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CyberTel, Inc. Launches
Major Upgrade
To create this high-performance DSP technology, Bell Labs researchers turbo-charged an existing Lucent DSP 1628 chip, which is used for cellular phones. The current DSP has gates that measure 0.25 micron, or roughly 400 times smaller than the width of a human hair. In the turbo-charged version, Bell Labs researchers Isik C. Kizilyalli and Pat Watson shrank the gates to 0.12 micron by refining the optical lithography approach used to produce various features on today's silicon chips. The novel phase-shifting approach modified how light passes through the mask, which is the master pattern for a silicon circuit, and improved resolution considerably. The researchers powered the modified DSP 1628 at two voltages. At 1.0 volt, it ran at 100 megahertz, and at 1.5 volts, it ran at 170 megahertz. The latter is nearly a three-fold improvement over the unmodified DSP 1628's performance of 60 megahertz at 1.5 volts.
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Technology Licensing Corporation ("OTLC"), a privately-held Cupertino,
California based marketer of Internet and distributed computing technologies,
today announced its entry into a broad ranging patent license agreement with
Microsoft Corporation, whereby Microsoft has acquired
the rights to use in its products the inventions covered by OTLC's extensive
portfolio of over 150 US and 300 foreign software-related patents. "OTLC's patent portfolio provides Microsoft with
access to a number of essential leading edge Internet and distributed computing
technologies available nowhere else," said Brian Naylor, OTLC's president.
"The agreement's provision that Microsoft will be automatically licensed
under any future US and foreign patents that may issue to OTLC ensures that in
the future Microsoft will continue to receive full access to the latest OTLC
technologies."
Lucent Technologies said AT&T is among 60 phone companies that plan to test a piece of super-fast Internet gear Lucent acquired earlier this year. Lucent gained the product, a router that directs traffic on the Internet, with its July purchase of Nexabit Networks for $1.1 billion. AT&T, Global Crossing, and the state of Oklahoma already have run tests on the NX-64000, said Mukesh Chatter, vice president of core routing at Murray Hill, New Jersey-based Lucent. The other companies plan tests over the next six months. Successful trials at AT&T would give credibility to a product that Lucent hopes will help it regain the lead in optical networking from rival Nortel Networks. Lucent developed a sophisticated link between the router and its optical equipment that speeds transmission and reduces costs, Chatter said. Because the technology works best with other Lucent equipment, it could help
the company sell more of the gear used to send and boost capacity on fiber,
Chatter said. Lucent already has its first purchase order for the NX-64000 and expects at
least two more by year-end, Chatter said. The NX-64000 is one of a new generation of devices known as terabit routers
that promise to make the Internet faster and more reliable for sensitive traffic
such as phone calls and video-conferencing. Others are being developed by
Nortel, Avici Systems, Pluris, and Siemens. The biggest challenge for Lucent when it bought Nexabit was to develop an
interface that would let the NX-64000 handle data traffic on the fastest of
fiber networks. The lasers used to power such networks are based on technology
called OC-192. Early on, Lucent executives were unsure that Nexabit would develop an OC-192
interface as quickly as the startup claimed and said the process could take
until next year. Chatter said it's ready now; Global Crossing used it to move
traffic from Cleveland to Chicago and back again. "That's a key to getting the product into big, core networks," said
Craig Johnson, a principal analyst with the Pita Group in Portland, Oregon.
Phone companies and Internet-service providers need OC-192 interfaces to
avoid bottlenecks that slow traffic as new fiber- optic equipment adds capacity
to optical networks. Without them, carriers won't be able to provide customers
with guaranteed data speeds, analysts said. The idea is still relatively new, but has attracted enough attention from the likes of Microsoft and Cisco Systems to win the company more than $12 million in an initial round of funding. Another round of cash is on its way, but the company has not said how much or who is contributing this time around. Even if the second round of funding is considerably larger than the first, there will still be a big gap between the company's cash on hand and the $1.2 billion needed to pay Bechtel for its network services. The company plans to finance the deal through debt, a spokeswoman said.
Equinix has opened one exchange facility near Washington, with another in New
Jersey slated to open in a few weeks. A third in the Silicon Valley area will
open early next year, with the rest of the 30 centers being built and deployed
over the next three years, Avery said.
Cellular phone firm Ericsson said it formed an alliance with a U.S.-based networking equipment company to build Internet-based networks that combine voice and data. Ericsson plans to resell Extreme Networks' switching equipment and integrate the company's technology in its own products for corporate clients. Ericsson will also use Extreme's products on its networks based on Internet Protocol. Ericsson and other phone equipment makers, like Nortel Networks, are pushing to develop new networks that can carry data and give phone users access to the global computer network, email, and other functions. "This strategic alliance provides our customers with a competitive advantage by enabling them to increase their productivity by implementing emerging IP telephony services and business applications," such as Web-based call centers, Lars Svensson, vice president at Ericsson's Enterprise Systems Business Unit, said in a statement.
