ECOC: Post-deadline papers and plenary

The European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC 2006) has made available the post-deadline papers and video recordings of the plenary session

• For the post-deadline papers, click here
• For the plenary including France Telecom and Alcatel, click here
• And for NGN's summary of the ECOC exhibition, click here

Mobile as personal assistant and project manager

Information from your handset could enable data analysis techniques to recommend activities and schedule your day.

MIT Media Laboratory has developed a technique that predicts a user's daily behavior and social allegiances based on handset data such as a user's early-morning activities and locations. Technology Review magazine reports that the technique predicted a person's remaining daily activities, associations and locations with 79 percent accuracy, and group affiliations with a 96 percent accuracy, using early-morning location and activity data only.

The research work will now investigate how people influence one another, and in particular, determine the level of satisfaction of people working on projects in groups.

For a paper detailing the work, click here

Soundbite: Search engines 50 years' hence

"In 50 years the scene will be transformed. Instead of typing a few words into a search engine, people will discuss their needs with a digital intermediary, which will offer suggestions and refinements. The result will not be a list of links, but an annotated report (or a simple conversation) that synthesises the important points, with references to the original literature. People won't think of 'search' as a separate category - it will all be part of living."

Peter Norvig, director of research at Google, quoted in New Scientist's 50th anniversary issue where brilliant minds forecast the next 50 years.

Ofcom on next-generation access

UK regulator Ofcom has published a discussion document on next-generation access (NGA) networks. The document looks at a series of questions in relation to future NGA networks, including how Ofcom should best apply regulatory mechanisms as part of its review of telecoms.

For a copy of the document, click here

Q&A with Huawei's UK MD - Part II

NGN interviewed Edward Chen, the UK managing director of Huawei Technologies. This is the second and final part of the interview. For the first part, click here.


NGN: How many staff does Huawei employ in Europe?

EC: To date, we have 26 branch offices across Europe and products deployed in over 28 countries. There is currently around 1,800 staff working for Huawei within Europe.


NGN: Out of the total staff, roughly how many are support engineers and technicians and how many are management?

EC: Some 39% of Huawei’s European staff work within the Technical Services Department and 31% within the Sales Department (including Technical Sales). The remaining 30% of staff work within administration, finance, supply chain, marketing etc. Management functions are integrated into these categories.


NGN: And out of the total staff: roughly how many are local recruits and how many are staff relocated from China?

There are currently over 1,800 staff working for Huawei within Europe, over 60% of which are drawn from local expertise. As it continues to see growth in Europe, Huawei expects to expand its workforce accordingly to meet local demand, and will recruit staff best placed to meet local customer needs in terms of language and local market knowledge.

Across Europe Huawei has an R&D Center in Sweden and an R&D Centre, test bed and customer showcase in Amsterdam. Huawei has plans to build further R&D centers in Europe in the coming years. With Huawei’s local R&D strategy we aim to bring more investment and job opportunities within local markets.


NGN: What main network transitions in Europe offer Huawei the best opportunities for new design wins and why? Possible examples include 1) the upgrade from ATM to IP DSLAMs, 2) IMS, 3) FMC, 4) home gateways etc. But Huawei may look at this question in a different way

EC: Convergence is an ongoing trend in the telecommunications industry and carriers are increasingly looking at vendors that have a comprehensive, end-to-end portfolio of products and solutions. The industry has also moved towards a greater commitment towards open standards, which is a key strength that Huawei offers to its customers.

Huawei believes that IP-based ICT industry integration will create a profound and extensive impact on the future of telecom networks. The key to delivering excellence in service operations lies in the evolution of the existing network to a flexible IP-based multi-service network and the establishment of a win-win broadband value chain.

Huawei sees two key trends emerging in the telecoms industry:

• In the consumer market, operators will go beyond providing traditional services such as voice and broadband access, to offering IPTV, Portal, Payment, and Marketplace services. There will now be a need for operators to cooperate with various partners including media groups, schools, banks, and content providers. The operator will not only serve as a network service provider but also as an integrated service provider. In addition, their business model will change from one that is focused on getting the "share of communication minutes" to one that is focused on getting the "share of total consumer spending".
  

