The WAVE Report on Digital Media
3D --- Media Creation --- Shared Space
---Published by 4th Wave, Inc.---
Issue #0342------------------12/18/03

 

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0342.1 Hot Topics

0342.2 Story of the Issue

0342.3 Wireless

0342.4 Network Security

0342.5 Wireless

0342.1 Hot Topics

***3Dsolve Inc. Announces 3Dnerve, the Simulation Learning Engine
(December 15)

3Dsolve Inc., introduced 3Dnerve, its simulation engine, being developed to address the needs of simulation learning users, with a focus on the defense and homeland security markets.

Sample uses for 3Dnerve include:

Blended learning for military occupations
Security training for sensitive and high-profile facilities
Analysis and training for complex logistics scenarios
Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) training
Site Safeguard and Security Process (SSSP) analysis

3Dsolve will incorporate the 3Dnerve simulation engine in its products in the first quarter of 2004. However, products that use this technology are not expected to be released until in the second half of 2004.

http://www.3dsolve.com


***DSL Forum Announces Growth to 55 Million Broadband DSL Connections 3rd Quarter 2003
(December 17)

The DSL Forum announced that 25 million users, worldwide, subscribed to Broadband DSL in the past 12 months, reaching 55 million at the end of September 2003.

Japan leads the world with 9.2 million, followed by the USA at 8.2 million and China at 7.8 million. Eleven countries had more than a million subscribers at the end of September 2003, five of them in Europe. The highest European country by number of subscribers to DSL broadband is Germany with 4.2 million.

China has led subscriber growth in 2003, increasing from 2.2 million a year ago - a growth rate of 354%.

In terms of market penetration, South Korea remains the leading country in the world with more than 30% of the country's telephone lines working on broadband DSL. More than 20% of South Korea's subscribers have now upgraded to VDSL services.

Country % DSL Growth 3Q03
1 Portugal 61.2
2 China 39.6
3 United Kingdom 32.0
4 Australia 28.6
5 Hungary 24.3
6 Mexico 23.8
7 Brazil 22.2
8 Switzerland 20.8
9 France 19.2
10 Argentina 18.5


Point Topic provides the analysis for the DSL Forum.

http://www.dslforum.org
http://www.dsllife.com.
http://www.point-topic.com


***Winbond Introduces New Single-Channel 3V CODEC Chip for Mobile Voice Applications (December 15)

Winbond Electronics Corporation America; introduced the W681310, a Voiceband CODEC chip aimed at mobile voice applications. This is a single-channel voice CODEC for analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion. The chip includes complete micron-law and A-Law companders (pin selectable) that are designed to comply with industry specifications ITU-T G.711 and ITU-T G.712. It enables system level customization, and is offered in SOP and SSOP packaging.

The chip is currently sampling and is priced at under $0.98 in 25,000 quantities. For evaluation, the W681310ES is offered at a cost of $15. For prototyping purposes, a development kit, the W681310DK, is also available which is priced at $120.

http://www.winbond.com

0342.2 Story of the Issue

***ITU Telecom World 2003
By John Latta

October 12-18
Geneva, Switzerland

ITU Telecom World is different. Literally every country in the world is here. Many of the major booths were 3 stories tall. There were many futures projects and many more examples of possible near term products that use communications. We struggle with a way to characterize this and the best, is the mixing bowl of telecom + computing + Internet + United Nations. Here are our Highlights.

Sharp

Seen for the first time was the Galileo Personal Server, HG-01S. This includes a 120GB hard drive, it provides streaming video for PCs, it can be used to publish digital albums on the Internet and it uses 802.11b.

In the booth was also the 15” portable TV seen at CEATEC, model LC-15L1, also based on 802.11b.

Mitsubishi Electric

Shown in glass towers were Mobil Phone Devices targeted for 2008 to 2010 that look like illuminated glass where the patterns are the characteristics of the device. One of the most interesting was a phone and display that could be folded into a wrist band or just used flat as a phone.

