During the history of the Internet, we've seen repeated cycles of new technology enabling new higher bandwidth applications which create pressure for even higher bandwidth. We're at the cusp of a new cycle, for which wireless long term evolution (LTE) technology is the key enabler. The success of HSPA and other 3G wireless technologies, along with the iPhone, have given rise to the first wave of media-rich, bandwidth-hungry mobile applications.

Without a next generation wireless technology, networks will certainly bog down with the volume of video-related transmissions. LTE, with scalable bandwidth, peak download rates of 300 Mbps and increased numbers of users per cell over an all IP infrastructure will provide the essential technology.

This ubiquitous, on-the-go network will make possible video-rich multimedia services. Remote healthcare services, previously hampered by the huge amount of patient data required, will find its way onto LTE-enabled devices. Remote education and social media application developers will find new and unique ways to utilize increased bandwidth.

Mobile operators have an opportunity to make LTE handsets and netbooks the new on-ramps to the Internet with highly profitable real-time web applications. The LTE ecosystem will bring new profit pools for new "engaged applications" to mobile service providers.

Interview d'Anupam Sahai, Vice President, Marketing, Ixia

Anupam Sahai, Ixia

http://www.itrtv.com/video/182/interview-anupam-sahai-vice-president-marketing-ixia.html

Ixia ISimCity
Ixia NBC Clip

Alexis McDougall from Ixia interviews Atul Bhatnagar, President and CEO at Ixia, discussing Ixia's recent decision to acquire Catapult Communications.

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Interview with Vic Alston, Ixia Senior Vice President of Product Development at Ixia (00:02:54) - May, 2009

Alexis McDougall interviews Vic Alston, Senior Vice President of Product Development at Ixia, who briefly introduces Ixia's most recent product offerings.

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Interview with Anupam Sahai, Ixia Vice President of Marketing (00:03:16) - May, 2009

Alexis McDougall interviews Anupam Sahai, VP of Marketing at Ixia, discussing how Ixia addresses testing solutions for virtualization, 40 & 100 Gigabit, DCE and SAN. Anupam also comments on Ixia's recent decision to acquire Catapult Communications.

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Facilitated by the use of fibre channel over Ethernet and the reduced cost of disk storage, SAN usage has exploded. Rapidly expanding disk capacity and usage have also increased SAN testing needs both on the Internet and within enterprises.

The traditional approach to SAN testing involves acquisition of an ever-growing array of physical disk drive units from multiple manufacturers, including drives with specific error conditions. These disks are swapped in and out of test beds. As new drives become available and firmware updates are furnished, keeping the inventory becomes a cumbersome task. Most importantly, delayed test cycles caused by complexity in managing the test bed can slow down testing and impact time-to-market.

Ixia’s IxSAN application, integrated with Ixia’s test platforms, allows SAN device manufacturers and users to economically test their large-scale devices through disk and server emulation. Large scale emulation of SCSI initiators and targets provides a high performance, scalable testing environment. IxSAN includes a database of disk properties, providing a quick means of using and customizing emulated disk targets. Large arrays can be configured and emulated in good and errored scenarios, including complex, time-varying failures.

3G Networks are reaching mass deployment stage around the world. Meanwhile, “on the go” smart phones are emerging as on-ramps to the Internet and the target for media rich applications of the future. The journey to worldwide 4G LTE wireless has begun in earnest. With the advent of 4G wireless applications, the world will shrink even faster, drawing subscribers together in new and powerful ways. We are heading fast towards an always-on, always connected world. Engaging media-rich mobile applications will become the norm. The productivity gain from this hyper interactivity will be profound.

The transition from 3G to 4G wireless network, however, will also unleash a level of unprecedented complexity. To mitigate the risks in this 3G to 4G transition, every network equipment supplier and service provider will need to use methodic planning, simulation and network testing tools. 4G networks will usher in increased bandwidth, reduced network complexity and lower operational costs – if deployed with systematic thought to end-to-end quality.

Ixia is preparing next generation testing tools for the deployment of LTE networks and applications so as to ensure that subscribers receive outstanding experience from their 4G networks. This requires thorough verification of new generation of 4G network equipment, smart user devices and media rich applications. Ixia’s 3G/4G wireless testing tools, under the IxCatapult branding, are flexible, adaptive and very intuitive to use, testing all facets of the 4G network and media rich applications. IxCatapult can simulate hundreds of connected LTE user devices over the air interface while simultaneously playing the role of the wireless core network. By using these coordinated test solutions, eNodeB network access devices can be thoroughly tested through total exposure to full traffic capacity as well as error conditions. IxCatapult test solutions are used today by leading network equipment manufacturers and service providers in labs around the world.

The 4G LTE revolution has started, and we are focused on enabling deployment of reliable, high performance, secure 3G and 4G wireless networks around the world.

This morning Ixia completed its acquisition of Catapult Communications, a move that places Ixia solidly in the wireless network testing space, complementing its position as a leader in wired IP network testing.

When we look at what the future is likely to bring, our vision is of an always-on network, supporting engaging apps that facilitate connectivity and productivity. The devices that will spearhead that charge will be smart phones, netbooks and similar devices yet to be designed. These devices, operating wirelessly, will serve as our on-ramps to the Internet. As LTE (long-term evolution) rolls out, larger and larger percentages of traffic will flow wirelessly into the Internet core.

Testing of next-gen converged networks requires independent testing of wireless and wired components as well as complete end-to-end testing. With multimedia and peer-to-peer applications accounting for the lion’s share of 3G/4G bandwidth usage, it is essential that pre-deployment testing utilize realistic traffic simulation. This ensures that networks are properly provisioned and there are no surprises in deployed systems. What’s more, it’s essential that wired and wireless components be tested with the same type and scale of traffic. The iPhone is the perfect example of a multimedia-rich device, and is the tip of the iceberg of what is to come. The networks, both wireless and wired, must forward and shape iPhone-based traffic so as to ensure balanced quality of experience (QoE) for all network users.

With Ixia and Catapult technologies combined, we have assembled the very tools needed to test from the wireless edge to the Internet core. IxCatapult supports the wide range of 2G, 3G and 4G/LTE protocols and tests the wireless network components that support them. Ixia’s layer 2-7 tools, especially IxLoad’s application layer test tool, provide the full complement of protocol simulations for the IP core.

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