Free The Airwaves Targets TV White Spaces

Google has launched a new "Free The Airwaves"

initiative to build public support for a new federal spectrum policy favoring open access to TV "white spaces. This fall, the FCC is expected to decide whether to make this spectrum available for anyone to use.


Google argues that opening up the vast unused portion of spectrum "will enable a new generation of innovation and competition from which consumers -- especially those to whom the white spaces could soon deliver high-speed online access -- should benefit tremendously, both from a wealth of new products and services and from far lower cell phone and Internet access bills."http://www.freetheairwaves.comhttp://www.google.comhttp://www.freetheairwaves.com

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Optimum Lightpath Launches Ethernet Managed Video Service

Cablevision's Optimum Lightpath group has launched a new Lightpath Managed Video service that provides connectivity as well as encoding and decoding of digital video. Optimum Lightpath said it will offer "mileage neutral", flat rate pricing for the video service.


The Carrier Ethernet-based Lightpath Managed Video service is aimed at the media sector, including production facilities, broadcasters, television stations, and content distributors, as well as non-media organizations, such as healthcare facilities, municipalities and enterprises with high-resolution "broadcast quality" video requirements, such as security surveillance and video conferencing.


Lightpath Managed Video service is the newest addition to Optimum Lightpath's Video Services Portfolio, which also includes Lightpath Video Transport, a dedicated Layer 2 point-to-point service designed for broadcast quality video transport. The new service electronically accepts, transports and delivers native compressed and uncompressed digital video in common industry formats including Asynchronous Serial Interface (ASI), Standard Definition Serial Digital Interface (SD-SDI) and High Definition Serial Digital Interface (HD-SDI). It also includes a fully redundant protected connection for unsurpassed resiliency and reliability.


Optional features for the service include Multiple ASI, which allows aggregation of up to four individual ASI feeds into a single IP-based Ethernet IP encoder; and Linear Service, which provides a dedicated linear service for uncompressed SDI 270, uncompressed HD-SDI video and ASI.http://www.optimumlightpath.com/

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Netronome Scales Security Appliance Performance to 10 Gbps

At this week's Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco, Netronome will be demonstrating an unmodified version of an intrusion detection and prevention application (IPS) that scales in performance across several platforms from less than one Gbps, up to 10 Gbps.


Netronome specializes in highly programmable semiconductors and acceleration cards that provide intelligent flow processing in networking and communications devices.


The new solution, powered by Intel QuickAssist Technology, features Netronome's programmable, high-performance acceleration cards and the Intel EP80579 Integrated Processor, can reduce design time, complexity and cost for application developers.http://www.netronome.com

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Dell'Oro Group: DSL Port Shipments Surge in Q2

Despite sharply lower DSL subscriber additions in Q2, port shipments for DSL Access Concentrators grew 17 percent sequentially to a level only surpassed in the second quarter of last year, according to a newly published report by Dell'Oro Group.


"On the surface there appears to be a disconnect between the higher port shipments and lower subscriber additions," said Tam Dell'Oro, President of Dell'Oro Group. "But further analysis indicates that much of the growth was driven by shipments to China where the government mandated limited network growth in the third quarter due to the Olympics. This resulted in 50 percent higher sequential port shipments to China in the second quarter where advanced buying occurred. We believe a correction is likely in the second half of the year driven by limited shipments to China in the third quarter and lower demand in established regions resulting from slowing subscriber additions," Dell'Oro added.


The report also shows that the three companies accounting for most shipments to China were also the market leaders. Alcatel-Lucent remains in the top spot followed by Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE.http://www.DellOro.com

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MRV Launches Optical Media Converter for Carrier Ethernet Demarc

MRV Communications announced a new Fiber Driver EM316EUSM media converter module that delivers managed, optical Ethernet demarcation for bookend pair applications between the central office and a customer's network.


The Ethernet Universal Service Module (EUSM) is MRV's newest addition to its industry-leading suite of intelligent media converter-based optical Ethernet solutions and maximizes network uptime by providing advanced services including full-service level control over link connectivity and WAN/LAN segment provisioning. The bookend EUSM solution uses extended OAM 802.3ah protocols to fully manage both ends of the point-to-point fiber optic link from a single manager at either end. Central office and customer premises link ports on the respective modules are controlled similarly from the managed side of the link. It offers either a fiber or copper port for 10/100/1000 Ethernet input, and dual, redundant, SFP-based output ports to a fiber WAN.


