* Also announcements from Acme Packet and Tekelec
The NXTcomm 2008 Show opened this week in Las Vegas and today we’ll highlight some of the early VoIP and convergence related announcements from the conference provided by Infineon Technologies (new chip-level advances); Acme Packet (network management enhancements); and Tekelec (an ENUM-based solution for Cable Operators).
Infineon introduced the VINETIC(TM)-SVIP, a new family of devices developed for next-generation VoIP access applications. The VINETIC-SVIP family of System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions includes 16-voice Codecs, 32 VoIP vocoder channels, a line card controller and a GigE Switch. According to the company, when combined with Infineon’s new two-channel Smart SLIC-R, the VINETIC-SVIP can reduce the overall bill of material for VoIP systems by up to 40% and can shrink the line interface unit footprint by up to 30% compared to current solutions in the market.
Our observation: while we don’t usually spotlight the chip-level advances for VoIP systems in our newsletter, we do take note that smaller, faster, and cheaper components translate into better price for complete systems. And while many of differentiated VoIP systems features are software-driven, we are pleased to see continuing advances on the hardware side.
In a pre-NXTcomm show announcement, Acme Packet disclosed enhancements to the company’s Net-Net family of session border controllers (SBC); multiservice security gateways (MSG); and session routing proxies (SRP). These include support for Acme Packet products by IBM Tivoli Netcool along with Acme Packet’s own product enhancements to voice quality measurements using R-factor and MOS scoring; and customizable call detail records (CDR) with any SIP message content.
In a statement, Seamus Hourihan, VP of marketing and product management at Acme Packet said, “The combination of these feature enhancements and Acme Packet’s integration into IBM’s service management framework add new dimensions … to measure IP interactive communications’ ‘service accountability’ and satisfy service-level agreement requirements.”
Finally, Tekelec delivered a presentation at NXTcomm discussing a more efficient solution for cable operators between different multisystem operator (MSO) networks. Tekelec has worked with other infrastructure providers to implement a more efficient way for cable operators to route calls and multimedia sessions across MSO networks. The effort and resulting interoperability agreement is aligned with a new industry specification, the CableLabs PacketCable ENUM Server Provisioning Specification (ESPP).
Our observations: Cable companies have used VoIP to successfully enter the consumer voice market, and many have committed to bring business class VoIP – a first step to offering unified communications and SIP-based multimedia services. We find it interesting that at NXTcomm, a traditional “telco,” Tekelec will be discussing improvements to IP networks in a cable company environment and that Richard R. Green, President & CEO, CableLabs will be a keynote speaker. Could it be that the cable companies and telcos are willing to cooperate on technology evolution that benefits both consumers and the enterprise customer base? Time will tell the answer.
