SIEMENS AND CINGULAR SPONSOR NEW MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR NETWORKING LAB AT
Here's another big news release from Siemens today. I'll just point to this as another example of how Siemens leverages strategic relationships to continually reinforce their thought leadership of next generation communications technologies.
SIEMENS AND CINGULAR SPONSOR NEW MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR NETWORKING LAB AT GEORGIA TECH
3G/IMS lab will feature $5 million in state-of-the-art equipment and serve as home to the IMS Research Competition, awarding students with $100,000 in cash prizes
ATLANTA, Oct. 20, 2006 - Siemens Networks LLC is dedicating a new 3G/IMS laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology on Monday, October 23. The new lab, co-sponsored by Cingular Wireless, the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) and the Georgia Tech Research Network Operations Center (GT_RNOC), will serve students and researchers as a test bed for the creation of third generation IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) convergence applications and services that bring together audio, video and data over computer networks.
In addition to the dedication of the new facility, Monday's event will feature informational panel discussions as well as demonstrations of some of the multimedia applications and services currently running in the lab.
Initially, the 3G/IMS laboratory is to be used by students participating in an IMS Research Competition co-sponsored by Siemens, Cingular and Georgia Tech. Qualified students who participate in the year-long competition will be eligible to receive a portion of $100,000 in cash prizes.
As part of its sponsorship, Siemens Networks is equipping the new 3G/IMS lab with the latest technology from its IMS portfolio, including IMS@vantage, a 3GPP-compliant implementation of IMS. The IMS@vantage product offering includes the Multimedia Session Controller CFX-5000 and the Home Subscriber Server CMS-8200, as well as the Media Gateway Controller CFX-5200 and the Media Gateway CMG-3000. The IMS@vantage suite gives network operators a strategic platform to deploy multimedia services, such as Voice over IP (VoIP), for fixed or wireless infrastructures.
Siemens is also including a suite of enabling servers to allow student applications to use key IMS building blocks. These enablers include Siemens Mobile Presence Manager (Presence status), Community Service Data Manager (Group list management), Instant Messaging and Chat, and Push and Talk over Cellular.
"Thanks to sponsors such as Siemens Networks, the new 3G/IMS laboratory will give Georgia Tech's students an opportunity to work with leading-edge technology in their quest to develop new and unique applications," said Ron Hutchins, associate vice provost for research and technology and chief technology officer at Georgia Institute of Technology.
In addition to the Siemens IMS platform, the 3G/IMS laboratory will incorporate subsystems and services from sponsors Ubiquity Software, BridgePort Networks and Azaire Networks. 1
In support of the 3G/IMS lab, Ubiquity will donate licenses of its award-winning SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) Application Server (SIP A/S), and its advanced SOOF (Service Oriented Object Framework) architecture for enabling real-time applications. Ubiquity's Service Components, a set of pre-built, re-useable software building blocks for rapid creation and management of converged applications, will enable students to incorporate application capabilities that leverage Siemens Mobile Presence Manager (Presence status), Community Service Data Manager (Group list management), Instant Messaging and Chat, and Push and Talk over Cellular. Ubiquity will also support the 3G/IMS lab with training and related support services.
BridgePort Networks, a provider of end-to-end Mobile VoIP applications, is supplying its NomadicONET IMS Convergence Server (ICS) software to the 3G/IMS lab, enabling mobility management for IMS. In conjunction with the Siemens advanced IMS capabilities, the NomadicONE ICS enables the 3G/IMS lab to feature dual mode handsets with both GSM/UMTS and WiFi/VoIP capability. Seamless automatic network selection and mid-call voice handovers between networks are supported.