Panasonic

Tucked in a corner of the booth was RoverCam. This is a robotic wirelessly controlled video camera for the home. The application is for home monitoring over the Internet or home network. The demonstration was described as a product concept but not a product. The device sets on wheels that operate only on a flat surface. This can be moved remotely and the RoverCam will stop before hitting obstacles. The camera has complete freedom of imaging direction.

Panasonic was showing an interesting application of WiFi for moving trains. On the poles along the train tracks would be access points that are controlled by a Mobil Access Controller. This controller would enable fast handoff switching between access points. On the train would be access points in each car. These would link to the pole access points and to the client Mobil devices that included PCs and other 802.11 equipped clients that the riders are using in the trains.

Panasonic was also showing future devices. One was called a “Winged Image Grabber” which had a built in camera in a cell phone. Another was in the shape of sunglasses. It was called a Sunglasses Terminal and would have the capability to show digital television broadcasts. One of these devices was a RFID and lipstick camera. The last device looked like both a cell phone and headset. This was a dual mode device that supported WLAN and cellular.

Toshiba

Toshiba was showing 100Mbps wireless LAN technology. It is being done by Toshiba’s Telecommunications Research Laboratory and uses 802.11a. The gain comes from the use of MIMO antennas and the booth had examples of two such antennas as a part of the demo. The handout had an illustration of a home with this technology deployed and it included: camcorder, speakers, server and large screen television.

Cisco/Linksys

In the 3 story Cisco booth there is a small presentation theater with shows running every 30 minutes. One of the presentations is about the consumer which is really about the integration of Linksys into Cisco. The presentation was directed to broadband service providers stating that Linksys products will soon be available worldwide and that Cisco is prepared to support cable, DSL or fiber broadband operators. Service opportunities include Digital media, Consumer Electronics and On-Line Games.

Sony

At the center of the product line in a section of the booth is the PCS-1 which is a combined video camera and microphone. The video camera is on a 2DoF platform. Up to five participants PCS-1’s can make up a conference. Yet, according to Sony there is only one PCS-1 per site. This can be backed up by an EVI-D70 communications color camera within one site.

New is the CTE-600 Communications Transducer. This is the conference audio microphone and speaker. When in use the directional microphone, which is a part of the PCS-1, is turned off.

KT

The KT booth certainly reflects the directions that KT is moving. Consistent with the many statements that broadband is a lifestyle issue KT was showing in the booth a U-Home which included:

Home viewer
A free service to view one’s home as seen by a camera in the home

Visitor Identification and Door Control
The ability to see individuals at the door and for them to leave a video message when no one is home

Control of Home Appliances
Control of devices from any device including a cell phone

Health Care
Instrument exercise devices and the linkage of ones efforts on these to health care providers.

Does WiMAX Have Legs? - Alvarion

The broadband fixed wireless space has been brutal. The elusive potential for last mile broadband wireless has dramatically changed, maybe, with the 802.16a efforts and WiMAX. One of the few remaining leaders in this space is Alvarion, an Israeli company. We sought an update and engaged in booth discussion. Summary of the key points is as follows.

Alvarion, a leader in this space, supports WiMAX because it will create a bigger market and the chances of the company are better in a bigger market than in a small one.OFDM relies on multi-path and even in dense trees there is enough multi-path that it will work, how ever in the desert it might not work as well.

Tandberg

Tandberg gave a keynote type presentation. The presentation was given by Andy Miller the CEO. Key points include:

We are unusual in that our gross margins are 67% - 68% for hardware; these margins are more typical of the software industry.

The company has dual headquarters: New York and Oslo and there are 550 employees.

VTC is making an important transition now – out of the board room to vertical markets. In the past, many of the justifications for VTC products were done by the CEO to support board level meetings. This is changing as vertical markets are beginning to use the technology. We call this video communications. Tandberg has had the most success in the following verticals:
Education – specifically distance learning;
Health Care;
Security and Federal Government
This is where Tandberg is focusing its efforts and this is our growth engine today.

