Gridpoint Debuts Intelligent Carrier Ethernet Edge Node

Gridpoint Systems has augmented its Intelligent Control Plane solution with an Intelligent Carrier Ethernet Node platform that promises at least a 30% increase in efficiency in metro networks thanks to "tunnel shaping" bandwidth management techniques.


The Gridpoint 3400, which is designed for metro-access networks, is a standards-based, high density Carrier Ethernet network element leveraging the company's expertise in control plane technology, traffic engineering and bandwidth management.


The energy efficient 1U platform offers 10 Gbps of aggregate capacity and conforms to standards from the MEF, IEEE and ITU. It features a "Service Steering" capability that enables network operators to match classes of services with the required network transport elements. The Gridpoint 3400 supports SONET/SDH and OTN interfaces allowing seamless integration into existing transport networks.


The addition of the Gridpoint 3400 augments the company's Intelligent Control Plane solution.http://www.gridpointsystems.com

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Facing the Challenges of Developing 100 Gbps Platforms

The communications infrastructure across the globe is being transformed to deliver any service, any where, at any time.

Consequently, services are being expanded, and the method for controlling these services is changing as the bandwidth required to deliver them is exploding due to ever-increasing video content.. Aging broadcast-based cable structures and circuit-based telecom structures are being systematically replaced with packet-based networks (IP and Ethernet). In addition, wireless access is presenting new complexity to the way consumers and businesses are accessing these networks


This paper will address the challenges of scaling packet networks from the current state-of-the-art, 10 Gbps limited packet-aware, to next generation 100 Gbps all packet-aware, any-to-any networks. The areas covered will include optical/electrical interfaces, interface adaptation, data plane processing, control plane processing, as well as switching, system power and printed circuit board requirements. These challenges apply to platforms that aggregate lower speed interfaces, up to 100 Gbps, as well as platforms with pure 100 Gbps interfaces.http://www.roadto100g.org/whitepaper.php

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Infinera Packs up to 160 DWDM Wavelengths

Infinera introduced its next-generation optical line system featuring the ability to pack up to 160 DWDM channels into the C-band and increasing the optical reach to 2,500 kilometers. The ILS2 system, which begins shipping this summer, employs a 25 Gigahertz (GHz) grid, twice the density of Infinera's previous line system. Extremely dense channel spacing is achieved by high-performance optical filters and multiplexers integrated into a new passive PIC designed by Infinera and manufactured at the company's Annapolis Junction, Maryland semiconductor fabrication facility. The system is capable of 10 Gbps, 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps services.


With its current DTN line cards, Infinera's ILS2 delivers up to 1.6 Tbps of optical capacity. Once Infinera introduces its next-generation line cards, the ILS2 system will deliver 160 DWDM channels each operating at 40 Gbps, for total capacity of 6.4 Tbps, entirely in the C-band. In an 8 Tbps configuration, Infinera line cards will deliver 80 channels at 100 Gbps each.


Infinera's optoelectronic or "active" PICs have integrated active devices such as lasers, modulators, and photodiodes. These active PICs are now in their second generation of development and include additional functionality not present on the first generation of active PICs. Future generations of active PICs are planned to scale to higher capacities and to add additional functionality. Infinera's newly introduced passive PICs integrate passive devices such as multiplexers, interleavers, variable optical attenuators and waveguides, and play key roles in routing and filtering DWDM wavelengths in the ILS2 system, which enables up to160 DWDM channels on a single fiber. Infinera's passive PIC technology is based on the use of a proprietary glass, "Hydex", which enables a reduction in the size of the planar lightwave circuits (PLCs) on the PICs by roughly 90% compared to conventional material technologies. One of the passive PICs introduced today is a precision multi-wavelength multiplexer/ demultiplexer, supporting ILS2's 25 Gigahertz (GHz) channel spacings. It integrates the functionality of more than 40 devices onto a single chip. The other passive PIC, announced today serves as a wavelength management device, integrating the functionality of more than ten devices on a chip. Both PICs play important roles in enabling the new ILS2 to pack up to160 channels or wavelengths of light into the C-band while supporting ultra-long-haul distances.


Infinera said the combination of its PICs and its GMPLS-powered service intelligence makes it easy and cost-effective to turn up large volumes of capacity and manage large networks without a large staff of optics specialists. Infinera's Bandwidth Virtualization capability ensures that services can be provisioned across any network link, regardless of the optical parameters of the underlying wavelengths. The ILS2 system also introduces optical express in Infinera networks, to enable service providers to optically express most traffic through locations where only a small fraction needs to be added or dropped.