MRV said its new module performs as an end-point or intermediate-point service demarcation in transparent LAN services (TLS) or in Ethernet signal repeating applications, as part of an end-to-end managed Metro Ethernet network. The EM316EUSM includes Metro Ethernet capabilities generally available only in higher-end Metro Ethernet devices, such as VLAN-awareness, per flow policing, Q-in-Q VLAN stacking, VLAN translation and built-in hierarchical multi-layer optical link redundancy.http://www.mrv.com

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Avago Demonstrates 20 Gbps Performance in 40nm CMOS

Avago Technologies has demonstrated 20 Gbps SerDes performance in 40nm CMOS technology. The 40nm cores represent Avago's seventh generation of high performance SerDes IP. The embedded SerDes technology will support a broad range of standards, such as PCI Express, Fibre Channel, XAUI, CEI-11G, XFI, 802.3ap (KR), and SFI and is suitable for chip-to-chip, board-to-board, chasis-to-chasis, and backplane implementations.


Avago noted that it has shipped over 60 million SerDes channels to date.
http://www.avagotech.com

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BBN Develops Disruption Tolerance for Military Networks

BBN Technologies has been awarded $8.9 million in funding by the Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under the third phase of its Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) program. The program seeks to develop and field network services that deliver critical information reliably even when no end-to-end path exists through the network. Traditional TCP/IP networks rely on stable end-to-end connectivity, but terrain, weather, jamming, and movement or destruction of nodes can interrupt the path and halt the flow of message traffic. BBN said its DTN system can send and receive data reliably even when no stable end-to-end paths exist.


Under this latest award, BBN scientists and engineers will integrate the DTN system into fielded military networks that may combine several different types of nodes, including wireless, satellite, and vehicle-mounted. In addition, BBN will implement a longer term military application; investigate approaches to building large scale networks that self-organize in response to mission needs, and develop methods to maintain both the security and controlled availability of persistent data.


This latest award follows BBN's successful completion of Phases One and Two, which resulted in a working prototype system.http://www.bbn.com

• In March 2008, BBN Technologies has been awarded $5.7 million in funding by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the Dynamic Multi-Terabit Core Optical Networks: Architecture, Protocols, Control and Management (CORONET) program. The researchers aim to revolutionize the operation, performance, survivability, and security of the United States' global IP-based inter-networking infrastructure through improved network architecture, protocols, and control and management software. As envisioned, the target CORONET optical network will enable ultra-fast service set-up/tear-down and very fast and efficient recovery from multiple network failures. An important goal of the program is to transition the CORONET technology to commercial telecommunications carriers, as well as to Department of Defense and other US government global networks.



• BBN was founded in 1948 by MIT professors Richard Bolt and Leo Beranek, along with Robert Newman, with a vision of starting a small, acoustical consulting firm. The company is best know for its pioneering work with the ARPANET (the forerunner of today's Internet) in 1969. It is also credited with the first implementation of packet switching (1969), the first router (1976), and the first network e-mail (1971), which established the @ sign as an icon for the digital age. BBN is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.



• In 2004, two prominent venture capital firms (General Catalyst Partners and Accel Partners) acquired the legendary BBN development labs from Verizon. Financial terms were not disclosed.

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Veraz Networks Offers Sun Netra T2000 Softswitch

Veraz Networks has begun deploying its ControlSwitch and iMN Multimedia Delivery Platform softswitch and IMS solutions on Sun Microsystems' Sun Netra T2000 server powered by the UltraSPARC T1 processor. Veraz has been collaborating with Sun for several years deploying its solutions on earlier versions of Sun's industry leading telecom grade servers including the Sun Netra 240.


The Netra T2000 server's multi-core, multi-threaded processing architecture when combined with the virtualization capabilities of the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS) offers 3 to 5 times the performance of the Netra 240.


Veraz said a Sun Netra T2000 implementation substantially reduces the required number of servers for a given deployment, dramatically lowering a service provider's capital and operating costs. For example, a deployment scaled to support 72,000 concurrent sessions, which would have required at least 25 Netra 240 servers, can now be built using just 4 Netra T2000 servers. This reduces the rack space required by 84%, reduces the power required by 87% and reduces the number of Ethernet ports by over 70%.http://www.veraznetworks.com

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Sagem Integrates Ikanos Silicon into Residential Gateway for Major European Carriers

Sagem Communications has integrated Ikanos Communications' silicon -- including the Fusiv Vx160 processor, VoIP engine and multi-mode VDSL2/ADSL2+ chipsets -- into its residential gateway.

