Broadband Gear Report Products for February 14, 2008

Integra5 Converges on CableLabs

Integra5 featured a variety of applications powered by its i5 Converged Services Platform (CSP) at CableLabs recent Winter Conference in Colorado. The apps were shown in both tru2way and standard cable environments.

The company hosted live demos highlighting the following apps, all of which include advanced features, such as i-Click (click-to-call), personalization and call control:

Antronix Mini Fiber Node Update

Antronix reports that its Antronix Fiber Node (AFN), which was announced last June, now has an installed base and is shipping from production.

The AFN receives a full complement of video, data and telephony via a single optical fiber and converts the signal to RF for distribution. In addition, an optional return path optical transmitter is available to support bidirectional network apps. The AFN enables the service provider to cost-effectively improve performance by bringing fiber closer to the end user. It is optimized for use in MDU, business, education, campus, government and residential environments. The AFN's small size and robust housing allows it to be placed in most locations that provide limited space, such as NID boxes.

Search for High-Speed Truffles Unearths Broadband Bonding

Mushroom Networks unveiled the Truffle (BBNA6401) broadband bonding network appliance targeting small and medium-sized businesses (SMB), enterprises, multi-tenant buildings, and broadband operator markets. Developed to bridge the gap of limited bandwidth options available for expanding local networks, the Truffle bonds together as many as six high-speed Internet connections forming a virtual single broadband pipe. In addition, any combination of access technologies including DSL, cable modem, T-1 circuits or fiber can be blended resulting in download speeds of up to 65Mbps, the company says.

Truffle provides this high-speed bonded link access to the Internet by optimizing the use of available connection resources without requiring coordination with the ISPs or any changes to the local network. Dissimilar types of broadband access can be combined in any manner resulting in greater connection speeds even for an individual file download and higher reliability due to the redundancy of the connected links. If one or more of the bonded links fails or is degraded, Truffle transparently spreads the traffic across the remaining links in real-time without any interruptions. Connections can be scaled as needed without requiring the network to be taken off-line. The Ethernet-based solution is said to easily install between modems and the local network at the customer's premises without requiring any configuration changes to the existing network. Truffle includes an internal router and firewall capability that can be enabled by the user as needed. Other Internet services such as port-forwarding, static IP, dynamic IP, PPPoE, DHCP, DMZ, UPnP and Dynamic DNS are all supported by Mushroom Networks' TRUFFLE product.

IMS Rears Up: Ericsson, Camiant Make a New Play

Ericsson completed interoperability testing with Camiant's policy control platform. Together, the two company's IMS offerings are said to allow large wireless and cable ops "to produce superior converged and multimedia experiences with a high level of quality of service for their customers that a best-effort network cannot always render."

"Large service providers have been very methodical when it comes to deploying their IMS solutions, careful to work with the leading vendors to ensure their deployments can proceed smoothly," Ed Delaney, EVP, marketing and business development at Camiant says. "Our proven interoperability with Ericsson provides our customers with the confidence of deploying leading-edge technology with a best-of-breed solution.

Virtualize This: Infinera Launches Bandwidth Virtualization

Infinera announced Bandwidth Virtualization, which is implemented using an Infinera digital optical network, Bandwidth Virtualization reportedly enables ops to respond quickly and flexibly to market demand with a wide range of services over one optical infrastructure.

In a new video, Bandwidth Virtualization: An Architecture for Today's Internet, produced in HDTV format and posted on the Internet, Infinera customers Equinix and XO Communications explain the benefits of this new technology.

Bandwidth virtualization is said to overcome common challenges and accelerates operators' speed of service provisioning by decoupling the service layer in the network from the underlying optical transmission layer. Bandwidth Virtualization is enabled by an Infinera Digital Optical Network using high-capacity photonic integrated circuit technology on every route in the optical network, and integrates sub-wavelength digital switching with end-to-end software intelligence. This provides operators with a readily available pool of WDM bandwidth to meet immediate service requests, and allows new services to be deployed over the same infrastructure. The transmission layer can be configured to support any service simply by installing a service interface module at each of the two service endpoints and activating new end-to-end services using software rather than via hardware-based re-engineering of network resources.

JDSU Expands 40 G Test Portfolio

JDSU introduced the T-BERD/MTS-8000 40G transport module, a 40G field installation and maintenance tester. Said to be one of the lightest and smallest 40G testers on the market, the module weighs less than 18 pounds when fully equipped for 40G and has reportedly been demonstrated at multiple Tier 1 carriers worldwide.

With the addition of the 40G Transport module, theT-BERD/MTS-8000 platform addresses fiber characterization, optical spectrum analysis, service verification, and troubleshooting needs, from 1.5M up to 40G, in one platform. The 40G transport module also includes all T-BERD/MTS-8000 mainframe features, including a large, integrated touch screen and easy-to-use GUI in a rugged, compact and scalable form factor.

• Accedian Networks, which offers "Packet Performance Assurance" solutions for cable, telecom, and wireless ops, raised $CAD 7.5 million in its second round of venture capital financing. Funds were provided by RHO Canada Ventures in addition to follow-on investments from Skypoint Capital and Solidarity Fund QFL.



• The American Cable Association is celebrating 15 years of representing independent cable ops in America. Before ACA, small and rural cable ops had little support and stood alone without a unified voice in their legislative, regulatory and business battles.
• IneoQuest Technologies signed an agreement with SCTE to help the Society design and market an educational course for cable engineers on switched digital video. The course will be available for SCTE members via the Internet later this year. Engineers who enroll in this course will learn how an SDV network operates, how the technology preserves bandwidth, how to implement and manage it, and how to troubleshoot it.
• JDSU joined the Nortel-led Carrier Ethernet Ecosystem, a group of companies dedicated to developing new, Ethernet-based approaches to meeting the bandwidth demands from the increasing popularity of HD video, social media and advanced business services. The Carrier Ethernet Ecosystem is designed to provide service providers with the ability to create and extend Carrier Ethernet at a fraction of previous costs.