Aricent Releases Data Center Ethernet Software

Aricent announced a new release of its Intelligent Switching Solution (ISS) specifically tailored for building Data Center Ethernet equipment. Aricent's ISS is a licensable, pre-packaged software framework that jumpstarts the development and integration of advanced switching products, and has been selected by more than 60 networking and telecom equipment manufacturers worldwide.


The new ISS release includes functions essential to delivering Ethernet in the Data Center including Priority Flow Control (PFC), Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS), congestion notification and Data Center Bridging Extensions (DCBX). Additional features targeted for the Data Center include VRF, hot-standby for OSPF and PIM, graceful restart, IS-IS integration, and enhancements to private VLAN, ACL, MLDv2, MSDP and IPv6. These capabilities, available in a licensable pre-packaged framework, represent another industry first for Aricent. ISS' Data Center features are compliant with multiple IEEE specifications, including 802.1Qbb, 802.1Qaz and 802.1QAu.


Aricent said its new Data Center feature additions are targeted at networking equipment manufacturers building products in the data center and storage markets. The company offers ISS packages for a variety of applications, from top-of-rack and end-of-row Data Center switches, to simple managed Ethernet switches to industrial Ethernet platforms, from Layer 3 switches with comprehensive routing capabilities, to metro Ethernet/carrier Ethernet applications, such as cellular/mobile backhaul, optical aggregation, DSLAMs, GPON switches, and (Multi Service Access Nodes) MSANs. http://www.aricent.com

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Xelerated Samples 100 Gbps Network Processor

Xelerated has begun sampling its HX family of network processor units (NPUs), which can process 100 Gbps of Ethernet traffic at wirespeed for any packet size. The silicon is aimed at a new generation Carrier Ethernet switches and routers.


Xelerated's HX family of NPUs integrate Ethernet MACs, programmable switching and advanced traffic management for the delivery of fine-granular Quality of Service (QoS). They also feature Xelerated's Dataflow packet processing architecture for wirespeed deterministic performance with programmability. The silicon architecture uses a single pipeline of hundreds of processor cores specifically designed for packet processing that can be programmed to perform any type of operations on the packets.


Xelerated said its latest NPU crosses the 100 Gbps performance threshold. The company is also making available a range of software and tools, including its reference design kit (RDK), software development tools, and data plane software. This includes a Metro Ethernet Application (MEA) data plane software that provides simultaneous support for Ethernet, PB, PBB, VPLS, IP, MPLS and OAM traffic with strict wirespeed guarantees. The software is provided in source code to allow for system vendor customization.
http://www.xelerated.com
http://www.xelerated.com/en/product-overview/

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Dell to Acquire Scalent for Data Center Software

Dell agreed to acquire Scalent, a private company that provides data center software, for an undisclosed sum.


Scalent, which is based in Palo Alto, California, brings an open, software-based approach to managing virtual infrastructure. Its software automates the end-to-end provisioning of server images, networks, and storage access in a coordinated manner. The company was founded in 2003.


Dell plans to integrate Scalent technology into its Advanced Infrastructure Manager (AIM) solution, which enables a single administrator to dynamically allocate compute, storage and network resources for physical and virtual application workloads. It enables dynamic deployment and repurposing of infrastructure without the need for physical server, cable or storage area network changes.
http://www.dell.com
http://www.scalent.com

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Juniper Invests in ADVA Optical

ADVA Optical Networking will issue 551,471 ordinary shares to Juniper Networks in exchange for an investment of US$3.0 million. The companies said they will evaluate the potential for jointly marketing and selling next-generation IP-based transport solutions to service providers to help reduce network complexity and costs.

http://www.advaoptical.com

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SingTel Deploys Juniper EX4200 Ethernet Switches

Singapore Telecommunications has deployed Juniper Networks' EX4200 Ethernet Switches at points-of-presence (POP) across the region for supporting its MEF-certified Carrier Ethernet suite, which includes international services such as ConnectPlus Ethernet Line (E-Line), ConnectPlus Ethernet Virtual Private Network (E-VPN), ConnectPlus Ethernet Virtual Private Line (E-VPL) and local services such as MetroEthernet and Meg@POP suite of Ethernet services including E-VPN and E-VPL. In addition to deploying the Junos OS across the EX switches, SingTel also deploys Juniper Networks M Series Multiservice Edge Routers in its POPs. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.juniper.net

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Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Lab Tests LTE with Ericsson

Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Laboratories and Ericsson demonstrated indoor and outdoor LTE mobility tests, application services as well as CHT-TL's in-house developed LTE Simulator. The LTE trial network was implemented by Ericsson at the end of last year as part of Chunghwa Telecommunications Laboratories' effort to support the Networked Communications Program (NCP) Project.