In addition, the ILS2's extended optical reach of up to 2500 kilometers enables greater single-span distances, valuable for applications such as festoon networks or to enable hut-skipping. Extended optical reach is achieved with the introduction of Raman amplification modules as part of ILS2.


Infinera noted that the raman amplification and passive PIC technology leverage technology from two acquisitions made two years ago -- the acquisition of Corvis Corporation's assets and the acquisition of Little Optics. In each case, Infinera acquired highly differentiated technology, integrated it into the Infinera system and developed it further. The teams acquired in both acquisitions have now been combined in an Infinera center of excellence in Annapolis Junction, Maryland.


Separately, Infinera announced that SAVVIS will upgrade its California network to the new ILS2 line system.


http://www.infinera.com

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Mellanox Releases 36-port, 40 Gbps InfiniBand Chip

Mellanox Technologies released a 36-port, 40Gbps InfiniBand InfiniScale IV switch chip designed for next-gen data centers. Key capabilities includes:

• 6X the switching and data capacity vs. 24-port 10GigE switch devices


• 4X the storage I/O throughput critical for backup, snapshot and quickly loading large datasets vs. 8Gb/s Fibre Channel SANs


• 10X lower end-to-end latency performance of mission-critical clustered applications vs. iWARP and 10GigE switch solutions


• 3X the server and storage node cluster scalability when building a 3-tier CLOS fabric vs. 24-port 10GigE switch devices.

Mellanox said its InfiniScale IV integrates traffic management capabilities including congestion control, adaptive routing, multiple subnet support, and port monitoring and mirroring, optimizing total cluster performance and manageability.http://www.mellanox.com

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Qosmos Extends DPI with Data Extraction Tools

Qosmos announced the launch of its next generation software and appliances, Qosmos ixEngine and Qosmos ixMachine, based on Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology.


Whereas existing DPI solutions monitor and analyze network traffic, Qosmos said its technology extends the capabilities of DPI with an ability to not only monitor, but also extract information traveling over networks in real-time, what it calls "ixDPI" (for information extraction using DPI). Qosmos ixEngine is a Software Development Kit that enables metadata and content extraction for a creating a database view of the network.
It can analyze more than 300 different communication protocols representing thousands of applications, and extract over 3,000 characteristics in information flows on any IP network, whether public, private or mobile. Custom protocol and application signatures can be developed on demand by Qosmos' engineering team or by Qosmos' customers; the software was designed for easy integration with fully documented APIs.http://www.qosmos.com

• Qosmos was established in 2000 by members of the LIP6 Computer Research Laboratory in Paris. The company is backed by Sofinnova Partners, Alven Capital and GfK AG.

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WiMAX Vendors Form Open Patent Alliance

Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Clearwire, Intel, Samsung Electronics and Sprint have launched a new Open Patent Alliance (OPA) to advance a competitive and open intellectual property rights model for the industry. The companies hope to spur innovation through broader choice and lower equipment and service costs for WiMAX technology, devices and applications globally.


The Open Patent Alliance will form a WiMAX patent pool to help participating companies obtain access to patent licenses from patent owners at a predictable cost. The patent pool will aggregate essential patent rights needed to implement the WiMAX standard as defined by the WiMAX Forum and the IEEE 802.16e standard. To help ensure product differentiation and interoperability at a more predictable cost, this approach will focus on providing a more competitive royalty structure by charging only for the features required to develop WiMAX products. The patent pool will incorporate a variety of royalty licensing solutions, including accounting for cross-licensing among individual members within the pool.


The OPA said it plans to issue a call for WiMAX essential patents for inclusion in its patent pool. An independent third-party reviewer will serve as the "patent referee" and will evaluate submitted patents to determine how essential they are to the WiMAX standard and WiMAX Forum profiles. While the OPA initially will focus its efforts on the WiMAX standard, it may work with other industry groups in the future.http://www.openpatentalliance.com

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Cable's Tru2way Gains Support from ADB, Digeo, Intel, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony

Major consumer electronics (CE), including Panasonic, Samsung Electronics America, and Sony Electronics, have signed binding memorandums of understanding (MOU) on "tru2way" technology with the top six cable operators in the United States. Other companies signing include set-top makers ADB and Digeo, and Intel, which plans to build a system-on-a-chip (SoC) that will support a variety of tru2way devices, including DTVs, set-top-boxes, DVRs, and other devices.http://www.cablelabs.com

