Fujitsu presents its "next-gen network" vision at Broadband World Forum 2003

12 September 2003 London -- Fujitsu yesterday launched its Next Generation Network Vision at the Broadband World Forum 2003, taking place in London this week.

Hiroaki Takeichi, Corporate Vice President of Fujitsu Limited and Systems Product Business Group EVP, presented the details of the company's NGN vision - integrating carrier-class voice, data, video, broadcast and mobility.

"Customers worldwide are facing the challenges of managing their business transformation," he said, "in line with the need to replace legacy network equipment. Fujitsu believes that the most effective strategy for change involves an evolutionary approach, migrating the network for broadband growth as well as putting a flexible platform in place for new service options, such as Voice over IP.

"Our vision entails deploying a scalable hierarchical network approach. This approach encompasses a wide range of broadband access options matched by comprehensive Quality of Service support for differentiated service value, building towards the NGN in practical, phased and manageable steps.

"We have responded to these changing customer needs in a new and dynamic way. This has involved combining our expertise in computer platforms and telecommunications equipment into a single global organisational structure, under the banner of the Fujitsu 'System Product Business' group. We now have over 60,000 experts working within the group, dedicated to developing NGN solutions.

"Our GeoStream product line provides an evolutionary path from today's network and services to those of the future, maintaining operators' existing revenues while allowing new opportunities to be created. Our customers are looking for a combination of innovative migration strategies that allow legacy platforms to be retired and a new, converged network to be deployed seamlessly - complete with a feature-rich mix of services and applications."

The company's product focus spans the breadth of network evolution components, including advanced computer systems, multi-service access nodes to bridge legacy infrastructures and new networks, plus high capacity core routers and transmission equipment, supported by service management and applications development solutions.

GeoStream portfolio comprises a set of flexible, scalable, reliable and powerful network elements that can be used to construct an end-to-end communications network, capable of delivering the widest range of services to end users.

Its Access Gateway is a complete multi-service access solution, interfacing to the widest range of access technologies and providing aggregation for IP, Ethernet, ATM, TDM and POTS services over copper, direct fibre, PON and wireless. Incorporating media gateway functionality with standards-based external control interfaces, GeoStream Access Gateway provides an ideal platform for PSTN evolution to the NGN. With combined packet and TDM capabilities, GeoStream Access Gateway can support the migration of services from legacy networks to the new core.

GeoStream R is a complete edge and core router solution that provides high reliability and performance on an IP platform (e.g. 99.9999% availability). With integrated B-RAS and media gateway features, the GeoStream R series can be deployed as an intelligent edge service node in an MPLS/IP core network. The scalability of the GeoStream R series makes it applicable to the core of large-scale carrier-class IP networks.

Fujitsu's new release will be complemented by GeoStream soft switch solutions - a portfolio that builds on the revenue-earning services and applications destined to make use of the NGN. Using standard computer platforms and open interfaces to the rest of the network, GeoStream soft switch solutions allow the creation of innovative services to be placed in the hands of the IT world, providing a cost-effective route for developing the wealth of applications that already exist to enable the NGN rapidly.

The soft switch solutions portfolio comprises three components: a powerful and scalable computer platform, coupled with clustering technology and high-availability software; a comprehensive suite of middleware taking advantage of the resilient underlying platform and providing standards-based APIs to higher level applications; plus a suite of services and applications that can be deployed to implement a range of capabilities on the communications network: e.g. multimedia call agent, instant messaging server, video telephony server.