• In the business market, operators will expand the range of services that they provide, from "only service products" to "service solutions", especially in terms of IT services, meaning that operators will now need to understand the customer's business process and offer the right service solution accordingly. The operator will then become not only a product provider but also a solution provider or system integrator. Consequently, their business model will change from one that "offers leased line to businesses" to one that "helps optimize the business process".

The service model that Huawei envisages for the future is one that will provide users with a unified, ubiquitous experience: with the same level of service at home, on the move, at a hotspot, or in the office, and available anytime, anywhere, and via any terminal.

According to Infonetics Huawei holds the No.1 position in global IP-DSLAM market in 2005 (30.0% of ports market share). (Editor note: According to Infonetics' Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband and IPTV, as of 2Q 2006, Huawei is number 1 in IP DSLAM ports shipped, but is second to Alcatel in worldwide IP DSLAM revenue.) The goal of many operators will be to achieve all IP architecture by 2010. Huawei sees the following four key migration directions:

1. Fixed Mobile Convergence
: In the future architecture, only access networks will be different; the rest will remain the same. IMS will serve as the core of FMC and although softswitch and IMS will coexist for a long time, softswitch will ultimately become a part of IMS as AGCF or MGCF. Huawei's IMS has the ability to support fixed and mobile convergence.
2. Unified user database
: Different kinds of user data such as AAA, HSS, HLR, and IPTV will be managed through a unified database. The foundation of FMC can provide a more user-friendly experience, such as featuring one ID, one billing, and one-time authentication. Huawei's SHLR will provide operators with the capability to manage all user data.

3. Unified transport network
: It is inevitable that the packet-oriented transport network will replace the TDM-oriented transport network. Carrier Ethernet, NG-WDM and IP+Optical will become key technologies. With its extensive range of products, Huawei has the ability to provide end-to-end solutions of next-generation transport platform.
4. Unified service platform: Many operators today have several service platforms including IN, portal, SMS, MMS, and IPTV, which requires more complex operation, resulting in high cost, and poor user experience. The integration of service platforms is necessary and SDP will play a key role in the integration process. Huawei's ENIP will also be able to provide a common platform for all kinds of applications.

Huawei is also working with a number of mobile operators for HSPDA network upgrade to support mobile broadband services and was the first vendor to provide a full-performance HSDPA commercial system in December 2005, for the Portuguese mobile operator Optimus. The network became one of the first HSDPA networks that was deployed on a large scale in Europe, and at the same time, the first full-performance HSDPA commercial network in the world.


NGN: What percentage of its income did Huawei invest in R&D in 2005? What will it be in 2006?

EC: Huawei has over 21,000 people (out of a total of 44,000 people worldwide) in its global R&D office, with no less than 10% of revenue invested in R&D e?ach year.

Across Europe Huawei has an R&D Centre in Sweden and an R&D Centre, test bed and customer showcase in Amsterdam. Huawei also works closely in France with Neuf Telecom and in the UK with BT to develop products to meet local market conditions.

Huawei has plans to build further R&D centers in Europe in the coming years. With Huawei’s local R&D strategy we aim to bring more investment and job opportunities within local markets.


NGN: BT’s network upgrade winners were announced in 2005 yet many carriers are considering or undertaking NGN upgrades (KPN, FT, DT). Why has there not been other Huawei design win announcements since?

EC: Huawei is currently in discussion with many operators regarding NGN networks in Europe to both fixed and mobile operators, unfortunately this is company confidential information. Huawei can’t comment on any business that has not been awarded as yet.


NGN: How confident is Huawei that it will be able to repeat its BT success with other European incumbents – and if it is confident, why?

EC: Huawei is in cooperation with all the major operators across Europe and expects to announce further contracts with Tier 1 operators in the near future.

Huawei Technologies focuses on meeting our customers’ needs and challenges; We help customers to overcome market challenges by providing excellent communications network solutions and services and continuously creating maximum value for our customers; We do our best to satisfy the needs of customers and generating potential growth for our customers. We believe that our customers choose to partner with Huawei Technologies for our understanding of their needs and the ability to provide customized solutions in a timely manner; Our high-quality and reliable products and excellent customer service help build a strong trust between Huawei Technologies and our customers.


