Azulstar Launches 3.65 GHz WiMAX Services with Alvarion

Azulstar, an independent network operator based in Grand Haven, Michigan, officially launched its "MetraMAX" consumer and business wireless broadband services using 3.65 GHz spectrum and Alvarion's 802.16e BreezeMAX equipment. The business service delivers full T1 functionality starting under $275 per month. Residential phone and Internet home bundles start at under $40 per month. Service speeds are available up to 6 Mbps for the home and 100 Mbps symmetric for business connections. The services are available in various West Michigan and New Mexico communities.


Tyler van Houwelingen, Azulstar founder and CEO, said the use of the 3.65 GHz band provides the benefits of licensed spectrum and yet is far cheaper and flexible than previous licensing regimes.


Alvarion's commercially available BreezeMAX 3650 base station and CPEs (customer premises equipment) were the first in the U.S. to receive FCC authorization earlier this year, which is required for all deployment of equipment in the 3.65 GHz band. Alvarion's BreezeMAX 3650 supports self-install CPEs, advanced antenna technologies including MIMO, and enables up to fourth order diversity to maximize capacity and coverage.


Azulstar has aligned with local resellers and partners including US Signal, SourcIT Technologies and BB Telsys with funding for the projects coming from private, local investors.http://www.azulstar.comhttp://www.alvarion.com

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Extreme and Ixia Collaborate to Speed Service Provider Network Troubleshooting

Extreme Networks and Ixia are collaborating to enhance post-deployment service verification. The companies will integrate Extreme Networks' Ethernet switch platforms and the ExtremeXOS modular operating system with Ixia IxRave Converged Service Verification Solution. Service providers and triple-play enterprise users will benefit from the visibility and insight created by automated network service verification, validation, and active troubleshooting.


Ixia's IxRave service verification system allows service providers and enterprises to diagnose the actual data path with real-world voice, video, and data traffic streams. IxRave utilizes the provider's central office equipment in coordination with customer premise equipment (CPE), network infrastructure hardware and software test endpoints to actively test along the customer's actual network path. Extreme and Ixia are working together to make IxRave software endpoints available in all Extreme Networks Ethernet switches, allowing faster, more accurate network problem resolution for service providers of all sizes.http://www.ixiacom.com

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Ixia Introduces Probeless Voice and IPTV Service Verification System

Ixia has enhanced its "IxRave" service verification system with new capabilities that enable service providers to assure VoIP quality of service and alerts service providers of problems before subscribers become aware of them. IxRave 3.0 also expands its IPTV service verification offering with support for QoS and QoE monitoring based on ITU-T Recommendation G.1080.


IxRave Voice is a unique probeless, web-based system accessible by multiple service provider organizations, such as field service technicians and installers. The Ixia solution can place automated "test calls" to customers' devices at predetermined times as a proactive solution. A customer care agent can perform on-demand tests immediately upon receipt of a customer call, and in some cases test the house wiring at the customer location to determine the location of the fault. The solution rates test-call quality based on the PESQ algorithm. For customer-made calls, network call data records (CDRs) are analyzed for poor IP metrics. These voice quality metrics, along with other data gathered from network elements, enable service providers to determine the root cause of service issues in their network.


Early adopters of IxRave Voice include Buckeye Cable System of Toledo, Ohio, and Armstrong Cable of Butler, Pennsylvania.http:www.ixiacom.com

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Nokia Develops Mobile Data Gathering Software for NGOs

Nokia has developed mobile software to help public sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) quickly and accurately collect data in the field. It could be use for rapidly collecting data on critical issues such as disease outbreaks or disaster relief via mobile devices. The Amazonas State Health Department in Brazil will be the first to use the solution as part of its fight against dengue fever in the city of Manaus in Northern Brazil.


