 to address IOPS and low latency needs.



Gear6's CACHEfx appliances attach to the network, centralize cache resources in a coherent pool of shared memory, and scale to terabyte levels. The company said that because the appliance serves data to applications from memory with very high throughput and extremely low latency, performance improves significantly over stand alone disk-based solutions. By delivering caching as a shared network service, data can be accessed simultaneously by thousands of clients with no modifications to existing applications, storage systems, or management software.

http://www.gear6.com
  • In May 2007, Gear6, a start-up based in Mountain View, California, unveiled its "CACHEfx" line of scalable caching appliances designed to accelerate response times and throughput for a wide variety of demanding, cross-industry enterprise applications.



    Gear6 said centralized storage caching extends to nearly all I/O intensive applications and those requiring immediate data access such as databases and transaction processing. Its CACHEfx appliances support a baseline of 250,000 I/O Operations per Second (IOPS), 16 Gbps of throughput, sub-millisecond response time and scale linearly to handle millions of IOPS. Its Reflex OS virtualizes appliance memory into a scalable coherent cache pool, optimizes data delivery through parallel I/O channels, and provides robust intelligent cache services. Initial products support NFS and include intuitive browser based management tools for comprehensive statistics and I/O profiling. Gear6's CACHEfx centralized storage caching solutions are available now starting at $400,000.

Incognito Announces DOCSIS 3.0-IPv6 Interoperability Program

Incognito Software, a supplier of device provisioning and network resource management systems, has created a DOCSIS 3.0-IPv6 Interoperability (interop) Program to help customer premise equipment (CPE) and Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) vendors to test the provisioning of their products in a multi-vendor, IPv6 environment.



Incognito said the need for this type of interop program is underscored by the fact that the provisioning of DOCSIS 3.0 compliant equipment differs significantly from DOCSIS 1.x and 2.x equipment, since it relies on IPv6 addressing and DHCPv6 auto-configuration.



Incognito Software, in a co-operative partnership with Motorola, began development of a DOCSIS 3.0 provisioning module for its leading Broadband Command Center solution in 2006, responding to the growing need for operators to move to IPv6. The initial results of this co-operation initiative were demonstrated at the CableLabs ATP in December 2006.

http://www.incognito.com