• Last month, the six largest U.S. cable operators, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House Networks, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing the fundamentals for a competitive retail market for “two-way�? digital cable-ready devices. The companies envision an open market where consumers can purchase “two-way�? digital televisions and other devices that can receive interactive digital and high-definition video services without a set-top box. As part of the agreement, the parties will adopt: the Java-based “tru2way�? solution as the national interactive “plug-and-play�? standard; new streamlined technology licenses; and new ways for content providers, consumer electronics manufacturers, information technology companies and cable operators to cooperate in evolving the tru2way technology at Cable Television Laboratories (CableLabs), the cable industry's research and development consortium. Furthermore the companies expect the agreement will encourage the development and distribution of interactive and high-value digital content. Key elements of the agreement relate to the deployment of a platform for “write once, run anywhere�? applications, and to the incorporation of secure digital interfaces that protect consumers' home recording rights along with copyright owners' rights to secure their digital content. Detailed terms of the MOU have not yet been released, while other potential signatories complete their review of the document.



• In January 2008, CableLabs unveiled a new “tru2way�? brand to succeed use of the term “OpenCable Platform�? as it applies to the marketing and branding of the interactive video platform for consumers and in retail markets. The tru2way technology enables consumers to access two-way digital cable programming without the need for a cable operator-supplied set-top box and is capable of supporting all cable services now delivered to devices currently leased to consumers as well as future services written to the tru2way technology. Major cable operators have committed to deploy support for the tru2way platform in service areas covering more than 90 million U.S. homes by the end of 2008.

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Mzima Deploys Ciena's CN 5060 Platform

Los Angeles-based Mzima Networks, which operates a high-capacity backbone with over 250 Gbps of transit/peering capacity, has implemented Ciena's CN 5060 Multiservice Carrier Ethernet Platform across its North American and European networks. Mzima deployed the CN 5060 to support a new MPLS infrastructure for enabling new services. Mzima specializes in high-bandwidth applications by leveraging 10-Gigabit Ethernet technologies.


Ciena's FlexSelect Architecture and CN 5060 platform enables Mzima to transition its metro and edge aggregation networks to an optimized IP and Ethernet service delivery infrastructure. The platform is Carrier Ethernet certified by the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) for its MEF 9 and MEF 14 certifications. Financial terms were not disclosed.http://www.ciena.comhttp://www.mzima.net/

• In February 2007, Force10 Networks announced that Mzima Networks had deployed its TeraScale E-Series family of switch/routers to anchor its high-performance 10 Gigabit Ethernet backbone. The equipment is used to peer with more than 350 networks in the U.S. and Europe.
  By using BGP, Mzima has built a fully routed transcontinental network anchored by points of presence in 10 cities with roll outs planned in three additional cities. The TeraScale E300 offers eight-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet line cards, enabling a high density of 10 Gigabit Ethernet services on the switch. The companies noted that for most service providers, more than 80 percent of the traffic on the network is best effort that requires no special handling and does not command a premium price.

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Galazar Unveils Muxponder-on-a-chip for ROADM/DWDM

Galazar Networks introduced its "MXP" product family aimed at metro networking applications. The muxponder-on-a-chip device combines the Next-Gen SONET/SDH functions of an MSPP and the OTN functions of a transponder.


Galazar's MXP product family is comprised of devices addressing muxponder applications from 2.5 Gbps up to 40 Gbps. The first of these is the MXP2, which provides a single-chip solution for 10 Gbps muxponder applications. The MXP products join Galazar's existing portfolio of Ethernet over SONET/SDH and Ethernet over PDH solutions.http://www.galazar.com

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TI Narrows its Q2 Business Outlook

Texas Instruments narrowed its expected ranges for revenue and earnings per share (EPS). The company's new expectations for revenue are:

• Total revenue between $3.33 billion and $3.46 billion, compared with the prior range of $3.24 billion to $3.50 billion;



• Semiconductor revenue between $3.17 billion and $3.28 billion, compared with the prior range of $3.08 billion to $3.32 billion; and



• Education Technology revenue between $160 million and $180 million, unchanged from the prior range.