The Nokia Data Gathering software will be available to public sector organizations and NGOs free of charge. It can be used to create tailored questionnaires and distribute them to multiple mobile phones using a normal mobile network. Field personnel surveying local conditions can quickly complete the questionnaires and immediately transmit their findings to a central database. The system also allows organizations to geo-tag data with GPS location information to build a more detailed picture of very local conditions.http://www.nokia.com/datagathering

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Toshiba Launches 256GB Solid State Drives

Toshiba introduced a 256-gigabyte (GB) SSD and launched small-sized Flash Modules for netbook computers, ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs) and other mobile and peripheral applications. Mass production of the 256GB SSD will start in Q4.

Toshiba said its new high density SSD brings 256GB of capacity to a 2.5-inch drive form factor with an advanced Multi-level Cell (MLC) controller that achieves higher read-write speeds, parallel data transfers and wear leveling to optimize performance, reliability and endurance.


The new small SSD Flash Modules will be offered in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB densities.http://www.toshiba.com

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Senate Hears Testimony on Broadband Consumer Privacy

Executives from AT&T, Verizon, Time Warner Cable and a consumer group known as Public Knowledge testified before the U.S. Senate's Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on the subject of broadband consumer privacy. Some highlights:


AT&T has no immediate plans to offer online behavioral advertising, stated Ms. Dorothy Attwood, Senior Vice President Public Policy and Chief Privacy Officer AT&T Services. Furthermore, she believes consumers should have more control over whether and how their online information is collected and used. If AT&T were to conduct online behavioral advertising, Attwood said the company would require customers to give their permission before it collects and uses their information. Customers would also have clear information about the information to be collected.


Online companies should commit to a list of industry "best practices" to protect consumers from potential problems associated with targeted Internet advertising - also known as behavioral advertising - when consumers surf the Web, stated Tom Tauke, Verizon executive vice president of public affairs, policy and communications. Verizon believes these best practices for behavioral advertising such include: (1) transparency - "conspicuous, clearly explained disclosure to consumers"; (2) meaningful consent - affirmative agreement from consumers before a company captures Internet usage data, when consumers surf the Web, for targeted or customized advertising; and (3) consumer control - ensuring that consumers can at any time act to stop any company from using their Internet usage information. Verizon is also calling for the establishment of a broad-based coalition of online publishers, search engines, Internet service providers, browser and application providers, and other online providers - along with representatives of consumer and privacy organizations - to adopt the industry best practices.


Time Warner Cable does not presently engage in targeted Internet advertising as an ISP or website operator, stated Peter Stern, Chief Strategy Officer, Time Warner Cable. Should the company start such a program, it would ensure subscriber privacy, said Stern, because "it is not only important as a matter of public policy, but it is also central to the success of our business." The company believes a set of industry practices based on consumer control, transparency, and disclosure should be adopted by all providers of targeted advertising, including ad networks, application providers and ISPs.


Deep Packet Inspection is the Internet equivalent of the postal service reading, stated Ms. Gigi B. Sohn, President and Co-Founder
of Public Knowledge. In submitted testimony, Sohn said that given DPI's potential to be used as an intrusive tool, we must first ask why the user's traffic is being collected or analyzed at all. Is the use of DPI integral to the functioning of the network or is the technology simply being used to provide the ISP with an additional revenue stream? She noted that not all uses of DPI are inherently problematic. The first widespread uses of DPI were for security purposes: to stop malicious programs like viruses and worms.http://commerce.senate.gov

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Motorola's New Multimedia Set Top Platform Links to Mobile Handsets

Motorola introduced a multimedia set top platform that lets users transfer content to and from a mobile phone without needing to bridge through a PC. Users are also able to create and store personalized music and video libraries.


KDDI, a major mobile operator in Japan, is launching a new service, called "au BOX" using set tops based on Motorola's platform. The au Box service will allow mobile customers to transfer content between their home entertainment systems and their mobile devices. The au Box service, due to be launched on 1st November, 2008, will be delivered to au subscribers as an option on a leased basis.


