Caspian, a provider of multimedia traffic management solutions for IP and multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) networks, has announced the net phase of its joint technology development partnership with the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) to deliver new IPv6 services.

 

The first phase of their joint technology agreement was announced by Caspian and ETRI in February of 2005. This Phase I was established to develop multimedia quality of service (QoS) solutions for South Korea’s Broadband convergence Network (BcN) initiative.

 

Phase II of the joint development agreement will focus on new IPv6 services that are part of the comprehensive IPv4-to-IPv6 migration strategy. Intending to achieve one of the world’s first QoS implementations of IPv6, the single gateway solution will provide tunneling of IPv6 traffic over existing IPv4 networks. Backward compatibility will be ensured through the permitting of IPv4 traffic tunneling over IPv6 backbones in this transition solution.

 

The strategy is designed to provide a cost-effective transition solution that also protects significant investments in IPv4 network infrastructure.

 

According to Caspian President and CEO Brad Wurtz, IPv6 will significantly improve capabilities in security, location-based services and mobility to make new areas of business solutions available that were previously impossible.

 

Wurtz continued that by coupling multimedia QoS with IPv6, the partnership is producing the foundational components of next-generation networks. Caspian’s collaboration with ETRI leverages the company’s expertise in QoS and brings this value to IPv6 services.

During the Phase I collaboration with ETRI, Caspian successfully deployed its Media Controllers in South Korean’s Electronic Government (e-Gov) network with Korea Telecom and SK Telecom. As one of many BcN initiatives, the e-Gov networks represent an elaborate countrywide network infrastructure to deliver dedicated bandwidth in support of integrated multimedia services, such as VoIP, streaming audio and video and real-time health and welfare response services to 20 million Korean subscribers.

 

The enforcement of IP traffic management policies and guaranteeing QoS for MPLS services across the e-Gov network as part of the BcN are possible through Caspian’s Media Controllers.

Wurtz claims that South Korea’s BcN and e-Government initiatives are arguably the most ambitious multimedia IP-based network projects in the world. Reliably delivering allocated bandwidth in support of multiple traffic types for such a huge subscriber base required an entirely new class of ‘multimedia aware’ QoS technology, such as that which Caspian and ETRI are jointly developing.

The partnership between Caspian and ETRI integrates Caspian’s flow-state QoS technology with ETRI’s expertise in MPLS and IPv6. The combination of these technologies enables service provides to implement deterministic multimedia networks to reliably deliver voice, video and data services.

Kyung Pyo Jun, vice president of BcN Research Division, ETRI, noted that service providers supplying the network infrastructure for South Korea’s BcN and e-Gov projects have emphasized that an entirely new level of multimedia QoS solution is required to meet each initiative’s stringent objectives. ETRI’s joint development partnership with Caspian is producing a solution that is uniquely qualifies to meet these demanding goals and will set the stage for the industry’s inevitable transition to next-generation, IPv6 networks.

The conversion from IPv4 to IPv6 is a monumental transition that requires significant time, resources and technology. Additionally, service providers and the general public do not want to have to feel the transition taking place in terms of loss of services or degradation of functionality.

 

The transition is certainly inevitable. The technology companies, such as Caspian, who are approaching this task head-on, are not only up against a huge challenge, but also are assuming significant risk.

 

While this transition has been in process for some time now, there are still very few companies involved and little precedence on which to follow. In essence, Caspian and ETRI are paving the way for this transition. When you are first, your mistakes tend to gain more attention.

 

Given their performance thus far, Caspian and ETRI may be able to develop and deliver the perfect solution that will significantly ease the pain of the IPv6 conversion. If they do, this will pave the way for their partnership to be positioned as the premier solutions provider in the IPv6 transition. For this to be reality, only time will tell.