04/15/08 ~ Converge! Network Digest

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Cisco Signs MOUs with China's Ministry of Commerce, National Development Commission

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Financial

At a press conference in Beijing, Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers announced the next phase of Cisco's corporate strategy for China, marked by new public-private collaborative programs. Highlights of the announcement include:

a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) with a focus on next-generation Internet and green research and development (R&D) programs, leadership training, best practice sharing and business development investments

a MOU with China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), aimed at furthering Cisco's commitment to technology innovation and providing assistance to Chinese businesses in the development of Information Technology (IT) and business process outsource capabilities within the country

Strategic Cooperation with Peking University to create the 'Guanghua Cisco Leadership Institute' for leadership development

The establishment of the "Cisco China Strategy Board", a cross-functional executive board of senior leaders across Cisco's global business, to evolve and drive the vision and strategy for Cisco in China

The appointment of Jim Sherriff, Cisco senior vice president of global operations, to a newly formed position of chairman, Cisco China.

http://www.cisco.com

NTT Com to Offer Flat Rate Billing for Mobile Data

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 BroadbandWireless

OCN, the Internet service provider operated by NTT Communications (NTT Com), will introduce a flat-rate billing option for wireless notebooks that connect remotely via a FOMA 3G data card or an NTT DoCoMo handset. Heavy data users will have the option of applying to NTT DoCoMo for either the "Flat-rate Data Plan HIGH-SPEED" or "Flat-rate Data Plan HIGH-SPEED Value" to download music and video content at maximum speeds of 7.2 Mbps or 3.6 Mbps, respectively.http://www.ntt.co.jp

Ericsson to supply WCDMA/HSPA to TIM Brasil

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 BroadbandWireless

TIM Brasil, Brazil's largest GSM operator, has selected Ericsson to provide a WCDMA/HSPA network,

enabling the launch of high-speed mobile broadband in eight states across Brazil. Under the agreement, Ericsson will be the sole supplier of a 2G/3G common core network and the main supplier of a radio access network in the Brazilian states of Acre, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rondônia, São Paulo and Tocantins. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Ericsson will also provide services, including network and technology consulting, network design, network deployment and systems integration of end user service platforms and applications.http://www.ericsson.comhttp://www.tim.com.br

UK Regulator Seeks Proposals for 100 Mbps Build

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Last Mille

Ofcom, the UK telecom regulator, is seeking proposals for rolling out next generation broadband networks capable of 100 Mbps services while promoting competition in the provision of these services. Ofcom said its proposed regulations will provide investors with certainty over how these new networks will be regulated. The proposed regulations also aim to ensure that all communications providers interested in delivering high-speed broadband have equal opportunities to invest in telecoms infrastructure for new build properties.

Ofcom is also encouraging communications providers, property developers and the utilities industries to work together to develop standards to guide the commercial success of next generation broadband to new build homes and businesses.

In addition, Ofcom will be conducting a survey of UK infrastructure to examine the scope for extending these networks elsewhere.

In 2007, the Government announced a target of three million new build homes by 2020; it is estimated that around 246,000 new residential and business premises are being built each year. A number of new build developments are already being fitted with fibre-based networks, including Ebbsfleet in Kent, where the new owners will move in this summer.

The consultation which closes on 25 June 2008 can be found on the Ofcom website.

"Given the remarkable results from recent French surveys, we need to establish what the position is here and whether or not duct access has a role to play in the development of competitive next-generation access. So, in cooperation with operators we intend to undertake a sample survey of the existing duct network. We are well aware that there are significant issues related to this in the broader telecoms market and that careful consideration will need to be given to these, alongside the results of the survey," commented Ofcom's Chief Executive, Ed Richard.http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/newbuild/

Lockheed Martin Opens Wireless Cyber Security Lab

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 BroadbandWireless

Lockheed Martin has opened a new Wireless Cyber Security Center, one of only a handful of technology labs capable of testing wireless communications systems in a classified environment. The lab allows defense and intelligence agencies to test and evaluate wireless systems like 802.11 Wi-Fi or broadband satellite links on a Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) network.

Lockheed Martin said its Wireless Cyber Security Center covers a range of technologies, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 802.16 WiMAX, cell phones, and Ku and C-band satellite communications. A sealed and re-enforced test chamber ensures that signals from these systems stay within the confines of the lab, allowing for testing with classified systems.http://www.lockheedmartin.com

Optical Internetworking Forum Unveils Interface Agreements

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Optical

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) unveiled a new Serial Look-Aside Interface (SLA) Implementation Agreement (IA) that gives users the ability to interface Network Processor Element (NPE) to look-aside devices such as co-processors and memories at bandwidth speeds up to 40 Gbps and up.