NGN: Why has Huawei not been able to repeat its BT success with RBOCs in the US, who are also undertaking key network upgrades? Is Europe for some reason an easier market for Huawei than the US?

EC: Compared to our industry peers, we are a relatively young company. Huawei embarked on its international expansion drive in 1996. In 2005, Huawei’s international sales exceeded its domestic sales, accounting for 58% of overall sales. In 1H2006, Huawei’s international markets generated 65% of total sales. This was achieved based on our unwavering commitment to customized innovation and our customer-centric approach. We have won the trust of numerous carriers around the world within a decade and as a result, Huawei’s products and solutions serve 28 of the world’s top 50 operators.

Huawei’s presence in North America only started in 2002, later than other regions such as Europe, which started in 1999. Successful market penetration requires investment of resources over a period of time. This is especially true given Huawei’s early development of technologies compatible with European standards and the many long-term vendor partnerships North American operators have maintained with incumbent players.

Unlike Europe, the North American market is much more fragmented with over 1000 operators. It takes time for customers to really understand what Huawei brings to the table. For example, the contract with BT for the deployment of its multi-service access network (MSAN) and transmission equipment for the BT 21CN network was sealed only after two years of rigorous procurement and authentication process. In the United States, we are concentrating in the optical and wireless markets, and we are encouraged that we have penetrated each of these markets with Huawei solutions that are in commercial use.

In August 2006 Huawei announced that it had signed a 3G agreement with Leap Wireless International, Inc., a leading provider of innovative and value-driven wireless communication services. According to the agreement, Huawei will deploy a CDMA 3G network for Leap to support its Cricket® wireless services in Spokane, WA., Boise, ID., and Reno, NV.

Enhancing DSL: A carrier’s view

Israeli incumbent, Bezeq, joined the recently formed Dynamic Spectrum Management (DSM) Consortium to determine the bandwidth potential it can expect from its access network. “We want to use our copper infrastructure as long as we can,” Aharon Arbiv, R&D manager for Bezeq told NGN.

The DSM consortium is tasked with developing an adaptive spectrum management technology that enhances DSL performance. DSM promises to enhance DSL data rates over a given distance, or extend the distance over which a given data rate can be delivered.

Bezeq is upgrading its DSL access network using ADSL2+ technology. Over half its users are over 1.5km away from the central office. Bezeq is also interested in VDSL technology as it considers video on demand and possibly IPTV services.

The average distance of Bezeq's street cabinets, that will house VDSL equipment, is 500m from the home. This compares to an average distance of 700m in France and 300m in Germany. The closer the cabinet is to the home, the greater the broadband data rates.

ECI Telecom, which is leading the DSM technology initiative, says having the likes of Bezeq and Telefonica involved will provide valuable practical information as it develops a prototype DSM system. “It will help us in terms of what to focus on, the data rate they [the carriers] can achieve and the distances they want,” says Ariel Shuper, director, product management at ECI Telecom (pictured).

"DSM is a technology that will enhance the DSL performance in any of the parameters the telco would like to use," says Shuper. "We anticipate double the performance over short distances - greater than 200m, 50 to 60 percent for distances greater than 700m, or a 20 to 30 percent improvement for distances greater than 1300m. Alternatively, it can enhance the effective range for a given rate: 50Mbit/s from 300m to 500m, and 25Mbit/s from 750m to 1100m."

The DSM work will be completed by early 2009.

Isn’t that too late given that most European carriers will have decided their broadband strategies by then? “If there is market pressure, we will know how to give an adequate response to the carriers,” says Shuper. "We are co-operating with all the leading European telcos and they are following [the work] closely."

For more information of DSM, click here

Chips that change networks

It is rare for an integrated circuit (IC) to change a network but that is what startup BroadLogic aims to do. The company's BL80000 TeraPIX video processor - described as a "head-end on a chip" - seeks to reshape the cable network on both sides of the home.

The chip is claimed to be able to release precious cable bandwidth - up to 450MHz out of a total of 750MHz - by sending analogue TV channels digitally and using the chip to decode them at the home. This means that the 500MHz RF spectrum currently used for the some 80 analogue channels can be collapsed into 50MHz.