The trial focused on feature testing IP-based LTE-EPC, MIMO, LTE-EPC network performance verification, and displaying how to use LTE-EPC for various IMS-based applications and mobile broadband applications.


The companies said they have achieved smooth performance for LTE in HD streaming. The tests also showed optimized network efficiency with high speed transmission rates and minimal delay.


In addition, it demonstrated outstanding performance in FTP high speed data transmission in both the fixed and the mobile environment with on-the-move speeds of 60 and 90 kilometers per hour, as well as a seamless handover among base stations.
http://www.ericsson.com

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Ericsson Academy Launches Online

Ericsson launched an online Academy for sharing knowledge about networking technology with students, partners, suppliers and customers. The Academy was launched within Ericsson in November 2009 for its 80,000 employees. Online materials include tutorials, technical snapshots and webinarshttp://www.ericsson.com/ourportfolio/ericsson-academy

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NSN and Nokia Test LTE in 800 MHz Digital Dividend Spectrum

Nokia Siemens Networks and Nokia conducted the first end-to-end LTE data call with Nokia Siemens Networks' commercial equipment on the 800 MHz frequency band. The tests, conducted at NSN's LTE Center of Competence in Espoo, Finland, follow the company's commencement of production of LTE-ready Flexi Multiradio Base Stations for the 800 MHz band in April this year, and complement earlier tests with Nokia on the 2100 MHz and 2600 MHz bands.


During the test, the two companies demonstrated the end-to-end interoperability of Nokia Siemens Networks' LTE network infrastructure with Nokia's LTE-capable multi-mode multi-band Internet Modem RD-3. Infrastructure from Nokia Siemens Networks includes its Single RAN, featuring the Flexi Multiradio Base Station, the Evolved Packet Core comprising Flexi NS (Network Server) and Flexi NG (Network Gateway), and standard-compliant software.


Nokia Siemens Networks expects that LTE in the 800MHz will be attractive due to its propagation capabilities, which makes its suitable for deployment even in rural areas.


The 800 MHz spectrum, which is popularly known as the Digital Dividend, is becoming available as terrestrial TV moves from analog to digital broadcasting.


"These tests are part of a larger campaign which includes various customer trials and demonstrations to make LTE on 800 MHz commercially viable by this summer," added Reino Tammela, head of LTE business line, Nokia Siemens Networks. "Right after the first Digital Dividend spectrum was assigned to operators in the spectrum auction in Germany in May, it was important that standard compliant LTE network products and LTE user devices for this band become commercially available. This will enable successful rapid LTE network rollouts allowing end users to experience high speed and high quality mobile broadband services in rural areas with a large variety of terminals."http://www.nsn.com
http://www.nokia.com

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GSA: Rapid Shift to HSPA+ is Happening, 80 Operators Confirmed with LTE

3G/WCDMA is now commercially available on 357 networks in 148 countries, according to the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), and nearly all of these mobile operators have implemented a High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) upgrade. The number of networks operators expressing a commitment to HSPA network upgrades is even higher -- 401 in 154 countries.


Some additional statistics from the GSA:

• The majority of HSPA networks, currently 58%, support a peak data rate of 7.2 Mbps or higher on the downlink.



• Almost 1 in 5 networks have deployed HSPA Evolution (HSPA+) technology. Sixty-three HSPA+ networks are launched in 35 countries. Of these, 53 commercial HSPA+ networks support a peak downlink data speed of 21 Mbps, 7 commercial HSPA+ networks support a peak downlink data speed of 28 Mbps, and 3 commercial HSPA+ networks support a peak downlink data speed of 42 Mbps.



• GSA anticipates that 95-100 HSPA+ systems will be commercially launched by end 2010.



• Several operators have confirmed plans for further network evolution steps to support 42 Mbps and 84 Mbps peak on the downlink.



