Foundry and Myricom Form 10GigE Alliance

Foundry Networks has formed an alliance with Myricom, a supplier of high-performance computing (HPC) interconnect technology for computing clusters, to jointly develop and deliver 10-Gigabit Ethernet solutions within Foundry's HPC Ethernet Alliance Program. Foundry's HPC Ethernet Alliance Program is designed to accelerate deployment of high-performance Gigabit Ethernet and 10-Gigabit Ethernet solutions. Foundry will work closely with Myricom to deliver standards-based, high-performance, 10-Gigabit Ethernet solutions to both the HPC community and advanced enterprise data centers.
http://www.foundrynetworks.com
http://www.myri.com

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Freescale Acquires Seaway for Layer 4-7 Processors

Freescale Semiconductor has acquired Seaway Networks, a privately-held fabless semiconductor supplier of content processing technology and solutions. Seaway, which was founded in 2001 and is based in Ottawa,
developed high-performance, silicon-based content processing, advanced security and traffic-management solutions. Seaway focuses on delivering high-performance processors and subsystem products for Layer 4-7 applications. Financial terms were not disclosed. Forty Seaway employees will staff Freescale's newly formed Ottawa Technology Center.


"This acquisition aligns Seaway's content-processing expertise, technology and products with Freescale's communications processor roadmap and PowerQUICC processor portfolio," said David Perkins, senior vice president of Freescale and general manager of Freescale's Networking and Computing Systems Group.
http://www.freescale.com

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PIPEX Launches WiMAX Trial in UK

PIPEX Communications has launched a six-month WiMAX trial in the UK using equipment from Airspan Networks. The companies said this is first 802.16-2004 compliant WiMAX trial in the UK. The trial will be conducted in the Midlands region of the UK and involve delivering PIPEX's home and business broadband services over Airspan's WiMAX last mile access products. In addition to data services, the trial will also test VoIP services that would allow PIPEX to offer product bundles. http://www.airspan.com
http://www.pipex.net

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Passave Adds GPON Chipset to FTTH Portfolio

Passave introduced a pair of Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) devices, the PAS5211 optical line terminal (OLT) and the PAS6211 optical network terminal (ONT), bps for GPON-compatible FTTH equipment. The new devices use Passave's GigaPASS architecture, providing interoperability for GPON central-office (CO) equipment and GPON customer premise equipment (CPE).


Passave said developing a low-cost, high-performance GPON FTTH semiconductor is a significant technical challenge because it requires single-chip integration of gigabit and faster point-to-multipoint Passive Optical Network (PON) transmission topologies at a price-point suitable for consumer premise equipment such as access modems. Its GigaPASS architecture delivers gigabit and higher transmission rates, provides wire speed protocol processing, and supports mixed-mode PON traffic.

Key features of Passave's new GigaPASS-based GPON devices under development include:

• GigaPASS architecture for wire speed performance at 2.5 Gbps downstream and 1.25 Gbps upstream



• An embedded, high-performance processor running Linux and VxWorks



• Forward error correction -- Passave said this enables carriers to double the reach or number of customers that the network can support



• AES-128 encryption



• FSAN ITU-T G.984 standard compliance

Commercial availability is expected in in 2006. Pricing for the PAS5211 OLT starts at $300 and for the PAS6211 ONT pricing starts at $30 in 10,000-piece quantities.
http://www.passave.com

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Coradiant Raises $12.7 Million for Monitoring Capabilities

Coradiant, a start-up based in San Diego, raised $12.7 million in new funding for its real-user monitoring equipment for data center applications.


Whereas existing user monitoring approaches typically rely on synthetic sampling, Coradiant's technology enables a new category of easy-to-install data monitoring equipment that is capable of seeing and reporting actual performance as experienced by every user, in each session, in real time. The system integrates with enterprise management software (EMS) systems. Drill-down incident management and analysis can be used to uncover, diagnose and repair even transient, hard-to-find issues in minutes rather than days or weeks.


