Redback targets ‘megabit mobility’

Redback Networks introduced a new multiservice edge (MSE) router today with more capacity and functionality than its previous gear.

The new SmartEdge 1200 MSE router fits 480 Gb/s of capacity in a quarter rack, making it the same size but double the capacity of Redback’s previously largest MSE router, the SmartEdge 800. And with the ability to handle 512,000 virtual local access networks, or VLANs, the new gear in an eight-fold improvement over previous gear.

The 1200 also includes functions typically provided by separate equipment such as gateways. It includes deep-packet inspection for peer-to-peer traffic management, session
border control and network security. It also offers the ability to manage mobile data sessions through a variety of different mobile technologies, such as Wi-Fi and CDMA. Redback’s aim is to enable what it calls “megabit mobility”—mobile applications that can transition smoothly from wireline to wireless networks.

“Megabit mobility also will make it possible for your cable TV subscription to be as portable as your cell phone,” Redback, a unit of Ericsson, said in a statement issued today. “It will allow businesses to do targeted ads based on your physical location. It also gives people the option to use their network as their iPod to get immediate access to large audio or video files online.”

The 1200 will enter trials next month and begin shipping commercially in August. Portable mobility functions will come either later this year or in the first half of next year, Redback said.