Innovative Network Operators Driving Advanced Voice and Data Services with Cisco IP NGN Featuring XR 12000 Series Routers

Building on its commitment to enable providers of all types and sizes to deliver converged Internet Protocol (IP) voice and data services, Cisco® today announced today announced that two innovative competitive network operators are building advanced networks based on the Cisco IP Next Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture featuring Cisco XR 12000 Series Routers.

The new generation of XR 12000 Series features the Multi-Service Blade (MSB) for integral, route-aware, firewall and video/voice session border control (SBC) functionality. These innovations build on the platform’s highly secure resource virtualization and continuous systems operation to enable the delivery of multiple services over a single, converged IP infrastructure. The MSB is extensible, enhancing return on investment by enabling new service deployment through the more than 35,000 Cisco 12000 Series Routers currently installed in service provider networks.

NEXT Communications
NEXT Communications Inc., headquartered in Miami, deployed the Cisco XR 12000 platform with integral session border control (SBC) functionality as the basis of its private international network. NEXT provides inexpensive SIP-based calling platforms for use in third-world countries, with direct routes in Europe, Africa, and Central and South America.

The integral SBC enables voice and video call access control, helping to ensure that bandwidth is available to support sessions before they begin. It enables per-session control and management of IP multimedia traffic based on widely used protocols such as SIP and H.323. It can scale to support more than 200,000 simultaneous sessions on a single chassis, eliminating additional appliances and overlay networks. With its high-throughput interface into the Cisco XR 12000 switching fabric, the SBC scales up to 80 Gbps to enable all existing IP voice and video services as well as advanced collaboration applications such as Cisco TelePresence.

“This pioneering combination of XR 12000 with the Cisco MGX will help NEXT ensure the highest quality for its VoIP services, and will enable us to grow from 250 million minutes per month to 1 billion minutes per month without increasing our fixed costs,” said NEXT CEO Arik Meimoun. “It will also help ensure reliability across long distances, a challenge when interconnecting so many disparate, developing geographies,” added NEXT CTO Izik Greenberg.

TerreStar
TerreStar Networks Inc. (TerreStar), a subsidiary of Motient Corporation (MNCP), plans to build, own and operate North America’s first 4G integrated mobile satellite and terrestrial communications network that will provide universal access and tailored applications throughout North America over conventional wireless devices. TerreStar expects to be the first to offer customer-designed products and applications over a fully optimized 4G IP network.

With the integration of SBC functions into Layer 2 and Layer 3 services provided by the XR 12000 Series Routers, TerreStar can simplify its network configuration while allowing greater flexibility. It can also enable per-session control and management of IP multimedia traffic based on SIP.

“By combining an all IP mobile communications network with an integrated next-generation satellite and terrestrial system, we plan to significantly enhance the selection of communications options that first responders have at their disposal, and revolutionize how North America stays connected,” said Robert H. Brumley, president and CEO of TerreStar. “We’ve set a high bar for ourselves, and we do the same for our suppliers to ensure that we are able to meet our customers’ needs when our services are launched. The flexibility, reliability and scalability of Cisco XR 12000 make it well-suited to our growing needs.”

“We are extremely pleased to be working with innovative, customer-focused providers such as NEXT Communication and TerreStar to enable the next generation of converged voice and data services,” said Kelly Ahuja, vice president and general manager of the core routing business unit at Cisco.