The Serial Look-Aside Interface IA, which was recently published by the OIF's Physical and Link Layer (PLL) Working Group, upgrades the widely adopted LA-1 look-aside Interface between NPEs and network search elements such as memory and co-processors. This interface is often used between a network processor and a Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM). The SLA IA builds upon the System Packet Interface - Scalable (SPI-S) implementation agreement, making the high-speed interface available for immediate deployment.

The SPI-S is the next-generation interface developed by the OIF to take advantage of serialization of physical interconnects. SPI-S is a robust, channelized, streaming-packet interface that scales from 6 Gb/s to hundreds of Gb/s for chip-to-chip and backplane applications. A successor to the widely deployed OIF SPI 4.2 interface, SPI-S leverages the OIF's CEI-P to take advantage of high rate serial physical interconnects.

The SLA IA supports the transfer of command, date, result and maintenance traffic between host controller (ASIC, FPGA or NPE) and a look-aside co-processor. The Look-Aside Interface supports the transfer of status and maintenance information such as Credit Pool Status information or Signaling Data Transfers, in-band with commands.

"We expect the industry to benefit from the Serial Look-Aside Interface IA," said David Stauffer, of IBM and the chair of the OIF's PLL Working Group. "Currently interfaces between Network Processor Element devices and Content Addressable Memory (CAM) or other look aside elements use the Look Aside-1 (LA-1) interface, which is a parallel interface limited to 10Gb/s bandwidth. Now the industry has a standardized interface to transfer data between the NPE and CAM elements that scale to 40Gb/s and beyond to higher rates than the industry currently needs."

The OIF also released a new version of the Common Electrical Interface Protocol (CEI-P) Implementation Agreement, which includes new clauses for mapping TFI-5 and TDM-P applications over a CEI-P layer. CEI-P clauses for TFI-5/TDM-P now enable a higher level of integration that supports greater data throughput within the same physical space, resulting in more cost effective and efficient operation. The TDM Fabric-to-Framer Interface (TFI) series of interfaces and their aggregation layer, TDM-Protocol (TDM-P), are important methods of transporting SONET/SDH and OTN TDM signals between devices. The CEI-P layer, a protocol layer for the Common Electrical Interface (CEI), was defined by the OIF in early 2006 as a low-level protocol building block that uses 64B/66B block coding and supports optional Forward Error Correction (FEC). This new revision of the CEI-P IA describes a mapping of the existing TFI and TDM-P protocols over CEI-P.

In addition, OIF members have re-elected Dave Stauffer of IBM as the chair of the Physical and Link Layer Working Group. Rod Smith of Tyco Electronics has been elected co-chair of the Marketing Awareness & Education committee.http://www.oiforum.com

TV New Zealand Launches HD/SD Digital Terrestrial Service with Harmonic

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 TTP

Television New Zealand (TVNZ) has deployed Harmonic's DiviCom Electra 7000 high definition (HD) and Electra 5400 standard definition (SD) MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) encoders for a new Freeview digital terrestrial television (DTT) service launched this week. The new service is New Zealand's first HD digital service, and is currently available to approximately 75 percent of homes nationwide.

Harmonic's Electra 1000 MPEG-2 SD encoder is also utilized by TVNZ for its digital satellite pay TV service, launched in May 2007.TVNZ also utilizes Harmonic's ProStream 1000 stream processing platform with DiviTrackIP distributed IP statistical multiplexing to further enhance bandwidth efficiency by dynamically adjusting bit-rates based on content complexity. Magna Systems, a leading system integrator in the region, implemented the system and will provide ongoing support and maintenance.

Harmonic noted that TVNZ's Freeview service is one of the world's first live HD and SD MPEG-4 AVC DTT services.http://www.harmonicinc.comhttp://tvnz.co.nz/

Vietnam Readies Launch of VINASAT-1 Satellite

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Satellite

The VINASAT-1 communications satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin for Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), is scheduled to launch this week aboard an Ariane 5-ECA rocket. VINASAT-1 features 12 operating Ku Band transponders providing coverage over Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and part of Myanmar. The spacecraft also features 8 C-Band primary transponders providing coverage over Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Southeast Asia, India, Japan and Australia. http://www.lockheedmartin.comhttp://www.vnpt.com.vn/

Verizon Wireless' FLO TV Goes Live in San Diego

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 BroadbandWireless

Verizon Wireless and MediaFLO USA are launching the "FLO TV" mobile service this week in San Diego. The mobile TV service -- developed by San Diego-based Qualcomm subsidiary MediaFLO USA -- is now on select Verizon Wireless cell phones. Local subscribers can now watch popular, full-length TV shows, breaking news and live sports.
http://www.qualcomm.com