Service Provider Networks / Convergence /

Convergent targets cable operators

By Jim Duffy
Network World, 09/30/02

LOWELL, MASS. - Packet telephony vendor Convergent Networks last week broadened its target market to include cable operators.

Convergent rolled out Release 4.0 of its Cohesion distributed packet telephony software, which features media gateways, signaling gateways, tandem switching capabilities and network management applications customized for cable operators. The products are intended to let cable multiple service operators (MSO) deliver packet voice services in addition to their video and IP data offerings .

"When the DSL and [competitive local exchange carrier] markets imploded, a lot of folks keenly got interested in the cable space. These were carriers that had free cash flow and access to capital," says Michael Harris, an analyst with Kinetic Strategies. "So if you look at carriers that are positioned to actually deploy voice over IP, the cable industry is at the top of the list."

With that as a backdrop, Convergent unwrapped Cohesion 4.0 and enhancements to its ICS2000 media gateway, ICSX call management server, ICSG signaling gateway and ICSP server proxy. The products are compliant with the PacketCable 1.0 and 1.1 specifications, and interoperable with a number of leading vendors' cable modems and modem termination systems.

These products, combined with Cohesion 4.0 software, let MSOs establish separate "zones" for IP and public switched telephone network (PSTN) services, Convergent says.

ICSP and ICS2000 let IP-based application services be executed on PSTN trunk endpoints, Convergent says.

Conversely, ICSP also can mediate between Signaling System 7-based service control elements and call-management elements that are controlling line or trunk endpoints.

Cohesion 4.0 elements also can be used in an array of local and toll tandem applications, Convergent says. ICS2000 supports IP, ATM and TDM trunk groups, including ISDN and channel-associated signaling; and logical partitioning for resale and voice-VPN services.

What’s on cable? Convergent’s packet cable play.
•	Cohesion Release 4.0 for cable operators.
•	Media gateway interoperable with Convergent call management server.
•	Signaling system 7.
•	Tandem proxy.
•	Element management system.

"Convergent has thought a little more elegantly about how you can provide a more integrated and seamless PSTN interconnection point for a packet network, particularly through integrating some of the trunking elements," Harris says. "They've also done a pretty decent job in terms of density."

Convergent says it can support more than three times as many IP/G.711 calls per shelf or rack than any other PacketCable-compliant competitor.

Convergent's Cohesion 4.0 will go up against cable packet telephony offerings from Sonus Networks, Nortel and Siemens, and other media gateway vendors. Adelphia and Cablevision currently use Cohesion 4.0 in tandem applications. Convergent has negotiations under way with two MSOs for trials and has responded to requests for proposal from several others, says Carl Baptiste, Convergent's managing director of marketing.

Cohesion 4.0 and its associated products are available now.