Azaire Networks provides hybrid network technologies enabling mobile broadband services. Azaire Networks is providing the 3G/IMS laboratory with its TTG/PDG technology, based on ATCA platform, which supports leading-edge 3GPP Interworking WLAN (IWLAN) functionality. IWLAN allows end users to authenticate their access to WiFi networks using their cell-phone providers' SIM cards and maintain secure access over WiFi to all of the existing applications provided by Cingular today, along with the new IMS applications. This means WiFi users do not need to go through a manual sign-in process, such as ones that prompt for an ID and password
"Siemens is proud to be a sponsor of this unique engineering project," said Harald Braun, President and COO of Siemens Networks LLC. "We see sponsoring development environments such as the 3G/IMS lab at Georgia Tech as an important step forward in promoting next-generation network and wireless applications."
The deadline for students to enter the IMS Research Competition is set for November 27, 2006. A ceremony to present the project submissions and to recognize the winners of the IMS Research Competition will be held in May 2007. For more information on the IMS Research Competition and a copy of the Official Rules, when available, visit http://forgedbyims-research-competition.com.
About Siemens
Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) is one of the largest global electronics and engineering companies with reported worldwide sales of $96 billion in fiscal 2005. Founded nearly 160 years ago, the company is a leader in the areas of Medical, Power, Automation and Control, Transportation, Information and Communications, Lighting, Building Technologies, Water Technologies and Services and Home Appliances. With its U.S. corporate headquarters in New York City, Siemens in the USA has sales of $18.8 billion and employs approximately 70,000 people throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Thirteen of Siemens' worldwide businesses are based in the United States. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens AG and its subsidiaries employ 460,000 people in 190 countries. For more information on Siemens in the United States: www.usa.siemens.com.
About Siemens Networks LLC
Siemens Networks LLC* engages in a dialog with its customers to create trendsetting communications solutions that help network operators and service providers achieve their business goals. Siemens Networks contributes its innovative strength, worldwide experience and unsurpassed implementation expertise in all areas of voice and data communications. As an innovation leader, Siemens Networks delivers customer value today and prepares customers for tomorrow with trendsetting solutions. Siemens Networks is a fully-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG. More about Siemens Networks at www.siemens.com/networks.
*Siemens Networks will merge into a 50-50 joint venture with the Nokia Networks Business Group, creating a telecommunications powerhouse that will be called Nokia Siemens Networks. The new company will be a global communications leader with strong positions in important growth segments of the fixed and mobile network infrastructure and services, featuring a world-class fixed-mobile convergence capability. The new company Nokia
Siemens Networks is expected to start operations by January 1, 2007, subject to customary regulatory approvals, the completion of standard closing conditions, and the agreement of a number of detailed implementation steps.
About Cingular Wireless
Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving 57.3 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE: BLS), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation -- the ALLOVERR network -- and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is a leader in third generation wireless technology. Its 3G network is the first widely available service in the world to use HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer RolloverR, the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/. Get Cingular Wireless press releases emailed to you automatically. Sign up at http://cingular.mediaroom.com/.
About Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the nation's premiere research universities. Ranked ninth among U.S. News & World Report's top public universities, Georgia Tech educates more than 17,000 students every year through its Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management and Sciences. Tech maintains a diverse campus and is among the nation's top producers of women and African-American engineers. The Institute offers research opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students and is home to more than 100 interdisciplinary units plus the Georgia Tech Research Institute. During the 2004-2005 academic year, Georgia Tech reached $357 million in new research award funding. The Institute also maintains an international presence with campuses in France and Singapore and partnerships throughout the world. More about Georgia Tech at http://www.gatech.edu
About GT-RNOC
The Georgia Tech Research Network Operations Center is a research program working in the areas of measurement, management, security and control of networks, network services, computational resources and enterprise systems.
It includes researchers and facilities from across Georgia Tech as well as partners from industry and other institutions. The GT-RNOC leverages the unique position of GT as a pre-eminent network and network service hub in
the state, the region and increasingly in the world. It provides researchers with access to this unique network infrastructure. It provides network administrators and service providers with an invaluable tool for developing and testing new management solutions in a cutting edge environment. More about the GT-RNOC at http://rnoc.gatech.edu.
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