The set top being implemented by KDDI also features a CD player and CD ripping capabilities to allow users to rip CDs from their personal collections, automatically retrieve CD information, store the files in their music libraries and then transfer them to a mobile handset or to a portable media player via USB. In addition, music from a CD, mobile handset, or portable media player can be played by the set top through its integrated stereo speakers.


The box also offers video encoding capabilities to allow users to upload video from their personal video recorders and then transfer it to a mobile handset. It can also play DVDs when linked to an external monitor. The set top can additionally serve as a portal for internet web browsing, enabling users to access a wide range services and user generated content in addition to the option of purchasing music and video content from online stores.


Motorola's new platform is based on the company's "KreaTV" open software platform for set-top devices. KreaTV is compatible with a wide range of OS middleware and Digital Rights Management (DRM), and supports multiple different video formats ranging from MPEG-2 SD to H.264 HD, DVR, and hybrid.http://www.motorola.com

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NSN Promotes VDSL2 as best Migration Path to Next Gen Access Networks

Nokia Siemens Networks is introducing a suite of VDSL2 access platforms at next week's Broadband World Forum Europe in Brussels. Specifically designed for fiber-to-the-building applications, the platforms would allow operators to offer up to 100 Mbps bandwidth. The new platforms will include:

• SURPASS hiX5608 -- a small size "mini-DSLAM" based on VDSL2. The product is designed for in-building installations. First pilots will be in conducted in October/November 2008. The company expects commercial roll outs to start in the beginning 2009. The main markets are in Europe, especially the CLECs starting FTTB rollouts in dense urban areas.



• SURPASS hiX5621 and hiX5622 -- access platforms designed for fiber-to-the-curb or building applications and capable of delivering bandwidth of up to 50 Mbps. The hiX5621 features one service slot and supports 72 ADSL2+ or 72 VoIP or 48 VDSL2-ports, while the hiX5622 can support double the number of ports including a combination of different technologies. Both will be available for trials in 1Q09 for European markets.

Nokia Siemens Networks is also introducing a new software package for optimizing IPTV over new and existing VDSL2 and ADSL2+ network. The software. which is targeted for release in the first half of 2009, would help minimize packet loss across the network.


"The traffic in networks will continue its rapid growth and VDSL2 capacity can satisfy this need for the next few years," says Martin Lüst, Head of Broadband Access business unit, Nokia Siemens Networks. "It provides a smooth, cost-effective and high quality migration path to the passive opti-cal fibre access technology that will eventually dominate the network."http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

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Verizon and Nokia Siemens Networks Test 100 Gbps Transport

Verizon and Nokia Siemens Networks claimed a new optical transport record -- a 100 Gbps transmission on a single wavelength for more than 1,040 kilometers over field fiber. The test, conducted on optical fiber on the Verizon network in north Dallas, demonstrated that 100 Gbps traffic can be simultaneously transported with any mix of 10 Gbps and 40 Gbps on a typical 80-channel ULH DWDM system. As a result, current network configurations can support capacity upgrades to 100 Gbps per channel on existing routes over similar distances without modification to the physical network.


The Nokia Siemens hiT 7500 ultra-long-haul, dense-wavelength-division-multiplexing platform -- combined with multi-level modulation, polarization multiplexing and coherent detection -- allowed the signal to be carried with significantly better chromatic dispersion and polarization-mode-dispersion tolerances than conventional systems.


"As a leader in pursuit of 100 Gbps technology, Verizon's goal is to drive optical networking to deliver greater capacities over longer distances to enhance the high performance and high bandwidth of our network," said Mark Wegleitner, Verizon senior vice president for technology. "Whether it's FiOS delivering HD channels and video on demand or business customers using database applications and online trading, we strive to provide the most advanced underlying network technology for our customers."


The technical details of this field trial were presented at the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC) by Verizon's Glenn Wellbrock, director of backbone network design, as an invited paper from Verizon Communications, Nokia Siemens Networks, Siemens PSE DE GmbH & Co. KG, Technical University of Eindhoven, and the University of the Federal Armed Forces.http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.comhttp://www.verizon.com

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