• One third of HSPA operators have commercially introduced HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access). A total of 118 operators have launched HSUPA in 60 countries, with a further 8 networks currently deploying the technology in an additional 4 markets. Forty-one HSUPA systems support a peak uplink data rate of 5.8 Mbps, and 2 networks have confirmed the capability to support 11.5 Mbps peak.



• Last month, GSA confirmed that 110 operators in 48 countries are investing in LTE, comprising 80 firm network deployment commitments and 30 additional pre-commitments technology trials and study programs.



• GSA anticipates that up to 22 LTE networks will be in service by end 2010, and at least 45 are expected to be in service by end 2012.

Alan Hadden, President of GSA said: "The rapid shift to HSPA+ which is occurring will ensure its position as a mainstream technology this year, enabling operators all over the world to deliver higher data capacities and a compelling mobile broadband experience in fast expanding and highly competitive markets."http://www.gsacom.com

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Ericsson Conducts First LTE TDD trials in India

Ericsson demonstrated an LTE data call using the 2.3GHz band in a technology trial showcase in India. The LTE trial, which is a milestone for LTE TDD in India, was performed at the Experience Centre, Ericsson Forum, in Gurgaon, India.
http://www.ericsson.com

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Infonetics: North American Voice Revenues, including Mobile, Declined 5% in 2009

The decline of traditional fixed-line voice service and the rise of broadband access, video, and mobile data is speeding up, according to a new report from Infonetics on Residential Voice, Data, and Video Services in North America. Some highlights of the report:

• The residential services market in North America, which comprises voice, video, and Internet access services, held steady during the economic downturn, maintaining $240 billion in 2009



• Service provider revenue from voice services (including VoIP and mobile voice) decreased 5% in 2009, while broadband access and video service revenue increased 5% and 6%, respectively



• Infonetics Research forecasts the North American residential voice, video and Internet access services market to grow to $271 billion by 2014



• Broadband access is the true growth engine for residential services, with annual revenue for North American service providers expected to grow at a 13% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2009 to 2014, driven by both fixed and mobile broadband solutions



• In 2009, 70% of all North American voice subscribers were mobile; by 2014, that number will grow as an increasing number of consumers go mobile-only



• 55% of all residential mobile subscribers in North America are customers of either AT&T or Verizon



• The battle between cable operators and satellite providers for video services continues, with the dominating cable operators losing some revenue market share to satellite (DBS) and telco IPTV providers in 2009



• Comcast leads in North American residential video service revenue share, and DirecTV and Dish Network jumped ahead of Time Warner Cable in 2009



• Video services represent significant future revenue for service providers, but it comes at a high cost of programming and lower margins than voice services.

http://www.infonetics.com

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Motorola Outlines Separation Plans

In an S.E.C. filing, Motorola outlined its plans to separate its Mobile Devices and Home businesses from its Enterprise Mobility Solutions and Networks businesses. The separation will be accomplished through a series of transactions in which the assets, liabilities and operations of the Mobile Devices and Home businesses on a global basis will be transferred to a new company called Motorola SpinCo.


Motorola's Board of Directors cited several benefits for the separation, including:

• Strategic Focus. Allow each independent company to design and implement corporate strategies and
  policies that are based on the industries that it serves.



• Management Focus. Allow management of each independent company to concentrate that company's resources wholly on its particular markets, customers and core business opportunities. Motorola SpinCo will focus on the convergence of mobility, media and the Internet with new devices, applications and services for consumers in their home or on the go. Motorola Inc. will focus on enterprise systems, products and related services, and on its wireless networks and related telecommunication customers.



• Access to Capital. Remove the need for the businesses to compete internally for capital.



• Strategic Flexibility. Each company would gain flexibility to make acquisitions and form partnerships and alliances in its target markets, unencumbered by considerations of the potential impact on the businesses of the other company.



• Investor Choice. Provide investors in each company with a more targeted investment opportunity.

The filing details the recently financial performance of Motorola SpinCo and notes several risk factors for investors, including the losses for Motorola's mobile handset business in recent years, and the potentially negative impact on Motorola's set-top box sales to cable operators from possible changes in FCC regulation regarding set-top box functionality.http://investor.motorola.com/

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Fujitsu FLASHWAVE 4500 Clears Energy Efficiency Metric

Fujitsu's FLASHWAVE 4500 MSPP has met energy efficiency standards under the Telecommunications Energy Efficiency Ratio (TEER) metric released by ATIS.