The new funding round was led by existing investor DCM -- Doll Capital Management. DCM was joined by previous investors GrandBanks Capital and Desjardins Venture Capital, and new investor Miramar Venture Partners. http://www.coradiant.com

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Nortel Softswitch Receives PacketCable 1.1 Qualification

Nortel achieved PacketCable 1.1 softswitch qualification for its Communication Server 2000 (CS 2000).


Nortel's CS 2000 was successfully tested in this certification wave against the latest in Lawfully Authorized Electronic Surveillance Specification (LAESS) and Event Messaging specifications. The LAESS specification focuses on softswitches and their ability to deliver lawful intercept capabilities within the PacketCable architecture. Support of event messaging allows cable operators to generate call records for downstream billing and customer usage tracking, following the PacketCable architecture. The CS 2000 PacketCable 1.1 Qualification success follows earlier PacketCable 1.0 CMS and MGC Qualifications in 2003 and 2004, respectively, and EUR PacketCable 1.0 qualification in 2004.
http://www.nortel.com

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Vivato Supplies Base Stations for "Enormous" Hot-Spots in Taiwan

TW-Airnet of Taichung, Taiwan will deploy 42 of Vivato's Base Stations throughout densely populated areas of the island to create "enormous Wi-Fi Hot Zones." The deployments will occur in five cities, including Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Taichung. TW-Airnet has access to over 2,200 pre-selected sites and roof tops for installation of the Vivato base stations. Each of the 5 cities will have an initial hot zone of approximately 8 sq. miles each, and will serve both mobile and stationary customers. TW-Airnet will also provide customer premise equipment for resident and business customers.
http://www.vivato.com
http://www.tw-airnet.net/

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First VON MEXICO Planned for February 2006

The first VON MEXICO event will take place February 14-17, 2006 at Centro Banamex in Mexico City, co-located with EXPO COMM MEXICO 2006. VON MEXICO. The event is being produced in partnership with E.J. Krause & Associates (EJK), one of the largest privately owned exhibition management companies in the United States.


Pulvermedia has hosted VON events in Europe and the United States for the last nine years.
http://www.von.com/mexico06http://www.expocomm.com/mexico/

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World Wide Packets Partners with Marconi Softswitch

Marconi has selected World Wide Packets' LightningEdge solution for
connection to the Marconi's IMPACT SoftSwitch XCD5000. The partnership
provides a fully integrated VoIP for Triple Play services. This partnership creates a global referral program in which World Wide
Packets is certified to work in conjunction with Marconi's SoftSwitch
to deliver derived voice. Several large networks have already deployed
the combined offering.

http://www.worldwidepackets.com
http://www.marconi.com

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Marconi Wireless Partners with LS Telcom AG

LS Telcom AG agreed to distribute Marconi's Planet EV wireless network design and optimization software. Mobile operators in targeted Eastern Europe and DACH (Germany, Austria & Switzerland) markets will benefit from enhanced access to the leading Planet EV product portfolio as well as local support and services. Planet EV will also become an integral part of LS telcom's modular set of planning solutions and will replace the current CHIRplus_UMTS product of LS telcom.
http://www.lstelcom.com
http://www.marconi.com

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Meru and Firetide Form Voice over Mesh Partnership

Firetide and Meru Networks announced a strategic partnership to deliver high quality, reliable voice communication over wireless mesh networks.


The joint solution combines Firetide's HotPort high performance mesh network and Meru's Wireless LAN System, which is designed specifically to handle voice over wireless.


The companies said their solution allows for cost-effective voice over mesh deployments for universities, hotels, recreational venues, airports, municipalities, warehouses and other environments where structured wiring or other solutions are too difficult or costly to install.

http://www.firetide.com
http://www.merunetworks.com

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Pulse~LINK Teams with ADI on HDTV Wireless Links

Pulse~LINK and Analog Devices joined forces to demonstrate a wireless transmission of real-time High Definition video using Ultra Wideband (UWB) communications. The demonstration combines Pulse~LINK's "CWave" UWB wireless technology with ADI's ADV202, a single-chip implementation of the JPEG2000 standard. The companies said their solution is capable of wirelessly delivering cinema quality images in the home when used to provide wireless connectivity between devices such as High Definition Television Displays, Projectors, DVD players, Set-top-boxes, Game Consoles, Digital Recorders, Home Theaters and PC work stations.