The Sagem F@st 3464 is being used as the customer premises equipment (CPE) for a major European carrier's next-generation VDSL2 access network, which is capable of delivering HD IPTV.


Ikanos' multi-mode VDSL2/ADSL2+ capability allows residential gateways to be deployed independent of the underlying central office (CO) technology, enabling a seamless upgrade from ADSL2+ to VDSL2 without the added expense of a future truck roll. Ikanos' Fusiv gateway processors feature a distributed Accelerator Processor (AP) architecture for supporting advanced triple play services. The on-chip APs offload broadband wireless local area network (WLAN) bridging, routing, switching and firewall functions from the host central processing unit (CPU), which is then available to perform advanced triple play and quality of service functions.http://www.ikanos.com

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Fanfare Enhances its Test Automation product

Fanfare released the latest version of iTest, its flagship test automation product.




iTest 3.2, which is a testing solution for device and heterogeneous system testing, enables users to integrate test assets and automate complex system testing using hardware and software from a variety of different vendors.


New features in release 3.2 include:

• In-Grid Analysis providing intuitive pass / fail capabilities


• Testbed Revolver for improved transferability


• Support of Java Swing, Syslog, and Wireshark applications


• Enhancements to Agilent's N2X and Spirent's SmartBits and TestCenter integrations


• Support of Ixia's IxNetwork and IxLoad test equipment software.

http://www.fanfaresoftware.com

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Harris Shows Military Wideband/Narrowband Secure Personal Radio

Harris is publicly demonstrating its Falcon III RF-300S lightweight, wearable tactical radio designed for the U.S. Department of Defense. The unit will enable the U.S. military to upgrade squad-level communications with rugged, high-performance, software-defined, military-grade radios with built-in GPS.


Harris said its RF-300S will provide the individual warfighter with wideband data and situational awareness in addition to narrowband voice capabilities. The radio runs the APCO Project 25 (P25) waveform, allowing secure interoperability with currently deployed squad radios. It also operates the Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) and the Harris Advanced Wideband Networking Waveform (ANW2) for networked tactical communications. The operating environment in the RF-300S is based on the Software Communications Architecture delivered in Harris Corporation's widely fielded Falcon III line of tactical radios. The RF-300S is secured using the Suite-B algorithms, including AES for encryption, allowing interoperability with other Suite-B enabled communication products. The radio covers a frequency range of 225 MHz to 470 MHz.


Harris is also showcasing the ability of the Falcon III manpack radio to operate the JTRS-developed Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) for wideband tactical networking.


At this week's LandWarNet conference, the radios are transmitting combat net radio voice, streaming video and situational awareness data over a network using the SRW waveform. SRW will serve as the principal Department of Defense waveform for creating battlefield communication networks for individual soldiers.


The Falcon III AN/PRC-117G, now in production and fielded by the Department of Defense, is the first radio to provide both secure wideband data and narrowband voice capability. The radio allows the mobile warfighter access to secure IP data at on-air rates up to 5 Mbps, dramatically improving situational awareness by supporting networked data-intensive applications. It features mobile ad-hoc networking, automated network establishment and maintenance, and integrated Type 1 security.http://www.harris.com

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Alcatel-Lucent Provides 3G upgrade for Shenandoah Telecommunications

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel) awarded a contract valued at US$30 million to Alcatel-Lucent for equipment, services and software to upgrade its network in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The network upgrade includes the deployment of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A (Rev. A) technology, which will enable Shenandoah Personal Communications Company, a Sprint PCS Affiliate, to provide an enhanced mobile data customer experience. Shentel also will deploy new cell sites in the upgraded network and increase existing cell site capacity.http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Malaysia's TM selects Alcatel-Lucent for Triple Play

Alcatel-Lucent has been awarded a two-year frame contract worth EUR6.5 million in collaboration with KUB Telekomunikasi Sdn Bhd (KUBTel) for supplying an Internet protocol (IP)-based fixed broadband access solution for Telekom Malaysia Berhad. Under the contract, Alcatel-Lucent will supply its 7302 Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) and the related 5523 AWS Element Manager.


KUB Telekomunikasi will install and commission the system, as well as provide nationwide technical support.http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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