Ikanos Files for IPO -- Broadband Silicon Company

Ikanos Communications, a start-up based in Fremont, California, filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. Citigroup Global Markets and Lehman Brothers will act as the joint book-running managers for the offering. UBS Investment Bank and Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC will act as co-managers. http://www.ikanos.com

• In April 2004, Ikanos raised $15 million in Series E funding for its broadband silicon solutions. The latest investors included Copan, PMC-Sierra, Greylock Partners, Intel Capital, JP Morgan, Ridgewood Capital, Sequoia Capital, Telesoft Partners, TL Ventures, Walden International and VentureTech Alliance (an affiliate of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company).



• Ikanos recently announced that global shipments of its programmable chipsets surpassed two million ports since volume production began in Q4 2002, with orders more than doubling since October of last year.



• The Ikanos family of chipsets includes the Fx family for FTTP/FTTH over copper and the SmartLeap family for the VDSL-DMT over copper markets. The chipsets deliver Ethernet or ATM services at data rates up to 100 Mbps downstream and 50 Mbps upstream, or symmetrical rates of 50 Mbps over single-loop copper.



• Ikanos' announced customers to date include Sumitomo Electric (SEI) and NEC (in Japan; ECI Telecom in Israel; Marconi, Siemens in Europe; Samsung, Dasan Networks, Woojyon Systec, and Millinet in Korea; and ZyXEL in Taiwan.

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Movaz to Integrate Parama's "ADM-on-a-Chip"

Movaz Networks plans to use Parama Networks' "ADM-on-a-Chip" on a number of designs for its Movaz RAY family of wavelength services products, including its new reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer. The companies said the next-generation of transport equipment would drive the convergence of SONET/SDH and DWDM. This is expected to result in lower capital and operating costs, more flexible systems, simpler "per wavelength" service reconfiguration, a unified control plane, more efficient use of wavelengths via grooming, and a unified network management system. http://www.movaz.comhttp://www.paramanet.com

• In January 2004, Parama Networks introduced its "ADM-on-a-Chip," an integrated device for SONET/SDH transport equipment. Parama said ADM-on-a-Chip, which is designed for next generation network equipment, leverages advances in silicon VLSI technology over the last few years to enable an entire ADM implementations on a single piece of silicon. Its solution includes a companion SONET/SDH overhead processor, a data transport processor, a hardware reference design, and software development kit. The ADM-on-a-Chip is manufactured in 0.13 micron CMOS process.

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Furukawa Employs Cavium Processors for Fastest VPN Appliance

The Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. is using Cavium Networks' NITROX II Security Macro Processor to deliver what the companies claim is the world's fastest performing VPN system to date. The FITELnet-F8000 IPsec Router has realized the highest IPsec performance of 2 Gbps for minimum sized packets while supporting 3,000 tunnels. Furukawa's FITELnet-F8000 offers advanced and flexible features for the communication carrier including IPv6 and virtual-router functions. The platform currently is available to customers in the Japanese market only.



Cavium's NITROX II Security Macro Processor supports inline and look-aside processing with SPI 3, SPI 4.2 and PCI-X interfaces for performance ranging from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps. Both IPv4 and IPv6 are supported. http://www.cavium.com

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ADC Launches SONET Access Box from Huawei

ADC introduced a new "LoopStar" 800 next-generation SONET access system designed to help carriers deploy and manage TDM and Ethernet services to end-user customers from a single platform. The LoopStar 800 was developed under an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreement with Huawei Technologies. The platform uses an integrated universal back-plane architecture that supports multiple interchangeable network and tributary interface cards for DS1, DS3 and Ethernet service deliveryhttp://www.adc.com

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Hitachi and NEC to Establish Company for Backbone Routers/Switches

Hitachi and NEC Corporation are joining forces to establish a new company specializing in core backbone routers and switches for telecommunications carriers, government and public sectors and large corporations. The new company will be located in Tokyo and have about 350 employees drawn from both Hitachi and NEC. It will have about 5.5 billion yen in capital when it commences in October 2004. Hitachi will own 60% of the new company while NEC will own 40%.



The joint venture, which aims to become a leading vendor of high-end backbone routers/switches, will supply products to Hitachi and NEC respectively, and the two companies will market them to their individual clients. Hitachi and NEC said they will strongly promote system integration offerings using the new company's products. The new company will also market its products through its business partners under the new company's own brand name. A name for the new venture has not yet been chosen. http://www.hitachi.comhttp://www.nec.com

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Thomson Expands its Focus in North America

Thomson announced an expanded commitment to expand its telecommunications activities for North America. In 2003, Thomson combined its DSL (digital subscriber line), IP Video set top boxes and telecom and residential telephones into a new Thomson Telecom Group. The renewed effort will include a range of DSL, IP Video, VoIP products and telephony products aimed at telco triple play deployments.



During Supercomm, Thomson displayed its SpeedTouch 585 residential wireless gateway, which integrates 802.1 g/a home networking and is compatible with ADSL2 and ADSL2+ standards.