Unlike MPEG, that degrades the original source HDTV content during compression, ADI's JPEG2000 is scalable for both mathematically and visually lossless video encoding. Pulse~LINK's CWave UWB offers up to 1 Gbps wireless data rates. Whereas typical MPEG compression used for wireless connectivity today creates noticeable latency, the combination of JPEG2000 and CWave UWB reduces latencies to such an imperceptible level that this delay is effectively nonexistent.


The difference in the way JPEG2000 is encoded offers additional advantages for both improved visual quality and increased transmission range. Inter-frame spatial encoding methods used by MPEG result in wireless data streams that are extremely susceptible to channel errors -- this phenomenon is what often results in artifacts and the "blocky pixelation" viewers sometimes see on digital programming that is MPEG encoded. This type of encoding causes the resulting MPEG data streams to be extremely susceptible to wireless channel errors, requiring significant Forward Error Correction overhead and a very stringent Bit-Error-Rate. MPEG degrades quickly with Bit-Error-Rate (BER), while JPEG2000 is capable of maintaining a quality video stream with BER rates at which MPEG video would be un-viewable.


The joint demonstration, featuring a side-by-side comparison of MPEG and JPEG2000 across Pulse-LINK's UWB wireless link, is taking place this week at the DisplaySearch HDTV Conference in Beverly Hills, California.
http://www.analog.com
http://www.pulselink.net/

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Sun Unveils Open Media Commons initiative

Sun Microsystems unveiled the Open Media Commons initiative, an open-source community project developing a royalty-free digital rights management standard.


Sun promised to immediately share the entirety of its internal Sun Labs program Project DReaM (DRM/everywhere available) with the Open Media Commons community under the OSI-approved Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL). Sun Labs Project DReaM consists of:

• DRM-OPERA: An interoperable DRM architecture implementing standardized interfaces and processes for the interoperability of DRM systems. The DRM-OPERA architecture is independent of specific hardware and operating systems, and is not restricted to specific media formats. It enables user-based license provision as opposed to today's situation where licenses are assigned to devices.



• Java Stream Assembly: Launch pad for Video Delivery Servers using the Java Stream Assembly (JSR-158) API which reduces the complexity in building and managing video streams to be delivered over access networks. Multiple vendor components can be plugged in using the Java Stream Assembly API for delivering broadcast, on-demand, and interactive TV streams.



• Sun Streaming Server (SSS): Designed to serve standards compliant media (audio/video) streams over IP using open-standard protocols such as RTP and RTSP. SSS is compliant with 3GPP and ISMA specifications. While the server is agnostic to the format of the media, the streams served by SSS are generally encoded using the MPEG-4 codecs. SSS supports MPEG-4 and QuickTime out of the box.

"We are entering the Participation Age -- an age where individuals are creating and supplying the news as much as they are consuming it. Mobile phones play music and take pictures, high-quality video is delivered to almost any device on earth, and legitimate global P2P networks are being created that will transform the way we live. The demand for new network services is exploding. Incredible economic value is waiting to be tapped, but we must not allow progress to be stifled by clumsy, self-defeating Internet tollgates in the form of a monolithic, closed digital rights management system," said Jonathan Schwartz, speaking at the Progress and Freedom Foundation Aspen Summit, Sun president.
http://www.openmediacommons.org/

• Earlier this year, Sun Microsystems released its Solaris OS as open source code for both the SPARC platform and x86/x64 platforms. The OpenSolaris source code includes the core operating system, networking, system libraries, and commands--and all the key innovations delivered in the Solaris 10 OS.



• In June 2005, Sun Microsystems launched its Open Service Delivery Platform Solutions Program aimed at helping telecommunications service providers deliver new, differentiated revenue-generating consumer and enterprise services utilizing technologies such as IMS and VoIP. Sun is presenting a framework that makes use of end-to-end Java and can leverage the carrier-grade Solaris operating system. Sun is collaborating with an ecosystem of industry leaders, including Network Equipment Providers (NEPs), Systems Integrators (SIs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to build out the framework. Among the initial partners announced by Sun to build out this framework are Appium, Drutt, EDS, jNetx, Open Cloud and Terraplay. Examples include a solution that lets users purchase, download and play multi-player games and then voice conference with the other players using an existing mobile network.