TI expects EPS between $0.43 and $0.47, compared with the previous range of $0.42 to $0.48.
http://www.ti.com

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Apple and AT&T Redo iPhone Licensing Deal, $30/Month Unlimited 3G Data Plan

Apple and AT&T announced a new iPhone 3G agreement that eliminates the revenue-sharing model under which AT&T shared a portion of monthly service revenue with Apple. Under the revised agreement, which is consistent with traditional equipment manufacturer-carrier arrangements, there is no revenue sharing and both iPhone 3G models will be offered at lower prices so as to broaden the market potential and accelerate subscriber volumes.


AT&T calculates that average monthly revenues per iPhone subscriber are nearly double the average of the company's overall subscriber base. Currently, less than 20 percent of AT&T's postpaid subscribers have integrated devices capable of voice, Web and data applications.


Some pricing details:

• With a two-year contract, the price of an 8GB iPhone 3G will be $199; the 16GB model will be priced at $299.
  
• Unlimited iPhone 3G data plans for consumers will be available for $30 a month, in addition to voice plans starting at $39.99 a month. Previous pricing was $20 per month for the iPhone data plan on the Edge network


• Unlimited 3G data plans for business users will be available for $45 a month, in addition to a voice plan.

In the near term, AT&T anticipates that the new agreement will likely result in some pressure on margins and earnings, reflecting the costs of subsidized device pricing, which, in turn, is expected to drive increased subscriber volumes. The company anticipates potential dilution to earnings per share (EPS) from this initiative in the $0.10 to $0.12 range this year and next, with a 2008 adjusted consolidated operating income margin of approximately 24 percent and a full-year 2008 wireless OIBDA margin in the 39-40 percent range. As recurring revenue streams build without any further revenue sharing required, AT&T expects the initiative to turn accretive in 2010.


Apple also confirmed that the iPhone 3G will be available in more than 70 countries, including through América Móvil, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Globe Telecom, Hutchison Telecom, O2, Optus, Orange, Rogers, SingTel, Softbank, Swisscom, Telecom Italia Mobile, Telefónica, TeliaSonera, T-Mobile, and Vodafone.http://www.apple.com

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Dell'Oro: Asia-Pac Surpasses North America in PBX Line Shipments During Q1

Macroeconomic weakness and seasonality led North American line shipments to their lowest level in three years, according to a recently published "IP Telephony Enterprise Quarterly Report" from Dell'Oro Group. The report indicates that fiscal year end strength in Japan and continued growth in China helped Asia Pacific grow to 29 percent of line shipments during the quarter, surpassing North America for the first time.

1. What regional shifts are occurring in the the telephony market? 2. Were there any shifts in the vendor landscape during Q1 2008? 3. Could you comment on pricing trends during Q1 2008 4. What are vendors doing to address the SMB market? 5. Do you see a trend from premised-based toward hosted solutions? 6. Which vendors are better positioned for opportunities in China? 7. Will Microsoft and/or IBM disrupt the enterprise telephony market?

The report also reveals that in North America, Cisco widened its lead to five points over Nortel and Avaya. Cisco also became the second largest vendor, besides Nortel, of worldwide line shipments in the quarter by surpassing Avaya. Nortel remained the top vendor of worldwide line shipments. NEC, Siemens, and Alcatel-Lucent rounded out the top six vendors in the market respectively.


"Vendors continued to struggle in North America as the region has declined quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year for the past two quarters," commented Alan Weckel, Senior Analyst at Dell'Oro Group. "With significant green field opportunities and the lack of incumbent competition, vendors, such as Avaya, Cisco, and Nortel continue to increase their presence in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe and Asia as well as targeting small businesses across all the regions to drive growth," Weckel added.
http://www.delloro.com

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Turin Announces New Ethernet over Copper Capabilities, MEF Certification

Turin Networks announced new capabilities on its Traverse Multiservice Transport Switch that enable the product to deliver IP and Ethernet services over copper PDH (Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy -- DS1, DS3, E1 and E3) access networks. With this new capability on the Traverse platform, service providers of all types can now deliver MEF-compliant Ethernet services for On-net (Ethernet over Fiber) and Off-net (Ethernet over Copper) business customer locations using a single product.


The Traverse EoPDH (Ethernet over PDH) solution is a key component of Turin's iConnect for Carrier Ethernet solution that is designed for applications such as delivery of point-to-point E-Line and multipoint E-LAN Ethernet services to business customers, and cell site traffic backhaul and bandwidth optimization. Field trials of the Traverse EoPDH solution are planned with multiple wireline and wireless backhaul carriers.





