Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Solera Raises $5 Million for its Deep Packet Capture

Solera Networks, a start-up based in Lindon, Utah, raised $5 million in Series B funding for its deep packet capture and stream-to-storage technology. Solera Networks' DS Series is a line of high-performance appliances, including software-only virtual appliances, which capture, record, and archive 100% of network traffic at speeds up to 10Gbps. The captured data is then accessible instantly via Solera Networks' search, alert and archive interfaces, or via any standards-based security, forensics, compliance, analytics or network management application. The new funding was led by Canopy Ventures, which also led the company's Series A round in 2006. Solera


Solera Networks also announced the appointment of three key executives. James Brown was named the company's Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer; Paal Tveit was promoted to the position of Vice President of Engineering; and Fumiya Minagawa was named President of Solera Networks Japan.


Mr. Brown joins Solera Networks' management team after recently serving on the company's Board of Directors. Over the past few years, he has advised several technology companies, including Solera Networks, on strategy, fundraising and operational matters. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President and General Manager at OpenTV, where he played a key role in the company's successful IPO and was responsible for the company's applications business unit and its worldwide business development and corporate development activities. Prior to OpenTV, he was a Partner at the law firm of Pillsbury Madison & Sutro in San Francisco.


Mr. Tveit is a 20-year veteran of software and hardware engineering, having most recently served as Director of Engineering at SonicWALL in charge of their SSL, VPN and Common Criteria initiatives. Tveit has also held senior engineering positions at Mainstream Data, Philips/BTS and Unisys. He holds a Bachelor of Science in mathematical sciences and a Bachelor of Arts in political economics from Johns Hopkins University.


Fumiya Minagawa, named as President of Solera Networks Japan, began his relationship with the company as a distributor more than three years ago. He has more than 20 years of experience in engineering consulting, technology sales, product development, and corporate IT management, including five years as Chief Information Officer at Kokusai Kogyo. Mr. Minagawa also served as senior education manager for four years at Sun Microsystems in Japan, where he received the Sun President's Award in 2002. He has also held senior manager positions at Bearing Point and received the coveted Nikkei Publications Grand Prix award for a large-scale deployment of SAP.http://www.soleranetworks.com

Alcatel-Lucent Boosts its IP Routing Portfolio to Terabit Capacity

Alcatel-Lucent unveiled extensive enhancements to its IP service routing portfolio that leverage a new high-performance chipset for packet processing and traffic management. The new silicon boosts performance of the company's 7750 Service Router (SR) and 7450 Ethernet Service Switch (ESS) to terabit performance levels, enabling more speed for mass-market video-based services and applications; more services, including secure IPSec VPNs, Ethernet VPNs and MPLS-based IP VPNs; and more availability, including support for non-stop routing, non-stop services and In-Service Software Upgrades (ISSU).


Alcatel-Lucent said its new custom FP2 chipset, which took three years to develop, is capable of sophisticated and optimized network processing and traffic management at speeds up to 100 Gbps. The upgrades to the current products include more than double the density of Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports as well as supporting up to 10 times the number of services per router. The FP2 chipset also provides a path to 100 Gigabit Ethernet. It also enables densities of up to 1,200 Gigabit Ethernet ports per rack, while delivering sophisticated services to each port at line rate.


The following enhancements to the Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS service router portfolio will be available in Q3 2008:


Next Generation Silicon


  • the 100 Gbps FP2 chipset integrates 112 array cores for 95,000 MIPs performance and is implemented in 90nm process technology. The silicon was developed in house.


7750 Service Router Platform


  • Up to 1 Tb/s capacity

  • 50Gb/s (full-duplex) Input/Output Module3-XP (IOM3-XP)

  • 20-port Gigabit Ethernet MDA-XP (SFP-Fiber)

  • 20-Port 10/100/1000 Ethernet MDA-XP (Copper)

  • 2-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet MDA-XP (XFP)

  • 4-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet MDA-XP (XFP)

  • Application Assurance Integrated Services Adaptor (AA-ISA) with DPI technology

  • IPSec Integrated Services Adaptor (IPSec-ISA)



