Monday, October 18, 2010

Symantec Offers Network-based Policy Control for Mobiles

Symantec is extending its mobile security and management strategy with a network-based policy control and enforcement solution that will allow communication service providers to dynamically apply user preferences in a consistent fashion to a variety of services. Such a value-added service would protect smartphone users from the growing number or online threats. It could also enforce parental controls, such as time-of-day usage or inappropriate vocabulary, on texting usage by children.


For example, a parent may choose to disable texting functionality for their child's phone during school hours or at night. Or, a corporation might disable photo sharing from mobile devices for their employee base. Symantec Next Generation Network Protection will also provide data retention capabilities to aid with regulatory requirements and usage analysis. Compliance with local regulations is simple with Symantec assisting in the archiving of mobile messaging and Web access logs, storage of content and traffic information, mobile data traffic management and an audit history.


Symantec said it will be able to provide flexible, customizable policy features from the network.


"We want to give communication service providers confidence that they are securing their customers' information and implementing customer preferences. Symantec Next Generation Network Protection provides that confidence," said Doug Havas, vice president of communications industries, Symantec. "As smart phone usage increases and mobile devices store growing volumes of valuable data, it's vital to protect the information while allowing for the flexible creation of desired controls that enhance the value of the subscribers' mobile experiences."http://www.symante.com

DragonWave Forms Joint Venture in India with HFCL

DragonWave has formed a joint venture with Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd. (HFCL), one of India's leading telecommunication equipment manufacturers and turnkey service providers, to provide packet microwave solutions to the Indian market. DragonWave will own 50.1% of the equity in the Joint Venture and the balance of the equity will be owned by HFCL. The new company will be based in Delhi and will utilize HFCL's local market knowledge and expertise to sell and market DragonWave products in India. HFCL will provide the Joint Venture with local manufacturing of DragonWave products.
http://www.dragonwaveinc.com

Narus to Broaden its CyberSecurity Ecosystem

Narus is intensifying its efforts at building a cyber security ecosystem that will enable customers to deploy interoperable products from multiple vendors in a layered approach to cyber security, resulting in the most effective detection and mitigation.


The Narus ecosystem for cyber security, comprised of strategic alliances, technical relationships, and partnerships with leading security companies and systems integrators, provides a holistic approach to cyber security using both loose and tight integration of complementary products and technologies.


One recently announced partnership forged in the Narus ecosystem is with ArcSight. As a certified ArcSight partner, Narus developed a "connector" to ArcSight enabling seamless integration between its NarusInsight system and the ArcSight Enterprise Threat and Risk Management (ETRM) platform.


As part of the effort to build out its cyber ecosystem, Narus recruited Chee Tan as director of business development. Prior to Narus, Mr. Tan was the Director of Business Development for GFI-Sunbelt Software, where he was responsible for growing worldwide OEM revenue and forging strategic business partnerships with technology vendors. He also held senior management positions at Trend Micro, ActivCard and Novell.
http://www.narus.com

TerreStar Submits its Bankruptcy Filing

TerreStar Networks filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition aimed at strengthening its financial position by lessening its debts.


The company also announced an agreement with EchoStar Corporation, its largest secured creditor, that will provide TerreStar with a $75 million debtor-in-possession financing facility. TerreStar Networks will use the debtor-in-possession financing to maintain business-as-usual operations during the restructuring process. EchoStar has agreed to support a restructuring premised on a debt for equity conversion by the Debtors' secured noteholders, and backstop a $100 million rights offering that will provide the funding for TerreStar Networks' exit from chapter 11.
http://www.terrestar.com
  • In September 2010, AT&T has begun marketing a new Satellite Augmented Mobile Service featuring the TerreStar GENUS dual-mode cellular/satellite smartphone. The dual-mode device uses AT&T's cellular wireless network as the primary default mode and Terrestar's satellite network as a secondary option for voice, data and messaging. The TerreStar satellite network ensures coverage in remote areas for government, energy, utility, transportation and maritime users, as well as backup satellite communications capabilities for public safety agencies, first responders and disaster recovery groups. The satellite footprint covers the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and territorial waters.