The Traverse EoPDH solution consists of a new service interface module for the Traverse Multiservice Transport Switch that provides high-capacity aggregation and termination of EoPDH DS1, DS3, E1 and E3 circuits, with the ability to connect to thousands of business customer locations or cell site base stations in a single, compact chassis. The Traverse EoPDH module integrates fully featured Ethernet switching capabilities with the ability to granularly manage traffic in 1Mbps increments. High availability options are also supported, which are essential for enabling service providers to offer stringent SLAs for their business customers, and to provide the critical redundancy required for cell site backhaul applications.


Based on the existing ITU-T G.8040 standard, the Traverse EoPDH module offers a high degree of interoperability and carrier-grade performance. Interoperability testing has been completed with multiple industry-leading EoPDH NID (Network Interface Device) manufacturers to further ensure seamless interoperability in customer environments, details of which will be released in a future announcement.


In addition, Turin Networks announced that the 10 Gigabit Ethernet switching and transport modules for the Traverse Multiservice Transport Switch have attained essential Carrier Ethernet certifications from the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF). The modules achieved MEF 9 and MEF 14 certification for all three service types defined by the MEF.http://www.turinnetworks.com

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Xelerated Introduces Programmable Ethernet Switching Silicon for Fiber Access

Xelerated, which supplies merchant silicon to eight of the top ten Carrier Ethernet systems companies, announced its next-generation HX300 family of high performance network processors with integrated traffic management and fully-programmable Ethernet switches.


The new silicon, which is designed for fiber access platforms, offers a combination of switching and processing functionality, enabling service-aware applications that readily adapt to changes in network conditions and optimize performance. It could be used in fixed-port, stackable and chassis- based networking systems that can be configured in mesh, ring, star, dual star and stackable topologies. The HX300 integrates 100-Gigabit, 40-Gigabit, 10-Gigabit and 1-Gigabit Ethernet ports. The HX300 is binary software-compatible with custom and Metro Ethernet Applications (MEA) that have already been developed for Xelerated's X10 and X11 NPU families.


The HX300 leverages Xelerated's Dataflow packet processing architecture, ensuring wirespeed deterministic performance with programmability. The company said its NPU architecture scales to 100 Gbps full duplex. The advanced standards-based egress traffic management and the tight integration of the Xelerated Dataflow Architecture enables the HX300 family to support a QoS-aware distributed traffic management model for either chassis-based switching systems or meshed configurations. Triple play services are enabled by a flexible queue allocation and programmable hierarchy that enforces per-flow, per-subscriber, per-class Service Level Agreements and bandwidth guarantees.


The HX300 family includes three core series: HX310, HX320 and the HX330. The HX310 consists of programmable Ethernet Switches for fiber access aggregation switches, GPON/EPON line cards, EADs. The HX320 Series is an NPU for CESR, Service Routers, Legacy Systems, 100 GE, 40 GE and OC-768 applications. The HX330 is an NPU with integrated Traffic Manager for CESR, Service Routers, GPON/EPON linecards, xDSL aggregation.


The HX300 family will begin sampling in Q4 2008. All devices are available in leaded and lead-free packages with options to support Industry Grade Temperature. Pricing is available on request.http://www.xelerated.com

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Redback Debuts Line of Carrier Ethernet Switches for Fixed/Mobile Unification

Redback Networks, an Ericsson company, introduced its first product in a new line of Carrier Ethernet switches aimed at accelerating the unification of fixed and mobile networks.


The Redback SM 480 is a switched Ethernet platform based on new silicon that retains a subset of the features from Redback's SmartEdge family of routers. It is designed to work in conjunction with other Redback and Ericsson products for fixed and mobile carriers, providing a consolidated architecture over time for metro aggregation and transport networks. Advanced features include:

• Layer 2 subscriber management for wholesale and retail broadband services


• Higher levels of QoS and reliability for high-demand video and data applications


• More point-to-point (MPLS PW) and multi-point (VPLS) Ethernet services for the enterprise


• SLA measurement techniques and standards-based fault management; and


• IP-over-Ethernet architecture boosting network availability and reducing downtime

In related news, Redback is introducing "in-service software upgrades (ISSU) across its entire family of SmartEdge routers and switches. The new capabilities allow carriers to upgrade the operating system for broadband routers and switches without taking them out of service.http://www.redback.com

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