This turns cable operator economics on its head. Instead of undergoing the huge cost of expanding their network bandwidth from 750MHz to 1GHz to add new services, suddenly they have a spare 450MHz for new digital services.

The chip also reshapes the network model in the home. Instead of a set-top box, the home-gateway-located chip does the video decoding.

Could one chip undermine the set-top box industry, with all the rich peripherals and services that it continues to be added? Doubtful. Certainly, that is the view of Andrew Schmitt. But the start-up has impressive backers including those knowing a thing or two about cable - Time Warner and Cisco - and they must have thought about these issues.

What other IC examples are changing networks?

100Gigabit Ethernet gets first showing

The first claimed demonstration of 100 Gigabit Ethernet has been announced by a group of companies spanning the telecom industry. Internet2, Level 3 Communications, Infinera, Finisar and the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) all collaborated on the project.

A 100GbE demonstration involves sending a signal via ten 10Gbit/s channels over a 4000km network. The demonstration uses Finisar’s 10Gbit/s optical transceivers and Infinera’s 10x10Gbit/s photonic integrated circuit. Level 3 provided the ten 10Gbit/s channels. The demonstration bonds the 10G channels into one logical one, and ensures packet ordering at the receiver is retained, which is the UCSC's contribution.

This is the second announcement involving Finisar and Infinera recently. The two are also part of the X40 40Gbit/s multi-source agreement group.

Meanwhile, work on the standard for 100Gbit/s Ethernet is still in its infancy. The choice of how it will be implemented, whether 10x10Gbit, 5x20Gbit/s 4x25G channels or even a single 50G link with advanced modulation, has yet to be decided.

Q&A with Huawei's UK MD - Part I

NGN interviewed Edward Chen, the UK managing director of Huawei Technologies. This is the first part of the interview. The second, and final, part will be published in the next few days.


NGN: Can Huawei outline the two or three most significant contract wins it has achieved to date in Europe (in western or central and eastern Europe)? Clearly we are aware of BT's 21CN, but what else?

EC: In addition to Huawei’s involvement in BT 21CN, momentum in the UK has continued with Opal Telecom recently opting for Huawei equipment to build a next generation network to support the delivery of new advanced voice and broadband data services to UK customers.

Other recent successes in Europe highlight Huawei’s continued success in the region over the past 24 months. Huawei was recently selected by Vodafone to build the radio access part of its WCDMA/ HSDPA network in Spain. This deal, coming shortly after an announcement Huawei is building a UMTS network for Vodafone in the Czech Republic, illustrates the growing relationship between Huawei and Vodafone on a global scale.

A growing relationship with Vodafone to provide it with 3G handsets (V710) and HSDPA datacards is also testimony to Huawei’s strong links with UK operators and ability to translate global service framework agreements into local reality.

Huawei has also been expanding its reach elsewhere in Europe, with Combridge Srl choosing Huawei to build its VoIP network in Romania; KPN Netherlands announcing its purchase of Huawei HSDPA datacards to extend the range of mobile services offered to users, and OTE in Greece choosing Huawei to build an IP DSLAM broadband access and broadband bearer metro Ethernet network.


NGN: Can Huawei also say why it deems them the most significant?

EC: Being appointed as a supplier to BT for the BT 21CN project, Huawei is helping develop a key infrastructure that will fuel the UK economy and provide a flexible way for consumers to user new services. Our involvement in this project is therefore highly significant, as we are committed to promoting the development of technology in the UK, enriching the lives of local people.

We are also very proud of the raft of deals signed with Vodafone because it illustrates the growing momentum of the Global Framework Agreement Huawei signed with Vodafone in November 2005 to supply the operator with a range of products and services to meet the needs of local markets around the globe. This demonstrates the ability of our local staff to support customers’ needs at a local level.

The relationships with BT and Vodafone are key – but we are also committed to strengthening its existing relationships with European customers, and also developing relationships with new customers.

Huawei will continue to aggressively expand its European presence and ability to support customers by opening new offices and service centres where there is a market need.


NGN: BT says that Huawei is providing two classes of equipment for BT: A copper multi-service access node (MSAN) and a fibre MSAN, anda set of CWDM and DWDM transport equipment. Can Huawei please identify the exact products it is providing, and can it say a few words regarding the particular merits of each?