Global Crossing Adds Smart Demarcation to Carrier Ethernet

Global Crossing has added smart demarcation capabilities to its "EtherSphere" services, which run over its global MPLS network. Smart demarcation uses a network interface device to provide Global Crossing with an extensive end-to-end view of the customer's EtherSphere WAN, which can help speed service turn-up and troubleshooting.


Global Crossing also has introduced two additional, fee-based optional service features: performance assurance and traffic management, as well as other service enhancements. The performance assurance service feature facilitates the collection of service and network statistics to support end-to-end service level agreement (SLA) metrics. The traffic management feature provides increased control and flexibility to meet the demands of customer applications.
http://www.globalcrossing.com

ARRIS Boosts C4 CMTS, Enabling 300-400 Mbps Downlinks

ARRIS introduced a new module that significantly increases the downstream density of its DOCSIS 3.0 C4 CMTS. The module will provide higher speed service tiers, especially for eight channel bonded services -- enabling speeds up to 304 Mbps for North American DOCSIS (Annex B) and 400 Mbps for European DOCSIS (Annex A).


DOCSIS 3.0 was initially introduced in 2008 on the C4 CMTS with a 16 downstream channel single slot Cable Access Module (CAM). With this second generation DOCSIS 3.0 capability, the capacity of the 16D CAMs can be increased to 32 Annex B or 24 Annex A downstream channels.


ARRIS is also announcing C4 software release 7.4, which provides IPv6 support as well as support for DOCSIS 3.0 Multicast traffic. All these new features build on the highly reliable C4 architecture with its industry-leading redundancy.
http://www.arrisi.com/get/32DCAM

Juniper's Q3 Revenue Tops $1 Billion, up 23% year-over-year

Juniper Networks reported the following preliminary financial results for Q3 2010: net revenue increased 23% on a year-over-year basis, and increased 3% sequentially, to $1,012.4 million. GAAP net income is expected to be $134.5 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income of $171.5 million, or $0.32 per diluted share.


"Juniper's results reflect our ability to deliver on the promise of the New Network with cost effective solutions that scale to meet growing network demand," said Kevin Johnson, Juniper's chief executive officer. "We anticipate customer demand to remain healthy and are well-positioned to drive further gains as we enable the deployment of secure, scalable wireless networks and deliver solutions to the growing cloud computing market."http://www.juniper.net

AT&T Opens 3G Access Program for M2M Manufacturers

AT&T has kicked off a program aimed at lowering the barrier to 3G adoption for connected device developers.


The 3G Access Program expands AT&T's lineup of Network Ready 3G modules to include lower cost, high performance options, offering next generation consumer electronics and machine to machine device makers access to a more efficient path to production.


AT&T said it is working with Ericsson, Huawei and ZTE to certify a total of 11 mobile broadband modules for the 3G Access Program. The modules will be compatible with a range of applications, including consumer electronics, M2M and computing devices. Ericsson and Huawei each offer an AT&T certified 3G data module through this program today. Additional modules will be certified throughout the next 12 months and will include data only and voice and data options.


"We feel strongly about providing consumer electronics and M2M device makers cost efficient alternatives, and that includes optimized module pricing with world class support to help them get to market as quickly as possible," said Glenn Lurie, president of emerging device, resale and partnerships, AT&T. "From start ups to established brands, our new suite of 3G modules will fill a void in the ecosystem today -- the option to wirelessly connect a product and get it into the hands of customers with fewer barriers."http://www.att.com

Boeing Ships SkyTerra 1 Satellite for LightSquared

Boeing has shipped the SkyTerra 1 next generation satellite for launch next month aboard an International Launch Services Proton vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The satellite is based on the Boeing 702HP design and it will combine with four gateway ground stations and ground-based beam-forming equipment to create the first of two Space-Based Networks (SBN) that Boeing is building for LightSquared (formerly SkyTerra). The satellite features a 22-meter L-band reflector-based antenna -- the largest commercial antenna reflector to be put into service. The active phased-array antenna will offer state-of-the-art digital signal processing, channel formation and switching.