7450 Ethernet Service Switch Platform


  • Up to 1 Tb/s capacity

  • 50Gb/s (full-duplex) IOM3-XP

  • 20-port Gigabit Ethernet MDA-XP (SFP-Fiber)

  • 20-Port 10/100/1000 Ethernet MDA-XP (Copper)

  • 2-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet MDA-XP (XFP)

  • 4-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet MDA-XP (XFP)

  • Application Assurance Integrated Services Adaptor (AA-ISA) with DPI technology


Alcatel-Lucent noted that it has shipped more than 20,000 IP/MPLS systems since 2004.



http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

Aircell Announces Operational Readiness of its In-Flight Broadband Service

Aircell announced the completion and full

operational readiness of its first wireless network for broadband services to commercial and business airline passengers while flying over the U.S. The Aircell network can now provide air travelers with seamless connectivity when using their in-flight mobile broadband Internet service.


American Airlines and Virgin America have already signed agreements with Aircell to deploy its service in 2008.


"We are open for business and ready to help our airline partners deliver a service that three quarters of a billion passengers can use while flying over the U.S. each year," said Jack Blumenstein, CEO of Aircell.http://www.aircell.com
  • In January 2008, Aircell completed its nationwide wireless Air-To-Ground (ATG) network. As part of this build-out, the company constructed cell sites throughout the country. Placement of cell sites ranged from windy, snow topped mountain peaks at 12,000 feet to remote desert terrain below sea level. The company said network completion was accomplished far ahead of time requirements set by the company's FCC license agreement. The first site was activated on August 25, 2007 and the final site, which finalized the nationwide network, went live on January 29th, just five months later.

Verizon Business Manages Juniper J-Series Routers as Outsourced Service

Verizon Business announced a new managed services option for large-business and government customers with remote locations or for smaller networks. Specifically, Verizon Business is now the first U.S.-based service provider offering management of a customer's Juniper Networks J-series services router. The new managed service offering is available immediately to U.S.-based medium- and large-sized business and government customers. It has been certified with a variety of Verizon Business networking services, including company's flagship Private IP, an MPLS-based virtual private network service, as well as the company's private line and Frame Relay services.


Verizon Business offers three levels of service to support customers deploying the managed Juniper Networks J-series services router. The company's multi-tiered approach to network management enables it to help enterprises reduce the complexity associated with an IP environment. Verizon Business' IMPACT management platform supports its industry-leading service level commitments and enables the company to offer customer with the fully managed service option an actual time-to-repair commitment as low as 3.5 hours in the U.S.; the majority of Verizon Business' competitors still offer a mean time-to-repair commitment.


Verizon Business said this service will help enterprise customers take full advantage of the Juniper platform by reducing the day-to-day management burden so that the customer's technical staff can focus on critical business initiatives. The company plans to build on this announcement by offering a powerful branch office services delivery platform based on the Juniper Networks J-series services routers and that integrates managed routing, security and other services, including IP telephony.


Verizon Business noted that it currently manages 260,000-plus devices on more than 4,200 customer networks in 142 countries and territories, overseeing non-Verizon connections from more than 60 network providers around the world.
http://www.verizonbusiness.comhttp://www.juniper.net

Comcast Teams BitTorrent, Dropping Previous Traffic Management Policy

In a policy turnaround, Comcast announced a partnership with BitTorrent and with the broader Internet and ISP community to more effectively address issues associated with rich media content and network capacity management. Some key points:

  • By year-end 2008, Comcast will migrate to a capacity management technique that is protocol agnostic. Comcast said the result will be "a traffic management technique that is more appropriate for today's emerging Internet trends."


  • BitTorrent acknowledged the need of ISPs to manage their networks, especially during times of peak congestion.


  • Both companies have agreed that these technical issues can be worked out through private business discussions without the need for government intervention.


  • BitTorrent and Comcast have also agreed to work with other ISPs, other technology companies, and the Internet Engineering Task Force, to explore and develop a new distribution architecture for the efficient delivery of rich media content.