EC: BT's 21st Century Network (21CN) is a global IP infrastructure, based upon multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), that carries voice, data and Internet services on a single network. The 21CN offers multiple services across a single network, rather than today's multitude of networks offering specific services. The project is expected to take five years to complete and BT will invest up to £10bn.

Unfortunately due the nature of the agreement that Huawei has in place with BT we are unable to identify the specific products that we are providing to BT for the 21CN project. They are however leading industry products from Huawei's extensive portfolio.


NGN: What does Huawei believe is the main reason for it being chosen for BT’s 21CN?

EC: Huawei already has global implementation experience of leading, mature products and has the technical and commercial flexibility to meet BT’s demands. Huawei believes that its customers choose to partner with Huawei Technologies because of an understanding of their needs and the ability to provide customized solutions in a timely manner.

There are numerous reasons why Huawei is well placed to meet the stringent requirements of customers such as BT. Checks and measures are in place to ensure all customers have regular maintenance and service support, with Huawei listening to customer needs so that issues are pinpointed and addressed before they arise. Huawei delivers industry standard Service Level Agreements and works over and above to ensure the highest level of customer service.

Huawei’s local training programme and training centre ensures all staff, whether new or long-standing, are regularly trained on the product portfolio and new technologies so they can address customer queries effectively.

Movio moves for multi-mode

BT Movio launched its wholesale mobile broadcast entertainment service just over a month ago. Virgin Mobile is the first, and for now exclusive, mobile operator to use BT’s wholesale service, offering its customers mobile TV and digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio services alongside voice.

Dominic Strowbridge, marketing director of Movio, says no subscriber numbers have been released but Virgin is seeing “good quality” customers, meaning the majority are monthly subscribers rather than prepaid users.

Movio has chosen Chinese vendor ZTE as the first supplier of a dual-mode 3G/ DAB-IP handset. The handset will allow users to receive TV and radio broadcast channels over DAB, while selecting catch-up TV programmes via the 3G network. BT has not said when Virgin’s exclusivity period will end, or whether Virgin will be the first operator to use the ZTE dual-mode handset but Strowbridge does not rule it out. What he did admit was that the handset would be available in 2007.

“We are encouraging handset makers to go down the multi-mode route,” says Strowbridge. By using DAB-IP, BT argues, mobile operators can get in early and re-use their investment. “You can do TV over DAB, over 3G, over DVB-H and in future over WiMAX – and all have IP as the common denominator.”

BT is thus encouraging chip vendors such as Siano Mobile Silicon and Frontier Silicon to support its Movio service alongside DVB-H.

Market research firm, Sound Partners, points out that DAB has limited spectrum available, and it less spectrally efficient than DVB-H. Hence BT needs such multi-mode handsets to give its service an evolutionary path, as well as remain competitive if DVB-H, TDtv or other technologies come along offering much more. There are also economies-of-scale benefits given that DAB-IP is only likely to be adopted in a few markets.

IPR leading telecom players

The November issue of the IEEE Spectrum magazine features a top-ten ranking of the leading patent-generating companies in several industries. The survey work, conducted by 1790 Analytics for the magazine, used several parameters to work out a score for each company in terms of its patent power:

• the number of patents it issued in 2005
  
• the ratio with the number of patents issued in 2004
  
• how often 2005 patents (from the company and others) cites the company's patents from 2000 to 2004
• how general the patent is (is it cited in other fields?)
  
• and patent originality: how many different technologies does the patent builds on.

All the parameters are multiplied to give a total score. In telecom the top five patent power players were:

1. Finisar (issued 113 patents in '05) had a score of 1103
2. Cisco Systems (453) 909
3. Silicon Light Machines (26) 700
4. Motorola (522) 600
5. Nortel Networks (382) 450
   

Micron Technology (total score 3396), IBM (3084) and HP (2756) were the top three patent companies overall. As for universities, MIT was top with a score of 840.

Soundbite: R&D at Huawei

"My candid view of the R&D at Huawei? I think that you have two choices: either you decide that they will be fast followers due to their engineering and development or that with their many thousands of young and bright staff they will begin to innovate.