GATX capital to finance telecom start-ups GATX Capital, the financial services arm of GATX Corporation announced that it has formed GATX Telecom Investors II, primarily to finance start-up telecommunication companies. It is in partnership with Dana Commercial Credit Corporation, Banc One Capital Corporation, Heller Financial, and a major technology lessor. GATX Capital is the arranger, manager, and a co-investor. This is the second telecommunication investment partnership formed and managed by GATX Capital. Both partnerships provide large-ticket leases and loans to finance the infrastructure of start-up telecom companies. The aggregate investment capacity of GATX Telecom Investors II is $300 million, whereas the investment capacity in GATX Telecom Investors I was $200 million.
Inter-Tel announces the release of the
latest version of its I-PBX product expanding transparent PBX networking
capability up to 63 systems and 20,000 system ports. AXXESS software version 5.1. will also support distributed and networked
voice mail as well as voice processing enhancements. In addition to expanded system capacity, AXXESS v5.1 provides several voice
processing enhancements including voice mail networking and return calls from
voice mail. Voice mail networking allows organizations to network multiple voice mail
systems to operate as one, supporting larger applications. Inter-Tel's new voice
mail networking supports industry standard networking protocols, like AMIS, to
allow the AXXESSORY Talk voice mail to network with messaging systems from other
vendors. In addition, the version 5.1 software provides digital networking over a
TCP/IP network, like a LAN or the Internet, or using a business's existing
e-mail system to transport messages between AXXESSORY Talk systems.
Where Caller I.D. is available, the voice mail system captures this
information and the return calls feature uses it to allow users to press a
single button to place a return call to the person identified in the Caller I.D.
information. Software.com and Cisco to unify Internet and wireless
telephony applications Cisco Systems and Software.com have announced a joint initiative to extend unified messaging services beyond the desktop computer to the wireless market, providing the unification of Internet and wireless telephony applications. Founded in 1993, and with over 56 million mailboxes licensed, Software.com provides Internet infrastructure applications for service providers. The two companies have joined forces with the intent to offer service providers the networking equipment combined with a scalable unified communications software platform and Internet infrastructure applications. Software.com will provide a scalable infrastructure for storing and forwarding messages regardless of device, media or content. The users will then be capable of receiving or sending notifications based on changes to their mailboxes. These notifications can be generated as pager, wireless SMS or message waiting indicators, depending on intelligent user customizable filters. This will enable a user to access voicemails, emails, pages and faxes from a single unified mailbox regardless of location, time or device. The market for wireless communications is growing and International Data Corporation estimates worldwide cellular/PCS subscribers in 1998 were 303 million and will reach more than 1 billion by the year 2003.
Splitterless ADSL
Promises Faster Service Delivery Incumbent local carriers are beginning to use splitterless asymmetric DSL as a way to make installation of DSL less costly and time consuming. The technology uses a device that customers install, eliminating the expense associated with sending a technician to install a splitter at the customer site. BellSouth and SBC Communications are conducting trials of splitterless ADSL, while Bell Atlantic has announced plans to broaden its use of the method. U S West already uses splitterless ADSL to prevent DSL demand from exhausting its service technicians. Though the majority of customers can successfully install the microfilters used for splitterless DSL, technicians sometimes need to be sent to customer sites because their wires need to be upgraded or the wiring within the building cannot sufficiently support the service. The microfilter is needed because it prevents interference that can force the ADSL modem to drop its connection.
While proponents of an Internet-based public
network believe incumbent service providers will get left behind with their
circuit-switched networks, the incumbents believe they will survive despite
challenges in the data-communications arena. The most pressing concern is the
fact that incumbent telcos need to find new, more effective ways to manage the
increasing amount of dial-up Internet traffic. A long-term concern is how fast
traditional telcos will need to shift to a totally converged network that offers
packet-based voice and data transmissions. Circuit-switched networks are being
clogged with dial-up traffic, a problem that is not expected to be resolved in
the near future. U S West has employed a "dial offload" plan, which
converges the SS7 capabilities of the circuit-switch network with the carrier's
ATM network to shift dial-up transmissions off the PSTN. Bell Atlantic has
introduced a similar offering called Internet Protocol Routing Service. While
SBC, BellSouth, Bell Atlantic, and U S West said they are developing interim
solutions based on ATM, they have not yet moved past testing. Traditional
carriers have not yet made the move to all-packet networks because IP services
are not yet profitable. Even companies like Qwest, who tout their IP strategies,
generate money from other services, including parallel TDM, ATM, and frame relay
networks. Another factor that may keep carriers from migrating to all-packet
networks is the development of new technologies like DWDM, which may eliminate
the incentive to converge TDM, ATM, frame relay, and IP networks. |
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