The TEER standard provides a comprehensive methodology for measuring and reporting energy consumption as well as quantifying a network component's ratio of work performed to energy consumed.


Fujitsu noted that several of the nation's largest telecom service providers are currently using the ATIS TEER metric as a basis for evaluating network equipment under their procurement processes.http://us.fujitsu.com/telecom

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Microsoft Drops Kin Phones Two Months After Launch

Microsoft discontinued its recently launched "Kin" mobile phones due to poor demand. Microsoft said it intends to redeploy employees on the Kin team to its Windows Phone 7 project. Verizon Wireless was offering the two Microsoft Kin phones. The first Windows Phone 7 devices will be available by holiday 2010 under labels from other manufacturers.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/KIN/

• In 2008, Microsoft acquired Danger, a Palo Alto, California-based developed of mobile phone for the youth market. Danger was best known for its Sidekick device, which is marketed by T-Mobile.

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China Telecom Shanghai Activates Juniper TX Matrix Plus

China Telecom has deployed its Juniper Networks' multi-chassis routing system in a production environment of its Shanghai network.


The Juniper Networks TX Matrix Plus interconnects T1600 Core Routers, providing the core of its super metro area network in Shanghai and supporting Expo 2010, which is taking place in the city.


China Telecom has 3.5 million Shanghai broadband customers, including 1.2 million IPTV subscribers, and had been using Juniper Networks TX Matrix with three T640 Core Routers within its network there since 2006.


The Juniper Networks TX Matrix Plus system underwent certification testing at China Telecom's Academy of Science & Technology in Guangzhou during the middle of 2009. And in October Juniper successfully staged a stringent proof-of-concept in Shanghai, leading to the decision to deploy the TX Matrix Plus by the end of the Q1 2010.


The systems are currently connected to network links -- including OC768, OC192, OC48, 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet ports.


Juniper said China Telecom can scale its Shanghai core network as needed with addition of more line cards -- including Juniper Networks' new 100 Gigabit Ethernet interface.
http://www.juniper.net

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European Commission Launches Net Neutrality Consultation

The European Commission has launched a consultation on net neutrality covering such issues as whether Internet providers should be allowed to adopt certain traffic management practices, such as prioritizing one kind of Internet traffic over another.


The EC will examine whether such traffic management practices may create problems and have unfair effects for users, and whether the level of competition between different Internet service providers and the transparency requirements of the new telecom framework may be sufficient to avoid potential problems by allowing consumers' choice.


The consultation will feed into a Commission report on net neutrality, which should be presented by the end of this year. All interested parties -- service and content providers, consumers, businesses and researchers -- are invited to respond to the consultation by 30 September 2010.
http://wwww.europa.eu

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Zayo to Acquire American Fiber Systems

Zayo Group agreed to acquire American Fiber Systems Holding Corporation (AFS), a leading provider of metropolitan fiber network and telecom services. Financial terms were not disclosed.


AFS, which is based in Rochester, NY, operates over 800 route miles of unique, fiber-rich network in 6 new metropolitan markets -- Boise, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Nashville, Reno and Salt Lake City. In addition, AFS enhances Zayo's fiber depth and footprint with approximately 400 additional route miles in Atlanta (a Zayo market pending the close of AGL Networks), Cleveland and Minneapolis. Atlanta, Boise and Las Vegas are particularly strong markets for AFS, representing nearly 75% of its revenue base.


Zayo noted that the AFS customer base is weighted towards the carrier, wireless and other wholesale segments, similar to the sales and marketing approach of the Zayo Bandwidth business unit.


"The addition of AFS's markets significantly increases the geographic scope of the bandwidth infrastructure services that Zayo offers to its customers," said Dan Caruso, President and CEO of Zayo Group. AFS will be the 15th acquisition by Zayo Group since its inception in 2007.
http://www.zayo.com
http://www.afsnetworks.com/

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Cisco Delivers Hosted Collaboration Solution for Service Providers

Cisco released a Hosted Collaboration solution that enables Service Providers to deliver Cisco applications via the cloud using an "as a service" model.


