Latest column LTE -- What Voice Services? by Jose Deras

Buy a Subscription Unsubscribe Update email address Our Videos Advertising & Sponsorships Upcoming Events See Back Issues Contact Us     Over 29,000 news summaries sorted into the following 14 networking categories   Alcatel-Lucent's Software Defined Radios for 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE More Service Provider News Stories   Juniper Previews New Core Silicon to Enable 4 Tbps Routers More Packet Systems News Stories   Ericsson Pushes HSPA to 84 Mbps More Wireless Networking  News Stories   ARRIS Shows DOCSIS 3.0 at 320 Mbps Down, 100 Mbps Up More Last Mile Stories   Ericsson Expands Packet + Optical Transport Portfolio More Optical News Stories   IEEE Works on Coexistence of Wireless Nets in TV White Space More Wi-Fistories   Fraunhofer IIS Debuts Audio Communication Engine for LTE More VoIP stories   Vitesse Outlines Ethernet Chip Roadmap for 2010 More Network Silicon News Stories   SpiderCloud Adds $25 million for Enterprise Radio Access Network (E-RAN) More Start-up News Stories   comScore: Hulu Surpasses 1 Billion Monthly Video Streams More  IP Video stories   ITU-T Approves Data Link Layer of G.hn More Network Starndards Stories   Hughes Demos SPACEWAY 3 Capabilities for Coalition Warriors More Satellite Network News Stories     SUPERCOMM Canceled for 2010 More Financial News Stories   FCC Budget for FY 2011 Rises to $352.5 Million More Regulatory News Stories   Facing the Challenges of Developing 100 Gbps Platforms More stories       Upcoming Events   MPLS World Congress 09-Feb-10 to 12-Feb-10 Paris   Ethernet Wholesale Summit 09-Feb-10 to 12-Feb-10 Paris   3GSM Mobile World Congress 15-Feb-10 to 18-Feb-10 Barcelona  Full Event Calendar  List Your Event         Ericsson Expands Packet + Optical Transport Portfolio Ericsson has expanded its OMS 1400 converged transport (packet + optical) portfolio with a new, higher capacity platform offering up to 320 Gbps of switching performance. The OMS series features a dual TDM and Ethernet switching architecture that enables operators to evolve their current TDM networks to high capacity and lower cost packet-based networks. The OMS is specifically optimized for the metro packet transport. Significantly, the platform supports WDM and next gen standards for OTN and MPLS-TP architecture. Ericsson will also support new Ethernet Ring Protection (ERP). Ericsson's OMS 1400 products can be configured for pure TDM, pure Ethernet optical transport or a combination or the two. This enables carriers to migrate off their legacy networks. The Ethernet Layer 2 switch is based on the latest IEEE standards for Provider Bridging (PB) supporting E-Line, E-LAN and E-Tree services (MEF 9 and 14 certified). The OMS 1460, which will be commercially available within a year, is an 8RU chassis with 16-slots. It joins the existing 2RU OMS 1410, which was launched over a year ago, and which offers 6-slots. They share a common set of interchangeable traffic modules, including 10/100 Ethernet, 1GE, 10Gb Ethernet and native TDM interfaces E1, T1, E3, T3, OC-3 and STM-1/4/16. The larger OMS 1460 additionally supports STM-64 all with SFP/XFP based interfaces. The OMS 1460 provides enhanced support for 10GE client traffic with the 2x10GE traffic module enabling up to 32 10GE ports per OMS 1460 shelf. "Just as mobility and the Internet are converging at a rapid rate, so will packet and optical networks," said Vinai Sirkay, Head of Product Line Optical & Metro at Ericsson. "We are putting forth a pragmatic approach to packet transport by introducing a scalable and flexible family of products capable of adapting to different applications. The OMS 1460 will play a transformational role in allowing operators to meet the growing demand for consumer and business broadband services while simplifying operations and lowering costs. ...  > More   SUPERCOMM Canceled for 2010 TIA and USTelecom have canceled their jointly-owned SUPERCOMM tradeshow for 2010. The event had been scheduled for October 26-28 in Chicago. An estimated 6,000 people attended last year's event, down significantly from earlier years....  > More   NTT Surpasses 12.8 Million Optical Access Lines NTT ended 2009 with 12.779 million FLETs Hikari optical access lines in service, up from 11.1 million nine months earlier. Meanwhile, the number of ADSL accounts fell to 3.55 million, down from d3.99 million nine months earlier. Citing stiff competition, NTT Group's consolidated operating revenues for the three-month period ended December 31, 2009 were 2,527.6 billion yen (a decrease of 1.6% from the same period of the previous fiscal year), consolidated operating expenses were 2,226.2 billion yen (a decrease of 3.2% from the same period of the previous fiscal year), consolidated operating income was 301.3 billion yen (an increase of 11.9% from the same period of the previous fiscal year), and consolidated net income before income taxes was 298.3 billion yen (an increase of 9.0% from the same period of the previous fiscal year). Consolidated net income attributable to NTT was 136.8 billion yen (a decrease of 0.7% from the same period of the previous fiscal year). In the fixed-line communications market, the company stressed its expansion of optical services and the accompanying shift from existing fixed-line telephones to optical IP telephones. NTT endeavored to expand its "FLET'S Hikari Next" service area and the sale of services such as video distribution services that take advantage of the capabilities of its NGN. NTT East commenced provision of access services with downstream transmission speed of up to 200Mbps, including "FLET'S Hikari Next Family High-speed Type". NTT said Japan's mobile communications market has continued to mature in line with the rise in cellular penetration rate and increased competition among operators. Under these market conditions, NTT DOCOMO released 20 different models in its "2009 winter/spring handset" lineup, introducing new features and services, such as the Auto-GPS function that enables the delivery of information linked to user's current location, and "MyArea" wireless coverage, which uses small femtocell base station1 to create a private FOMA area in the home as a stable wireless environment for high-speed packet communication, and to detect registered phones entering/leaving the private FOMA area. In addition, NTT DOCOMO has taken various steps aimed at enhancing customers' satisfaction, such as the launch of "Mail Tsukai-hodai" ("all-you-can-use mail"), which allows FOMA users to send and receive i-mode mails within Japan on an unlimited basis for a flat monthly rate, as part of its efforts to provide customers with more affordable and easy-to-use billing options. As a result of these measures, the number of cellular services subscriptions reached 55.44 million, of which 52.05 million were FOMA subscriptions, accounting for 93.9% of all subscriptions....  > More   Telegent's Latest Analog Mobile TV Chip -- 6x6mm Telegent Systems, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, introduced its third generation analog mobile TV receiver chip based on 65nm CMOS process technology. The chip delivers free-to-air analog TV and FM broadcast reception on mobile devices, enabling consumers to enjoy live television programming -- whether news, sports, soap operas or movies -- while on the go. Telegent's TLG1121 provides global support for NTSC, PAL and SECAM TV broadcasts. The third generation device features a 6 x 6 mm package, reducing size by 25 percent compared to Telegent's second generation solution while consuming 25 percent less power from the battery. The smaller package size provides manufacturers greater flexibility in PCB layout, enabling smaller, sleeker handset designs. Sampling begins in Q2. Telegent said its mobile TV solution even delivers stable picture quality while in transit at speeds up to 430 km/h. "The third generation of our analog mobile TV technology builds on the breakthrough we have delivered in picture quality and mobility while achieving further reduction in size and power consumption,” said Samuel Sheng, Telegent’s president and chief executive officer. "The TLG1121 will enable the next generation of mobile TV devices with longer viewing times and innovative designs, while meeting consumer requirements for viewing experience under both stationary and mobile conditions."...  > More   comScore: Hulu Surpasses 1 Billion Monthly Video Streams Online video viewing in the U.S. reached a record level in December 2009, with 33.2 billion videos viewed during the month by nearly 178 million U.S. Internet users, according to the latest figures from comScore. Some notable numbers reported by comScore: Google Sites continued to rank as the top U.S. video property in December, delivering 13.2 billion videos, with YouTube.com accounting for nearly 99 percent of all videos viewed at the property. Hulu ranked second with more than 1 billion videos viewed, an all-time high for the property, and representing 3.0 percent market share. Microsoft Sites ranked third with 561 million (1.7 percent), followed by Fox Interactive Media with 551 million (1.7 percent) and Yahoo! Sites with 539 million (1.6 percent). The average U.S. Internet viewer watch 187 videos during December. The average Hulu viewer watched 22.9 videos during the month, representing another all-time high for the property. The duration of the average online video was 4.1 minutes. ...  > More   Ericsson Pushes HSPA to 84 Mbps Ericsson has achieved a new performance record of 84 Mbps downstream using High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology. The 84 Mbps set-up will be demonstrated at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. At the same event last year Ericsson showed the world's first 42Mbps HSPA demo that is currently commercially available and being rolled-out by operators across the world. The 84 Mbps achievement is made possible using Multiple-In Multiple-Out (MIMO), higher-order modulation and multiple carrier techniques. Multi-carrier technology enables the recipient to receive data on 2, 3 or more frequencies simultaneously. On January 20, operator 3 in Scandinavia announced that it has chosen Ericsson for the rollout of its 84Mbps HSPA network. The rollout covers all of Denmark and four major cities in Sweden. First phase of the rollout starts first quarter 2010. Commercial deployments of HSPA with 84Mbps can be expected the first half of 2011....  > More   Alcatel-Lucent's Software Defined Radios for 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE Alcatel-Lucent introduced a new radio module, based on software defined radio (SDR) technology, that gives mobile service providers the flexibility to support any mix of 2G GSM, 3G W-CDMA/HSPA+ and LTE services simultaneously. The converged radio module, called the MC-TRX, can be used to upgrade the 700,000 Alcatel-Lucent base stations already deployed by service providers worldwide. The new module, which is a key building block of Alcatel-Lucent’s Converged RAN (radio access network) portfolio, has already been demonstrated to major European and Asian operators. It has the same form factor as the previous generations of TRX modules. In addition to its radio flexibility, the module offers very high GSM capacity, supporting up to 2.5x the number of transceiver capacity per cabinet. It can be configured to maximize network coverage thus reducing the number of sites. It integrates advanced radio capabilities such as MIMO (multiple input/multiple output) to ensure the best performance when used in a W-CDMA/HSPA+ or LTE configuration. It provides bandwidth flexibility up to 20MHz for easy deployments and maximum capacity for LTE introduction. Significantly, the new converged radio module gives mobile operators the ability to "re-farm" their 900 or 1800 MHz spectrum -- currently used to provide 2G GSM services -- by introducing more advanced W-CDMA/HSPA+ or LTE services through simple software activation. This process can be managed dynamically -- if the majority of wireless subscribers on the network are using GSM, the module will be configured in GSM mode. As more subscribers move toward W-CDMA or LTE the module can shift the relative mix of technology to allocate more power and carriers to W-CDMA or LTE. The upgrades can be performed remotely on base stations equipped with the new module. "The new converged radio module lets customers evolve networks at their own pace while optimizing use of available spectrum – by introducing more efficient technologies -- minimizing the total cost of ownership. Just as importantly, it enables operators to prepare for the kind of bandwidth demands generated by the growth of multimedia services, supported on a variety of all-IP networks," said Wim Sweldens, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s Wireless Networks Product activities. ...  > More   Metaswitch Appoints Kevin DeNuccio as CEO Metaswitch Networks named Kevin DeNuccio as its new CEO, succeeding John Lazar who has been promoted to chairman. DeNuccio previously was CEO of Redback Networks (now Ericsson), where he oversaw the company's transformation into the fastest growing edge router vendor and subsequent acquisition for $2.1 billion. Previously, he was a senior vice president of Cisco, where he grew the worldwide service provider division from a $500 million, 500-person organization to $4 billion and 4,000 employees in the space of four years. Metaswitch Founder and former Chairman Ian Ferguson remains on the board in his capacity as chairman of the company's Employee Benefit Trust....  > More                              Over 29,000 news summaries in 14 networking categories Daily/Weekly Email Digest -- Our Premium News Service   Update email address See Back Issues                   Get Your Column Publishedd   Hundreds of Columns Sorted  by Topic LTE -- What Voice Services? by Jose Deras LTE is almost here. Service Providers are faced with the decision of whether to also offer LTE voice services in order to better utilize the new network infrastructure, or deploy LTE data-only networks. For the most part, it seems that the desire is there to transition to LTE voice sooner rather than later. But how will LTE voice be delivered? Framing the Next Wave of Carrier Ethernet by Umesh Kukreja The initial generation of Carrier Ethernet deployments are exhibiting signs of wear. What comes next? A more holistic framework of Carrier Ethernet that encompasses infrastructure as well as a service perspective. By leveraging Carrier Ethernet’s existing benefits and combining them with application-aware service delivery and cost-optimized packet transport, network providers can deliver additional value that accomplishes these objectives and drives new revenues. Network Interconnection and Evolution for Super Carriers by Dawn M. Hogh In the Telecom world, the term "super carrier" refers to the largest telecommunications providers which own multiple, geographically separated, heterogeneous wireless and wired networks. As most super carriers have grown through acquisitions, they often operate a patchwork of network technologies and protocols, including both TDM and IP, across various regions. And with the advent of technologies such as 4G, super carriers are hastening to move to an all-IP core network. To remain competitive in today's market, super carriers must lower costs and continue to support existing services while moving to newer, IP-based technologies. In order to accomplish this, network interconnection is key. Carrier Challenges for Tomorrow's Connected Enterprise by Dr. Badri Nath More and more office equipment -- printers, whiteboards, monitors, projectors, cameras, etc.-- is being used by employees remotely, whether they’re in the office or not. And technology is already coming to market to enable "smart" meeting rooms that will interact with the people meeting in them whether or not they are physically present. Dynamic Performance Management for Mobile Data Networks by Michael J. Schabel, Ph.D. Most wireless data networks are being managed in a "static" fashion. On the "supply side," network management systems and drive tests provide snapshots of congestion and quality levels, and capacity is then allocated to maintain target performance and utilization levels. On the "demand side," traffic can be managed in two ways - Through pricing plans, which can increase or decrease usage based on their structure, or through policy management, which is currently based on core IP traffic consumption by end-users and devices. To 4G or not to 4G: Supporting Exponential Mobile Traffic Growth by Joe Schraml We often hear debates about the best 4G access technology, typically framed in terms of LTE vs. WiMAX. While there are technical differences between the two in terms of maximum peak user data rates (often touted through demonstrations on unloaded test networks), these access technology differences are of secondary importance when it comes to what really matters to subscribers. In order for users to experience 4G services that are not just incremental improvements on 3G, there must be major increases in typical user data rates, as experienced on actual loaded networks. Consider the networks. Rethinking Access/Backhaul to Minimize Costs and Maximize Opportunity by M. Vijay Raman Cell phone users are inhaling bandwidth as fast as service providers can offer mobile broadband services. Let’s examine some of the access/backhaul options that have been available to mobile operators for shouldering all of this cellular backhaul. Industry Events   MPLS World Congress 09-Feb-10 to 12-Feb-10 Paris   Ethernet Wholesale Summit 09-Feb-10 to 12-Feb-10 Paris   3GSM Mobile World Congress 15-Feb-10 to 18-Feb-10 Barcelona  Full Event Calendar  List Your Event                     In October 2009, Metaswitch Networks reported annual revenue for its 2008/2009 financial year (ending 31-August-09) of GBP61.8 million (US$113.7 million), up 4.2% from GBP59.3 million in the previous year. Operating margins were sustained above 20%. The company said its Carrier Systems Division business was primarily driven by tier one incumbent operators and major regional competitive providers, as smaller operators' spending slowed amid uncertainty about market conditions and the timing of federal broadband stimulus funds. Eight of the top 10 incumbent operators in North America now rely on Metaswitch for carrier VoIP infrastructure. The company's Network Protocols Division (NPD), previously known as Data Connection Limited (DCL) but now incorporated under the company's main Metaswitch brand, also reported strong results. The company said all of the top 10 communications equipment vendors worldwide now using Metaswitch Network Protocols Division software to power their networking products. Business was balanced across its MPLS, Routing, VoIP and Session Border Controller product lines.  ,      04-Feb-10 more quotes