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TI Debuts VoCable Chipset and Wideband DOCSIS Design

Texas Instruments announced the availability of its advanced voice-over-cable (VoCable) chipset and new Wideband DOCSIS reference design.


TI's DSP-based TNETC47xx (Puma-4) VoCable chipset incorporates advancements to process cellular codecs, setting the stage for fixed mobile convergence with phones that operate on cellular or VoIP connections, depending on the user's choice and proximity to either network. The company said its low bit-rate codecs for conferencing channels use half the bandwidth currently consumed for multi-user calls, saving bandwidth for other applications while maintaining high data rates. The TNETC47xx also has advanced fax capabilities. TI's TNETC47xx chipset will sample in the fourth quarter of 2005.


TI also announced a Wideband DOCSIS reference design that lets equipment manufacturers and service providers evaluate system architectures today. TI expects to deliver its first Wideband DOCSIS reference designs in Q4.


"Wideband DOCSIS channel bonding will enable cable operators to surpass current DSL and FTTX data rates by delivering more than 100 Mbps to an individual subscriber" said Bruce McClelland, VP/GM ARRIS Broadband CPE Products.


Wideband DOCSIS technology will incorporate multiple down and up streams in a single modem, providing higher broadband speeds and greater bandwidth to both business and consumer subscribers. As the standard evolves to include voice, the increased bandwidth and enhanced performance of DOCSIS 3.0 modems will support VoIP conversations and video downloading without impacting the stream of information delivered to and from the home or office.
http://www.ti.com

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Yozan to Accelerate its Tokyo WiMax Deployment with Airspan

YOZAN has ordered an additional $5 million in WiMAX equipment from Airspan for deployment of its Tokyo-wide WiMAX network. The contract, which was first announced in March, is now valued at $16.7 million. Airspan will commence deliveries in the last quarter of 2005.


The YOZAN project uses Airspan's software-upgradeable radio technology in a product packaging called MicroMAX-SDR. Customers on the network will use a range of Airspan subscriber units, including Airspan's EasyST, a unique self-installable indoor WiMAX customer premises device. The EasyST provides WiMAX connectivity to the MicroMAX base station and Wi-Fi coverage inside the customer premises via its integrated Wi-Fi Access Point.
http://www.airspan.com
http://www.yozan.co.jp

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Sigma Samples Media Processor with Dual Decoding of H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2

Sigma Designs has begun sampling its new SMP8634 media processor, designed for IPTV set-top boxes and high-definition DVD players. The device represents a milestone for media processors in that it not only decodes H.264 (AVC), VC-1 and MPEG-2, but also supports multi-stream decoding of any format, up to the equivalent of two simultaneous high-definition streams, along with full-screen graphics.


"Sigma has worked closely with some of the largest network operators, set-top box manufacturers, and consumer electronics companies to develop a media processor that meets the needs of next generation IPTV services and high-definition DVD players," said Ken Lowe, VP of strategic marketing. "In the coming months, our top-tier customer announcements will demonstrate the SMP8634's market acceptance."


In the years ahead, Sigma said it expects to see a digital media duopoly shared by two new video codecs: VC-1, a SMPTE specification based on Microsoft's Windows Media Video 9 (WMV9), and H.264, a shared specification from ITU and MPEG associations, also known as AVC (advanced video codec) or MPEG-4 part 10. Moving forward, VC-1 and H.264 appear destined to equally share the role as next generation digital media standards.


Key features of Sigma's SMP8634 media processor include:

• Video decoding of H.264 (MPEG-4 part 10), VC-1 (WMV9), MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 (part 2) with multiple streams, up to the equivalent of two high-definition streams.



• High performance graphics acceleration with bit-BLT, raster operations, vector font rendering, JPEG decode acceleration and line drawing functions.



• Audio decoding capability for Dolby Digital, WMA, WMA Pro, AAC, and MPEG audio layers I, II and III (MP3) and other audio standards.