Thomson is the market leader in DSL customer premise equipment in Europe, with nearly 40% share according to the company. http://www.thomson.net

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SupporSoft Secures Patent for Customer Service Connectivity Technique

SupporSoft was awarded a U.S. patent for a "secure computer support system" that enables the delivery of customer service and technology support through a network gateway to overcome problems with connectivity whether for home or business computing use. SupportSoft's Nexus software is principally used to facilitate secure connections between customer service representatives or technical support analysts and the computing end-users they support. The patented technique helps to overcome obstacles that may include un-routable network calls (due to network address translation or other IP masking), while providing a secure communication link without requiring inbound holes through firewalls. http://www.supportsoft.com /

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Xilinx Shows 10Gbps Serial Signaling over ATCA

Xilinx demonstrated a 10Gbps AdvancedTCA ("ATCA") backplane powered by its flagship Virtex-II Pro X FPGAs. This represents a four-fold performance boost for the existing ATCA serial backplane architecture based on the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG) 3.0 specification.



Xilinx said network equipment designers will be able to rapidly build fully scalable systems to 10Gbps on a low cost ATCA-standard platform.



In a related announcement, Xilinx bolstered its 10Gbps solutions for serial backplanes by extending its Aurora lightweight link-layer protocol to enable custom data transport up to 10Gbps. Additionally, Xilinx introduced a new Fibre Channel (FC) media access controller (MAC) solution. http://www.xilinx.com

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NTIA Works on New Spectrum Policy

The Commerce Department's National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) released two reports on its Spectrum Policy for the 21st Century, which includes the establishment of an innovation test-bed for increased sharing between federal and non-federal spectrum users. One of the 24 recommendations included in the reports is the establishment of a spectrum test-bed for innovative new technologies that will enable increased sharing between federal and non-federal users. The report recommends that the FCC and the NTIA should each identify approximately 10 MHz of spectrum to be made available for this program. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/

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Marconi Selected for Telstra's NGN Transport

Telstra named Marconi as sole supplier for its next generation transport network. Under the contract, Marconi will supply SDH, WDM, CWDM, Radio and next-generation SDH requirements (Multi Service Provisioning Platform - MSPP). The enhancements to the Telstra network will cover its access layer, core transport layer, its metropolitan and regional networks, and associated network management systems. Financial terms were not disclosed.



This contract follows on from Telstra's decision to award Marconi a contract for the supply of 10GB transmission equipment in February 2003. http://www.marconi.com

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AudioCodes Announces AdvancedTCA Line

AudioCodes announced the evolution of its VoIPerfect architecture to comply with AdvancedTCA (ATCA) specifications. This new product line leverages AudioCodes 2000 LBR-channel TPM-6300 Voice over Packet Media gateway module. The ATCA board, which will offer a high channel density of up to 2016 LBR VoIP channels, is planned for availability by the end of Q3 2004. http://www.audiocodes.com/

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Convedia Enhances its Media Servers

Convedia is adding a number of new video and audio features to its IP Media Servers. The enhancements provide specialized, DSP-intensive media processing required for desktop video conferencing, mobile video messaging, video branding and multi-user online gaming. These include:

• Voice activated video switching - a multi-party conferencing technique which is ideally suited for use with small display 3G mobile phones and in cost sensitive residential video phone applications. Unlike traditional multiparty video conferencing, only one participant is seen on the screen at any time and the video image switches based on who is currently speaking.



• VoiceXML based video recording and playback - required in both video mail and multimedia conferencing applications, this feature allows video content to be recorded to 3rd party off-the-shelf NFS and HTTP servers providing a seamlessly integrated, cost effective and highly scalable video archiving and playback system.



• Quad split and advanced continuous presence displays - commonly used in traditional video conferencing services, this feature allows Convedia's Media Servers to act as an MCU in H.323 and SIP based video conferencing systems. Multiple conference sites are displayed concurrently on one screen in a variety of flexible layouts.



• Video transcoding and rate matching - enables mobile video phones and fixed line video terminals to communicate with one another independent of the capabilities (video codec, video frame size and bitrate) supported by each terminal.



• Fully programmable audio conference mixers

The new functionality, which is being delivered through a series of software-only upgrades to Convedia's CMS-6000 and CMS-1000 IP Media Server platforms, will begin to rollout next month with additional functionality being added throughout the remainder of 2004. http://www.convedia.com

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Ethernet in the First Mile Standard Approved

The IEEE 802.3ah specification for Ethernet in the First Mile was unanimously approved as an IEEE standard by the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Standards Board. The process included specifying new interface types for Ethernet over fiber optic and copper media along with new OAM mechanisms for managing Ethernet subscriber networks.



The Ethernet in the First Mile project had perhaps the largest scope of any IEEE 802 standard ever undertaken, according to the Ethernet in the First Mile Alliance (EFMA), which promotes the technology.



