Cisco puts RAN and Wireless IP Wares on Display at CTIA WIRELESS 2008

Cisco Systems, Inc. announced that it will showcase at CTIA WIRELESS 2008 (April 1-3 at the Las Vegas Convention Center) mobility applications that promise to change the way people connect, collaborate and access entertainment on the move. These services represent a strategic opportunity for service providers to profitably address customer demand to access information and stay connected anytime, anywhere.

“Never before has it been so important that all mobile content and data be delivered instantly to users globally and across technologies with the same quality we have come to expect from wireline access,” said Larry Lang, vice president and general manager of the Services and Mobility Business Unit at Cisco. “Our desire for on-the-move connectivity has seen a marked growth in the demand for streaming visual content and applications that enable us to collaborate more effectively on the move. Teaming with a number of industry players, we are enabling service providers to deliver compelling new services that allow people to live the Connected Life.”

As service providers evolve to become experience providers, mobile broadband forms the foundation for new mobile services. Mobility is no longer about a specific device, technology or service. It’s about people being able to move freely throughout the world while maintaining continuous connectivity to others using devices of their choice.

Cisco will feature numerous technology solutions and mobile applications. These solutions include mobile video, three-screen session shifting, Broadband Wireless Gateway, and WiMAX along with the vast Cisco product portfolio, including the Internet Protocol (IP) Radio Access Network (RAN), Service Exchange Framework (SEF) and IP Transfer Point (ITP). Cisco will also highlight innovative mobile applications, including fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) for voice and unified communications and for consumers and small office/home office.

Cisco is teaming with a number of companies to showcase the following applications and services:

• The Cisco Service Exchange Framework for Mobile (Mobile SEF) is a standards-based framework that links the RAN to IP networks and their value-added services while using the proven performance and carrier-class reliability of Cisco switch and router platforms at the network layer of the Cisco IP Next-Generation Network (NGN).
• A fully interactive, animated demonstration will be given of the two most popular Cisco in the Radio Access Network (RAN) solutions: Mobile Transport over Pseudowires (MToP) and IP RAN-Optimization (RAN-O).
• The Cisco Mobility Services iDemo highlights Cisco’s new Broadband Wireless Gateway for WiMAX, the enhanced GPRS Gateway Support Node (eGGSN), Wi-Fi Mesh Network services, Mobile IP Home Agent, and the Cisco BWX series of WiMAX base stations and antennas.
• The Cisco IP Transfer Point based on Cisco 7600 Series Routers coupled with Cisco’s database for telecommunications provide a complete carrier-grade core-signaling solution for next-generation networks.
• The Cisco fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) services portfolio, the broadest in industry, enables service providers to deliver the Connected Life with choice and simplicity to businesses.
• Cisco’s FMC solution, in partnership with service providers, delivers new capabilities. Cisco will showcase the Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router supports the T-Mobile Wi-Fi-enabled phone for calls and also provides up to two fixed phone lines to consumers in the small office/home office market.
• The Cisco WiMAX Radio display includes the Cisco BTX-MX8 WiMAX Base station, the Cisco RFS8 Antenna System and a selection of Cisco and third-party subscriber stations or customer premises equipment (CPE). The Cisco BTX-MX8 WiMAX Base station is the only commercially deployed beamforming IEEE 802.16e-2005 system on the market. This base station is software upgradeable and capable of beamforming plus multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) functionality.
• The Cisco 3G Wireless WAN High-Speed Interface Card (HWIC) solution on the Cisco Integrated Services Router offers a compelling alternative to traditional wireline backup solutions on Cisco 1841, 1861, 2800 Series, and 3800 Series integrated services routers. This solution is part of the IP NGN architecture and is enabling service providers to offer 3G wireless connectivity to enterprise branch office customers demanding the highest-availability access to business-critical applications across the WAN.
• Cisco visual networking technologies help enable content session shifting across television, computer, and mobile devices delivering anywhere, any device access to consumers’ own content.