• Content security management with on-chip secure processor, flash memory, and DRM engines for high speed payload decryption of AES, DES, triple-DES, RC4, CSS, DVB-CSA and Multi-2.



• Advanced display processing capabilities, including multi-plane architecture with advanced scaling, motion adaptive de-interlacing, and image composition with pixel-based alpha blending and colorimetry and image control features.



• An array of video output options including HDMI/HDCP digital video, plus analog component and separate NTSC/PAL encoder with analog composite and S-video outputs.



• Single-chip solution with on-chip CPU, unified memory controller, Ethernet 10/100 controller, dual USB 2.0 controller, IDE controller and general purpose IO.

http://www.sigmadesigns.com

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Huawei Selects Mindspeed Comcerto VoIP Processors

Huawei Technologies has selected Mindspeed's Comcerto Series VoIP processors for future products. Mindspeed's Comcerto Series VoIP processors combine high-performance digital signal processing (DSP) cores and a packet-processing engine with industry-standard streaming packet interfaces to provide a high-density VoIP system-on-a-chip. http://www.mindspeed.com

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QUALCOMM Acquired Elata for Mobile Content Delivery Software

QUALCOMM has acquired ELATA, a developer of mobile content delivery software based in the UK, for approximately $57 million in cash.


ELATA's software helps operators with managing, delivering and marketing rich wireless content.


QUALCOMM said that by combining ELATA's wireless content delivery system with its BREW solution, operators would have access to an extensive and modular offering of wireless data solutions and services. The new unified delivery system is platform-agnostic, allowing operators to consolidate all of their content services with support for all device platforms.


Under a single service delivery framework, a broad array of content can be unified and managed, including ringtones, wallpapers, and BREW, Java, streaming and OMA-compliant content - for the full range of feature phones and smartphones on operators' WCDMA (UMTS), GSM and CDMA2000 networks. For example, an operator may offer applications and services to its subscribers that have been developed in multiple programming languages and are delivered via many different systems to the handset. http://www.qualcomm.com
http://www.elata.com

• elata raised EUR13 million (US$12.5 million) in two rounds of funding (September 2001 and October 2003) from Royal Bank Ventures, Frontiers Capital, NewMedia SPARK plc, and Hugh Symons Group plc.

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Alvarion Supports Triple Play WiMAX Services in Five Kenyan Cities

Kenya Data Networks has ordered an initial deployment of Alvarion's WiMAX-ready equipment, BreezeMAX 3500, to bring WiMAX broadband services to businesses and ISPs in five Kenyan cities. Following successful commercial trials, KDN, an emerging carrier that counts among its customers all the ISPs in Kenya, has now purchased the BreezeMAX to cover the cities of Kisumu, Eldoret, Ukunda, Diani, and Malindi. KDN plans to extend services to another ten towns in the upcoming weeks and eventually to the capital city of Nairobi.


Upon completion of the BreezeMAX installation, KDN plans to offer triple play services of voice, data and video to its customers. Last year, KDN installed Alvarion BreezeACCESS OFDM and WALKair products in the 3.5 GHz frequency bands to supply highly reliable last-mile access services to Kenya's major ISP's, banks, universities, multinational corporations, and small-to-medium-sized businesses.


BreezeMAX is Alvarion's WiMAX-ready platform that uses OFDM technology for advanced non-line-of-sight (NLOS) functionality.
http://www.alvarion.com
http://www.kdn.co.ke

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Alcatel Sets Up R&D Center in Chengdu

Alcatel is establishing a new Research & Development (R&D) Center in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province in western China. The new R&D center will develop technologies and product concepts covering fixed and mobile communication areas. Initially, it will focus on advanced mobile technologies and solutions in the area of mobile Next Generation Networks (mobile NGN) and microwave transmission. Around 300 R&D engineers will be employed in this new facility.


In December 2002, Alcatel launched its first Research & Innovation Center in Asia Pacific in Shanghai and established the Optical Communications R&D Center in Chengdu in February 2003. Globally, Alcatel said it invests around 13% of its annual revenue on R&D activities. http://www.alcatel.com

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