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To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (1905)	8/17/1998 9:18:00 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Respond to of 12823

Sprint Weighs ION Access, Technology Options [This looks like a job for the new TAC IPDC protocol. See the post following this one.] August 17, 1998 Inter@ctive Week via NewsEdge Corporation : Even as Sprint Corp. prepares to move from testing to commercial use of Integrated On-Demand Network for corporate customers, it still has a long way to go before it has all the pieces in place to get local services to the mass market. The most obvious missing pieces are on the access side, where uncertainties about the availability and reach of Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL) service from local phone companies are prompting Sprint to take a close look at cable and wireless access options. But Sprint (www.sprint.com) also faces key questions concerning the internal design of Integrated On-Demand Network (ION), in particular regarding the integration of Intelligent Network (IN) capabilities into ION's Internet Protocol (IP) implementation. IN is at the heart of many public switched network services, including how the network sets up and completes calls. Local Cords Access issues are front and center right now, in part because they touch on potential partnership strategies. William Esrey, Sprint's chief executive officer, told attendees at last month's Internet World conference in Chicago that cable is much on the company's mind as it seeks to find ways to reach into the local marketplace. The pending merger of AT&T Corp. and Tele-Communications Inc. has intensified cable companies' interest in finding major telecom partners. Gerald Levin, CEO of Time Warner Inc., told analysts and reporters at a mid-July meeting that "the most sensible thing" for Time Warner Cable to do in the telephony business might be to lease access to its lines to a long-distance carrier. Levin indicated that Time Warner (www.timewarner.com) has been talking with a number of long-distance carriers, including AT&T (www.att.com), but he named no others. Other cable industry executives, speaking on background, say they also are exploring a variety of options, but no one is willing to say who they're talking with. Sprint also may explore broadband wireless as a last-mile delivery option, although that strategy will depend on when providers put services in place. The new holders of spectrum licenses for Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) could be a good alliance fit for Sprint, notes one industry insider. "Many holders of these licenses are start-ups in need of alliances, so it's an obvious area to look into," says an executive at a company that is bringing Sprint and some LMDS license holders together for discussions. Intelligent Questions The biggest immediate technology issues on Sprint's plate concern the importation of IN capabilities into the IP component of ION. Sprint's plan calls for all services, including voice, to be delivered to end users over Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) connections. To do that, Sprint must integrate IP technology into the IN framework that is so integral to the public switched network. That framework includes Signaling System 7 (SS7), which provides for initial call setup and all the connectivity involved in tying together other IN features and services -- such as call waiting, caller ID and toll-free calling -- across the network. The challenge of integrating IP with IN now faces all major carriers as they migrate to packet-switched architectures, as well as new entrants in the packet voice arena. These providers aren't likely to get any immediate help from public network equipment and software vendors, which only recently started to work out solutions. Bellcore (www.bellcore.com), which supplies the network management components for ION, plans to roll out next month an IN-over-IP offering that "has important implications for Sprint," says Jack Simensen, vice president and general manager at Bellcore's Soliant Internet Systems unit. But Simensen acknowledges that it will take Bellcore at least another 18 months before it can deliver the full suite of capabilities needed for toll-quality service over IP networks. Sprint will take what Mike Gettles, Sprint's lead engineer for advanced technology development, calls the most expeditious approach to bringing IN to packet telephony: making as much use of the legacy IN infrastructure as possible. "Part of what we need to evaluate is what makes the most sense to replicate in the way of IN features inside the IP network, vs. providing the same features on the life cycle of what's outside," Gettles says. " There are plenty of service capabilities that already exist in the public switched telephone network environment that are useful in a packet network. We have to be careful about reinventing the wheel." Gettles says Sprint's strategy involves ensuring not only that gateway servers between the IP and circuit-switched components of ION can understand the IN protocols running on class 5 public network circuit switches, but also that IP gear is equipped to work off the same IN elements. The latter point represents somewhat of a technology trade-off, because IP technology lends itself to creating a means of service provisioning and management that may be more flexible, feature-rich and easier to use within a pure IP environment. Sprint also is sorting through where it will locate the intelligence as it builds out ION, Gettles says. "In the type of data network we're building, you're not confined by physically locating the intelligence at a switch, but we're still in the process of determining how to distribute it," he says. One decision already has been made, however: Sprint won't rely too heavily on endpoints to deliver network intelligence, Gettles says. "What I'm trying to do is make the hub at the premises as efficient a manager of bandwidth as I can and place the intelligence where it makes the most sense," Gettles explains. "Some things are better done on a shared or virtual basis." Sprint's Gettles: 'We have to be careful about reinventing the wheel' <<Inter@ctive Week -- 08-14-98>>