Specifically, the Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution gives service providers and integrators the ability to deploy multiple collaboration applications on one server in a virtualized environment and then host those applications for multiple client organizations. The solution is designed to be run from partner data centers.

Applications available as part of the Hosted Collaboration solution include: Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Unified Contact Center, Cisco Unified Mobility, Cisco Unified Presence, Cisco Unity Connection, and Cisco WebEx Meeting Center (hosted by Cisco).

Cisco is also providing professional services to enable partners to deploy the Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution in an "as a service" model. The company cited deployments or trials with a number of major players, including Verizon Business and Orange.
http://www.cisco.com

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Cisco Expands Data Center 3.0 Strategy with FabricPath Routing

Cisco expanded its Data Center 3.0 strategy for transforming information delivery in physical and virtualized environments.
Cisco's data center and virtualization vision combines unified fabric and unified computing in the data center. The key innovation in its 3.0 architecture is a new Cisco "FabricPath" technology that increases network scalability, resource agility, asset efficiency, and performance in the data center. The company is also rolling out enhancements for its Nexus and Catalyst data center switching platforms, Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) extensions, and new Cisco services.

The announcement was made at the Cisco Live! conference in Las Vegas. Webcast materials are online.


Cisco FabricPath, which is based on the emerging Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) standard, is a Cisco NX-OS feature designed to bring the stability and performance of routing to Layer 2 in the data center. Cisco said its FabricPath approach resolves the shortcomings of Ethernet in large data centers, such as complications from using Spanning Tree Protocol. The fundamental difference between FabricPath and classical Ethernet is that with FabricPath, the frame is always forwarded in the core using a known destination address. Each frame traversing the core is encapsulated with a FabricPath header, which consists of routable source and destination addresses. Upon reaching the remote switch, the frame is deencapsulated and delivered in its original Ethernet format.



Cisco will deliver its FabricPath Switching System as integrated, validated hardware + software to build massively scalable domains. It is based on the FabricPath feature of NX-OS and FabricPath-capable hardware, such as new Nexus 7000 with F-Series I/O modules. This new module for the Nexus 7000 will offer 32 ports of 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity with supports for Data Center Bridging and TRILL standards. Support for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) will be enabled in the near future through a software upgrade.


Other data center announcements from Cisco include:

• Cisco WAAS -- WAN acceleration can now be deployed in the branch office as an on-demand service direct from select models of the Cisco Integrated Services Router (ISR) G2.



• New Cisco Catalyst 4948E switch -- featuring microburst protection for predictable latency, plus automation and visibility. The switch also supports wire-speed IPv6, in addition to auto-provisioning and smart call-home features.



• New Cisco Cloud Enablement services: including strategy, planning, design, and implementation, help customers successfully transition the data center to a cloud infrastructure to quickly realize the benefits of a cloud operational model.



• Cisco Intelligent Automation Solutions: Cisco is also introducing Cisco Intelligent Automation for IT Services, including new versions of the Tidal Enterprise Scheduler and Tidal Enterprise Orchestrator products that provide real-time IT process orchestration and batch automation to simplify data center management and increase operational efficiency and performance.



• Cisco Validated Design guides: Cisco validated design guides serve as blueprints for ready-to-deploy IT across a variety of domains, including Cisco Virtualized Multi-Tenant Data Center (VMDC) solutions for private cloud design.

http://www.cisco.com30093

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Vodafone Portugal Selects NSN's Service Broker

Vodafone Portugal has selected Nokia Siemens Networks' Service Broker to enable the seamless convergence of legacy circuit-switched services, such as Personnel Greeting Voice services, with IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) services. NSN's Service Broker technology, based on an OpenCloud platform and integrated into the operator's existing IMS and intelligent network (IN) systems, is expected to substantially cut the time and cost of launching new services. It will also allow Vodafone Portugal to offer new real-time services without the need to adapt other network elements, enabling continuity with established systems such as charging and billing.

"As a service provider, we are committed to offering our customers innovative services and the ultimate communication experience, so they can live richer lives while on the move," says Jorge Bento, director of intelligent network, services and platforms at Vodafone Portugal.
http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com
http://www.vodafone.pt

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