The ratification of the IEEE 802.3ah standard came in conjunction with the first ever interoperability demonstration of EFM technologies by EFMA member companies at SUPERCOMM 2004 in Chicago. The EFMA demo showcased technologies from the four EFM sub-task areas, including:

• Point-to-point copper


• Point-to-point fiber


• Point-to-multipoint fiber (EPON)


• Operation, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM)

http://www.ieee802.org/3/efm/index.htmlhttp://www.efmalliance.org

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Narad Networks Announces New CEO

Narad Networks named James D. Norrod as its new CEO. Norrod previously worked for Telebit Corporation, a public company that manufactured and distributed high-end data communication equipment to enterprise markets. Narad's technology utilizes the previously unusable frequency spectrum above 860MHz to overlay switched Ethernet capabilities onto existing HFC networks. http://www.naradnetworks.com

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Vonage Releases Xten's SoftPhone for Mac OS X

Vonage and Xten have completed interoperability testing of SIP SoftPhone for Mac-based Vonage subscribers. http://www.xten.com/http://www.vonage.com/

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Kerry Outlines Broadband Ideas

Speaking in San Jose, California, Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry outlined plans to spur the adoption of broadband and encourage innovation. Citing the same statistic that America has slipped from 4th to 10th in adoption of broadband, Kerry called for greater investments in research and development. Kerry said his plan would "eliminate capital gains taxes for long-term investments in small businesses, and reform or eliminate regulations that impede America's high-tech competitiveness." He would ensure universal broadband for first responders by the end of 2006 and would provide broad-based increases in government-funded research at universities. Kerry said he would pay for these programs by accelerating the transition to digital television and thereby raising $30 billion at public auction to fund science and technology innovation. He would also expand the spectrum that is available for unlicensed wireless broadband.

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Bush Renews Call for Broadband

In his second such public address in the past few weeks, President George Bush renewed his call to make broadband available to all Americans by 2007. At an event hosted by the Department of Commerce, Bush noted that the U.S. now has some 28 million broadband subscribers, ranking 10th in per capita terms in the industrialized world. Bush said an important policy goal should be to make sure that broadband access is affordable and, therefore, it should not be taxed. He said government should remove burdensome regulations that would otherwise slow the spread of Internet technologies. Bush has signed orders to reduce the regulatory red tape for laying fiber optic cables and putting up transmission towers on federal lands.



Bush expressed support for broadband over powerline technology -- the Commerce Department is developing technical standards that will make sure that broadband can go across power lines without unnecessary interference.



Bush also said that a better wireless spectrum policy could help the economy grow and that Congress needs to make the spectrum available. Specifically, he voiced support for the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act, which would take spectrum that is currently allocated to the government and auction it off to the private sector.

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Court Overturns FCC Media Ownership Rules

In a blow to FCC Chairman Michael Powell and large broadcasters, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia overturned the loosened media ownership rules adopted by the FCC in June 2003.



In a statement, Powell said the ruling has "created a clouded and confused state of media law."



However, FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps, welcomed the ruling, saying "the rush to media consolidation approved by the FCC last June was wrong as a matter of law and policy. The Commission has a second chance to do the right thing. We must immediately move forward and redesign our media policy.

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IBM And Motorola Collaborate on Telecom Platforms

IBM and Motorola Computer Group will collaborate to promote highly integrated, standards-based telecom platforms based on IBM's eServer BladeCenter system and Motorola's Application-Enabling Platform. IBM plans to incorporate Motorola's Service Availability Forum (SAF) Application Interface Specification (AIS) compliant high availability software in a future version of the recently announced IBM eServer Integrated Platform for Telecommunications (IP-T).



The partnership seeks to provide the first "from enterprise to the network edge" computing solutions. Both companies are committed to the new Open Communications Architecture Forum (OCAF), Carrier Grade Operating Environment (CGOE) and Linux operating system. http://www.motorola.com/computerhttp://www.ibm.com

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Motorola Unveils AdvancedTCA Application-Enabling Platform

Motorola's Computer Group introduced an Application-Enabling Platform built on the Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (AdvancedTCA) and designed to speed time-to-market and lower both manufacturing and life cycle costs for telecom equipment manufacturers.



Motorola's AXP Basic Integrated Platform is a pre-integrated and validated solution with an operating environment. The NEBS- and ETSI-compliant platform integrates Open Source Distribution Labs (OSDL)-compliant Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) with software components that enable Service Availability Forum (SAF)-compliant OpenHPI, blade management, blade hardware functions, base and data fabric management, and interfaces to network management systems. It also features several AdvancedTCA payload blade options, including a new combined switching and control blade, and payload blades with a choice of processors (Intel Architecture processors and PowerPC architecture processors).



Availability is expected in Q1. Later this year, Motorola expects to detail a complete SAF-compliant operating environment for telecom equipment, including protocol support and integrated protocol services. http://www.motorola.com/computer

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