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (1905)	8/17/1998 9:23:00 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Respond to of 12823

(IPDC) Protocol To Tie Voice, Data Networks August 17, 1998 Inter@ctive Week via NewsEdge Corporation : A new protocol, published last week by an independent technical advisory committee, will make data networks transparent to regular telephone networks. The spec, known as Internet Protocol Device Control, promises to alleviate congestion at Internet access points and usher in a wealth of Internet Protocol- based data and voice services. Internet Protocol Device ControI (IPDC) is being championed by Level 3 Communications Inc., along with some major networking companies, including Cisco Systems Inc., Lucent Technologies Inc. and Northern Telecom Inc. The protocol promises to change the physical model of voice and data networks. IPDC spells out a way in which "media gateway" devices, which connect traditional phone networks with Internet Protocol (IP) networks, can seamlessly interact with a network call server, also known as a media gateway controller. By placing one of these IPDC media gateway and controller pairs in the network, carriers can build telecom networks without installing new circuit switches. The media gateway devices communicate with a controller to handle calls -- determining whether the call is data or voice, where it needs to be routed and what signaling is required to route it. "It is significant because it'll mean more transparent access to combination voice and data networks," said Ruth Chatterton, an analyst at TeleChoice Inc. Instead of being bound to circuit-switched functions, carriers can innovate and develop features as necessary. With the IPDC spec, Level 3 (www.l3.com), for example, can allow its customers to own these media controllers and to write or purchase applications and feature sets. "Traditional carriers added functionality and features into their infrastructure," said Isaac Elliot, the committee's chairman and senior director of voice network engineering at Level 3. "We are putting the feature choices in the hands of our customers." Traditional network devices and circuit switches remain proprietary and are costly to upgrade. With IPDC, because the service logic, or the processing that handles each call, is separated from the media gateways, carriers obtain vendor independence. Suppliers that conform to the IPDC interface are free to enhance their own devices with value-added features. What's more, media gateways can be manufactured for one-tenth of the cost of a circuit switch, according to Elliot. "By putting all the call intelligence on a server, the network remains flexible," he said. "Replacing servers is cheap." Clearing The Way The Internet Protocol Device Control specification covers several functions: Connection Control. Sets up and maintains call connections between the network's media gateways and end points on the user side. Media Control. Allows media gateways to recognize different data types and send them to the appropriate end devices. Management. Allows real-time status reports of media gateways. Signaling Transport. Enables telecommunications signaling, such as Integrated Services Digital Network and Signaling System 7, to be transported across data networks via media gateways. <<Inter@ctive Week -- 08-14-98>>

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (1905)	8/17/1998 9:31:00 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

Cable television network with upstream channel specialized for sending upstream information signals (Assignee -- U.S. Philips Corporation) August 17, 1998 U.S. Patents via NewsEdge Corporation : Abstract: The network comprises a tree specialized in sending information signals upstream, comprising optical-fibre branches. In a junction (L5), an opto-electric conversion is performed in a receiver (RPR5, RPR6) and an electro-optical conversion in a transmitter (RPE2). In the electrical part of a junction, the transmitter of the junction (RPE2) polls the receivers of the junction (RPR5, RPR6) to receive therefrom the messages coming from downstream (5 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . . 6 . . . ), after which a message of local origin (S) is added to those coming from downstream. Although, as a result of the polling, there is no synchronism between the retransmission and the reception of the given message, a specific process makes it possible to ensure that the messages reach an upstream receiver (RPR2) in a predetermined order (S X 5 X 6 X S X 5 X 6 . . . ), which makes it possible to recognize when all the messages have been received well. Ex Claim Text: Process for transmitting upstream messages in a cable television network which comprises a specific tree-like path for sending messages upstream, which path comprises a plurality of branches called upstream branches, each formed by an optical fibre, which process is characterized in that, in a junction between an upstream branch and various downstream branches, which comprises a transmitter including a converter for producing a light signal transmitted up the upstream branch from a message sequence in the form of an electric signal and, for each downstream branch, a receiver which includes a converter which produces a message in the form of an electric signal from a light signal coming from the downstream branch, a message received from downstream and carrying a recognition code is recorded in a receiving memory, based on messages received by the receivers and a message, called local message, generated in the junction itself to be transmitted up the upstream branch, a send message sequence is determined which comprises first messages which repeat in a delayed version the messages received by the receivers and, in the end, the local message whose presence indicates that the sequence has ended, the same sequence is repeated indefinitely while the contents of the message are being updated, as required. Patent Number: 5794117 Issue Date: 1998 08 11 If you would like to purchase a copy of this patent, please call MicroPatent at 800-648-6787.