"This new architecture would enable many new and emerging applications and will be based upon an open, non-discriminatory framework that could interface with or support multiple technologies. We believe that P2P technology has matured as an enabler for legal content distribution, so we need to have an architecture that can support it with techniques that work over all networks," said Tony Werner, Comcast Cable's Chief Technology Officer.http://www.comcast.comhttp://www.bittorrent.com/
  • Earlier this month, Verizon said it no longer regarded P2P as a "dark-alley distribution system for unauthorized file sharing." Specifically,
    Verizon announced plans to begin using a peer-to-peer (P2P) file transfer system from Pando Networks to aid with the distribution of large media files to its broadband users. When deployed, the new system will move material authorized by the content owners -- such as movies, TV programs, software or large data bases -- faster for consumers and more efficiently for network operators, including Verizon.


Motorola Introduces New CDMA EV-DO Base Site Controller

Motorola introduced its new IP-BSC-DO, a scalable EV-DO Base Site Controller (BSC) platform that enables CDMA operators to quickly and cost effectively upgrade the DO broadband data capacity. The new IP BSC provides 12 times the site capacity and IP data session capacity compared to the first generation DO BSC, while using significantly less floor space.


The new IP-BSC-DO, which is expected to be available for commercial shipment in Q2 2008, is built using a modular ATCA hardware platform.
It combines EV-DO packet controller functions (PCF) with the operations and maintenance controller in a single Motorola platform for CDMA2000 EV-DO. The functions of the IP-BSC-DO include CDMA2000 EV-DO traffic and signaling control and routing between a Radio Access Network (RAN) and the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN), authentication of users attempting to access the EV-DO system, and operator management of the IP-BSC-DO.
http://www.motorola.com

Verizon Wireless Updates on V CAST Mobile TV Service

Verizon Wireless released an update on its V CAST Mobile TV offering, noting that one year after launch the service is now available in 50 markets across the U.S. Verizon Wireless currently has more than 150 broadcast-quality programs available and recently announced exclusive deals with MTV Tr3s and ESPN Radio. In addition, the company noted that four phones currently support V CAST Mobile TV, including the popular Voyager by LG, MOTORIZR Z6tv, Samsung SCH-u620, and the LG VX9400.


V CAST Mobile TV from Verizon Wireless is powered on the FLO TV service from MediaFLO USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm MediaFLO USA operates a dedicated multicast network that delivers programming in a linear format.http://www.verizonwireless.com

Corning Introduces High-Temperature/Harsh-Environment Specialty Fibers

Corning introduced a suite of Corning High-Temperature/Harsh-Environment Specialty Fibers, designed to exceed the requirements for high-temperature sensor applications, which include a high resistance to hydrogen permeation, excellent fiber fatigue performance and high usable strength. The new products include single-mode and multimode fibers with polyimide coatings in both hermetic and non-hermetic formats.


Corning said its polyimide-coated fiber has an engineered high-temperature polymer that exhibits thermal stability up to 300 degrees Celsius. The multimode fiber is useful for Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) applications and the single-mode fiber can be utilized for Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) point sensing, such as engine or pipeline monitoring.
http://www.corning.com

AT&T to Provide Connectivity for Corning

AT&T was awarded a two-year contract to provide global voice services to Corning. The services will include international voice, video and teleconferencing, calling-card and toll-free services to more than 120 Corning locations worldwide.http://www.att.com

AT&T to Launch Mobile TV with FLO

AT&T will launch a Mobile TV with FLO,

a mobile television service delivered MediaFLO USA, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm.
The mobile TV service will launch in May 2008 on two new exclusive handsets, the LG Vu and the Samsung Access. AT&T Mobile TV will also feature two exclusive channels, which will be announced soon.

FLO technology is a new air interface originally developed by QUALCOMM with multicasting capabilities designed to increase capacity and reduce content delivery costs to mobile handsets.

MediaFLO's content partners include CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, MTV, NBC 2GO, NBC News2Go and Nickelodeon.http://www.att.comhttp://www.flotv.com/
  • Since launching FLO TV service in March 2007, MediaFLO USA has announced collaborations with Verizon Wireless and AT&T.


  • The service is currently available in more than 50 major metropolitan areas nationwide, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C.


  • In February 2007, Cingular Wireless (now AT&T) announced plans to use MediaFLO.