Not only do they follow thoroughly-through with an answer but there is a ‘Why did you ask that, BT? Why are they [BT] thinking that? What is the origin, why is this important?’ They find a response to the question in earnest and why you asked this in essence.

I - and BT - believe Huawei will begin to innovate and drive in market-leading areas."

Matt Bross, BT Group's Chief Technology Officer, speaking to Total Telecom

Asking the right questions

The IEEE Communications magazine has started a new section entitled Topics in Design and Implementation. The idea is to make sure the magazine has more general practical articles alongside its specialist, technical papers.

In the first series in the September issue, an article by Rajiv Ramaswami of Cisco Systems looks at optical networking technologies over the last two decades and tackles the question which have been adopted and which not, and why.

The Economist published recently a special report of the future of telecoms that addresses the issue of convergence (which it defines in two words: information everywhere). One article asks the interesting question who will benefit most when the different carriers - incumbents, mobile, and cable operators - are all adopting convergence strategies.

Can you suggest an example of an insightful telecom question? NGN would like to compile a list of the best and get them answered.

The art of coding HDTV

I have heard quite a few figures cited for the efficiency of the H.264/MPEG-4 advanced video coding (AVC) standard in encoding high definition TV. What I didn't understand were the issues dictating the progress being made.

Having spoken to video coding specialists Harmonic and Tandberg Television I now have a better idea (see table below for actual coding results). Not surprisingly, the main issues are hardware and the vendors' algorithmic expertise.

With regard algorithms, the AVC standard has many coding techniques but it doesn't say which should be used when. That expertise is built up over time and captured by the vendors in software with each new platform generation.

As for hardware, Harmonic's first generation HD encoder requires that a video frame be split into slices, each processed alone because of bottlenecks in moving the data between processors. Now, with its second generation design, a whole video frame can be processed improving the effectiveness of the compression techniques.

Both Harmonic and Tandberg claim over a 30 percent coding improvement using their latest designs.

Why is this important? Well, a lower bit rate means more channels per broadband link or a greater percentage of households that can be reached with HD services using existing DSL infrastructure. Harmonic also believes there is a further 25 percent improvement to be gained in the coming few years.

For background material on video coding, click here.
For an article on coding, click here

	MPEG-2	AVC
Standard definition TV	2 to 2.5Mbit/s (cable) 4 to 4.5 Mbit/s (Europe)	1.5Mbit/s to 2Mbit/s
High Definition TV	9.5Mbit/s (cable) 13 to 14Mbit/s (Constant bit rate over DSL. Satellite and cable use variable bit rate schemes that allows statistical multiplexing of the channels)	1st generation encoders: 9.1Mbit/s 2nd generation: 6.2Mbit/s (cable) 7.5 to 8Mbit/s (constant bit rate over DSL)

Soundbite: Optical comms

"It is not a question of if Ethernet will take over TDM services - the trend is clear. The more exciting issue is how quickly firms can drive adoption on a wide scale to replace legacy services and take over the mass market."

Brian McCann, chief strategy and marketing officer, ADVA Optical Networking on What's Next for Telecom, one of four executives interviewed by Optics and Laser Europe, Nov issue.

Vendors collaborate to spur 40G

Nine companies have joined forces to create a 40Gbit/s optical transceiver standard. Dubbed the x40 multi-source agreement group, the firms are targeting the interface at telecom and datacom applications, supporting distances up to 10km.

By integrating four 10Gbit/s transmit and four receive channels, multiplexed over a fibre pair, the standard exploits components for the high-volume 10Gbit/s transceiver market to address 40Gbit/s applications.

"This MSA enables 40G. It will spur others to develop the 40G serial products," says Daryl Inniss, vice president of Ovum-RHK's Communication Components research. "As more 40G gets out there, albeit in the form of parallel muxing, the market will demand more 40G."

Equipment vendors supporting the x40 MSA include Infinera and Juniper. Infinera is interested in 40Gbit/s and has already demonstrated in the lab a 40 x 40Gbit/s photonic integrated circuit. However, the current MSA only has a 10km reach. Juniper is interested in the x40 MSA as a high-speed router interface.

Both Juniper's and Cisco's routers already have 40Gbit/s interfaces but these are serial 40G and will not be compatible with the new MSA.

Click here for x40 presentation