LightSquared recently announced plans for a new wholesale-only nationwide 4G-LTE wireless broadband network integrated with satellite coverage across the United States.
http://www.boeing.com
http://www.lightsquared.com

NSN and Qualcomm Work on Fast Dormancy for Devices

Nokia Siemens Networks and Qualcomm have conducted the industry's first interoperability test of the new 3GPP standardized Release 8 Fast Dormancy feature. This new standard allows operators to take advantage of smart network features such as Cell_PCH without worrying that individual handset settings will ignore network controls. The test was conducted at Nokia Siemens Networks' Smart Lab in Dallas using the company's Flexi Multiradio Base Station and Radio Network Controller and Qualcomm's QSC7230TM smartphone optimized chipset.


Fast dormancy capabilities are being developed to address network signaling overload issues. Because smartphones are often always-on", the proprietary approach to preserving battery life has been for devices to rapidly disconnect from the network once information is sent or received. This is Fast Dormancy. The problem for operators is that the constant making and breaking of connections causes a huge increase in signaling traffic, which wastes network resources and can mean fewer smartphones are able to connect.


Nokia Siemens Networks said Cell_PCH solves this problem by putting phones into a battery-preserving idle state, but maintaining a connection identity on the network. Up until now using Cell_PCH in multivendor networks has been a challenge as no other vendor employs the standard technique, despite all smartphones having built-in Cell_PCH capability. This test shows how smartphones can act dynamically, exploiting Cell_PCH on Nokia Siemens Networks' smart networks or adjusting to Fast Dormancy on other vendors' traditional networks.


The test showed that operators with multivendor networks can benefit from Nokia Siemens Networks' uniquely deployed Cell_PCH functionality that prolongs mobile device battery life and handles signaling up to 50% more efficiently. Nearly 100 operators worldwide have already deployed Nokia Siemens Networks' Cell_PCH functionality.
http://www.nsn.com
http://www.qualcomm.com

Nokia Siemens Networks Demos TD-LTE for India

Nokia Siemens Networks has demonstrated the Time Division Duplex version of LTE (TD-LTE) using broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum in India.


The first video call, which was conducted at the Nokia Siemens Networks' Bengaluru R&D facility, showcased a peak throughput speed of 110 Mbps and low latency in the range of 10-20 milliseconds. The test used interoperable TD-LTE dongles from Samsung and Nokia Siemens Networks' LTE equipment and software. These include the company's Flexi Multiradio Base Station and Evolved Packet Core -- which comprises Flexi NS (Network Server) and Flexi NG (Network Gateway) -- and standard-compliant software.


"Today's demo reiterates our leadership and commitment to getting TD-LTE into new market. It also demonstrates our regional and global progress in this area," said Juha Lappalainen, head of mobile broadband sales at Nokia Siemens Networks. "Our TD-LTE trials across the globe prove our capability in driving rapid commercial TD-LTE network deployments aimed at facilitating a new wave of advanced mobile broadband services."http://www.nsn.com

Video -- LTE TD and LTE FD Spectrum Considerations







Presented by Dan Warren, GSMAhttp://www.convergedigest.com

SiTime Provides Programmable MEMS Timing for Xilinx FPGA

SiTime' programmable MEMS oscillators are being used by Xilinx on their Virtex-6 FPGA based ML605 FPGA
Evaluation Kit as well as the Spartan-6 FPGA Evaluation Kits. The companies said SiTime's programmable, MEMS-based silicon timing solutions are complementary to Xilinx products as they are highly configurable, are 100% drop in replacements for quartz solutions.
http://www.sitime.com