Wave Comments

Though it is the major worldwide telecom event every 4 years, but companies like Alcatel, Lucent, Siemens, Nokia and Ericsson did not show up. If this is the case, is it really a telecommunications event?

However, this is a question from the past and that no longer exists in the business. The turning event was the collapse in capital spending. There is no longer a justification for major systems upgrades. At the same time, when Yahoo BB is able to build an infrastructure and turn cash positive in 3 years it is very hard to justify the major fiber build being suggested as the payback by the ILECs for the FCC Triennial Review and many other major spending initiatives.

In short, telecommunications remains in chaos and when there is such uncertainty the players that remain go conservative. New entrants, such Huawei, go big time because this is their chance go for market share. We were impressed.

The mystery of this event was – why did all the Japanese CE companies show up? Certainly they have cell phones to sell but these mostly go to the Japanese market. Rather than seek an answer to that question we only reveled in the neat new stuff we saw.

0342.3 Wireless

***InFocus Launches a New Meeting Room Projector featuring Wireless Capabilities and Remote Networking
(December 15)

InFocus Corporation launched the LP640 a projector with wireless connectivity and remote networking capabilities.

LP640 uses the Industry-standard 128-bit data encryption and a color saturation of 2200 lumens .It supports LiteShow, the wireless connectivity solution by InFocus which is built on 802.11b technology and is compatible with both PC and Macintosh® operating systems. Remote Networking is provided by InFocus ProjectorNet Software which leverages existing InFocus projectors and standard TCP/IP network to create an asset management/help desk system.

A 12-language display lets the user know the working status of the projector while optional settings, effects and last-minute changes can be adjusted on a icon-based menu. Other features include automatic keystone adjustment and automatic image synchronization with the source.

http://www.infocus.com

0342.4 Network Security

***3Com Unveils Network Security Strategy to Create Integrative Secure Networks
(December 15)

3Com Corporation announced its strategy to deliver integrative secure networks by overlaying security technologies into hardware, software and operational components that define the network. These overlays include: Layer 2-7 firewall, virtual private network, authentication, authorization, intrusion detection system and intrusion prevention systems, anti-virus, security management and policy. Some examples of Security Enabled Networking Equipment and Appliances are:

3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4400 with Security Enhancements
SuperStack 3 Switch 4400 version 3.0 adds Network Login 802.1x support, enhancing network security in the wiring closet and enabling authentication for every user prior to accessing secure resources on the network.

3Com Network Supervisor Advanced Package
Security features include support for 802.1x network login, identification of remote authentication dial-in user service servers and virtual local area network support. Once authenticated, 3Com Network Supervisor Advanced Package can track and identify each user, including which switch they are connected to, allowing network administrators to track down user-based problems and potential hackers.

3Com NJ200 Network Jack
Security features include traffic monitoring, simple network management protocol traps, location mapping, and port-assigned VLANs.

Embedded Firewalls
The combination of firewall hardware and centralized policy management deters attacks and prevents the server from being used as a "hop off" point to infect other servers.

http://www.3com.com

0342.5 Wireless

***Trapeze Networks Adds Rouge Detection and Voice Enhancements to Its Wireless LAN Mobility System
(December 16)

Trapeze Networks announced enhancements to its wireless LAN Mobility System, including new system software and a new family of Mobility Points. The new Mobility System Software enables the Mobility Points to connect to either existing Ethernet switches or the Trapeze Mobility Exchange wireless LAN switch.

The new features include;

Support for Advanced Encryption Standard in hardware and 802.11g.
Choice between single-radio and dual-radio Mobility Points.
Extended support of VoWIP quality of service with the integration of SpectraLink Voice Priority.
Support for SentrySweep enabling Mobility Points to continuously scan the air for rogue APs and ad hoc users without any interruption to network service.
A single radio in a Mobility Point can now sweep both the 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz frequencies providing an 802.11b network the required protection against 802.11b and 802.11a rogues.
New authorizations, applicable to a user or user group, including the time of day a group can access the WLAN, the type of encryption members of a group must use.

http://www.trapezenetworks.com

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