PROJECTS AND PRODUCTS

KSA has project expertise in the following areas:

KSA's product line includes:

DATA COMMUNICATIONS

• Specifying, architecting and designing SONET OC-3c/STM-1/PCI and channelized OC-3/triple HSSI/PCI backbone node link modules which allow the transport of Frame Relay or PPP data link layer frames over SONET/SDH Private Line Service networks. In OC-3c mode, this product will be sold into CPE and ISP markets; in channelized OC-3 mode, to the true carrier market (protection switching, NEBS and BITS compliance, data communications channel, both line and section, and single and dual rings make the product suitable for LEC central offices and the larger ISP's). This will be one of the earliest, if not the first, implementations of native (as opposed to encapsulated) frame-relay over SONET/SDH and of IP/PPP over SONET/SDH.

• Architecting and implementing v.110/120, Common ISDN Application Programming Interface (CAPI) and Novell ISDN Application Programming Interface and Eurofile Transfer Protocol (EFT) as well as protocol spoofing onto an ISDN network interface card

• Specifying and designing a 10/100 Mb ethernet/ATM/OC-3c switching module, including LAN emulation, to uplink virtual fast ethernet to ATM/SONET networks, including UNI 3.0, 31 and 4.0, traffic shaping and full MIB (SONET, ATM, ILMI, MIB-II)

• Specifying and designing a 10/100 Mb ethernet/FDDI line interface card to uplink virtual fast ethernet to FDDI networks

• Architecting and implementing a NEBS-compliant DS-3 "uplink" module for a high-end remote access T-1/PRI router, including fractional T-3 interfaces, which satisfy a perceived market desire for carrier diversity.

• Implemented Novell IPX onto a token ring network interface card

• Implemented Novell IPX and IP onto an ethernet/FDDI switching hub

• Specified, designed and arranged manufacturing of the first token ring network interface card for DEC Turbo Channel workstation

• Architected and implemented IP and PPP onto several router, hub and switch vendors' platforms

• Architected and implemented the fault management system of a T-1/T-3/frame relay/ATM access multiplexer

• Architected, designed and implemented a proprietary LAN (real-time 10-Base T) for a patient monitoring system

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

ATM, SONET and DS-3 SUBSYSTEMS

• Designing SONET OC-192 backplane and timing circuitry for high speed telecom backbone product

• Designed OC-48 line card for a 20 Gb/sec ATM backbone switch

• Participated substantially in every aspect of the development of SONET RING PRODUCTS (add-drop multiplexors, DACS, etc.) since before SONET was approved as a standard. Designed and implemented semi-custom IC's and ASIC's, board-level circuitry, protection switching hardware and firmware, alarming and other management subsystems and Data Communications Channel (DCC); ported the ISO stack, created board- and device-level emulation systems so that firmware could be brought up before ASIC's were available, etc. for several dual-fiber/bi-directional and other OC-3, OC-12 and OC-48 products (DDM's, FT's and others).

• Specified, architected, designed and manufactured the central control processor module for a 10 Gb/sec ATM backbone switch, utilizing a high-performance workstation packaged to fit on a central office equipment shelf plug-in card

• Designed backplanes, timing and other circuitry for several OC-12 metropolitan area network (MAN) multiplexers for a leading telecommunications product manufacturer

• Designed the backplane and timing circuitry for a 1.2 Terabit ATM backbone switch

• Designed the backplane and timing circuitry, much of the firmware and the test system for one of the first ATM products in the world, a digital cross-connect switch

• Designed circuitry and software for OC-48, OC-12 and OC-3 ATM products.

• Specified, architected and designed a T-3 multiplexer which interfaced cellular base stations to wireline (LEC) central office.

• Specified, architected, designed and/or manufactured ATM, frame relay, FDDI, ISDN, token ring, ethernet, PCI (several speeds and "flavors"), MVIP, Fiberchannel, MPEG-2, T-1/E-1, T-3/E-3, DS-0, DS-1, DS-3, OC-1, OC-3, OC-12, and other interfaces and line cards.

• Specified, architected and/or developed all or part of four separate T-1/T- 3/frame relay/ATM/SONET access multiplexers for four separate clients, including the architecture and implementation of fault-management, call-processing and other software subsystems.

• Performed substantial architectural, system and subsystem specification, including specification of optical DS-0 and OC-1 extensions to high-capacity network backbone switches

• Performed a theoretical analysis of jitter inherent in a very high-speed clocking scheme

• Implemented multiple DS-3's onto a 20 Gb/sec ATM backbone switch.

• Developed DS-3 framers for various products, including a semi-custom IC which does transmit, receive and framing functions for 24 DS-3's

NETWORK MANAGEMENT AND TELCO OPERATIONS SYSTEMS

• Specified and architected the network management infrastructure for a multiplexed system of modem-based remote access servers, including creation of a complex telco compliant SNMP (H-P Openview)-based network management/operations system and a database system, which included authentication, etc., designed to be queried by a variety of telco or internet access providers' operations systems. Scalable architecture suitable for 100-100,000+ user private corporate networks as well as for internet access providers, RBOC's, LEC's, CAP's and foreign telcos.

• Specifying, architecting and implementing command-line and HTML-based configuration editors for a client's remote access product set (modems and concentrators).

• Architected, designed and implemented SNMP agent software for a multiprotocol hub

• Ported the ISO stack and wrote many Layer 7 applications for inter- and intra-central office network management of SONET multiplexers (CMIP, ASN.1)

• Developed portions of many network operations systems (billing and other OA&M, provisioning, security, craft interfaces, etc.)

• Developed database, monitoring, and interface functions for the SNAS and SNAPS telco network operations systems in C++

• Architected a CMIP-based microcell network management system for a large cellular access provider. Assisted the manufacturer in selecting software development methodologies, languages, tools, etc., for that system

• Developing new, and upgrading existing, cellular operations systems which integrate traditional cellular base stations and microcell technology, utilizing object-oriented software development methodologies and Windows NT, as opposed to UNIX, as an operating system

• Implemented X.25, ported an ISO stack, architected and implemented performance monitoring and alarm functions, and implemented the TL-1 protocol on a telecommunications multiplexer to enable intra- and inter-central office network management

• Architected and developed portions of a communications protocol for use between telecommunications multiplexers in intra- and inter-central office network management

• Developed a database to archive alarm information in a SONET terminal/repeater

• Architected and designed a system which oversaw the several network management systems already in place (TCP/IP, DECnet, SNA, Novell, etc.), prioritized the alarms, etc. for a Fortune 50 client's data communications network

MULTIMEDIA

VIDEO MULTIPLEXERS

• Specified, architected, designed and manufactured the SONET OC-3c/ATM/MPEG-2 multiplexer that went into the first commercially-deployed video-on-demand system in the world. This was done on a total turnkey basis, in six and one-half months, including the manufacturing. All our customer, a leading telecommunications product manufacturer, provided was a draft requirements document. Timely delivery of this product resulted in our customer winning a $150 Million initial order for end-to-end Video-On-Demand systems from a major cable MSO.

• Specified and architected an MPEG-2/AAL-5/OC-3 (with an OC-12 follow-on version planned) Video-On-Demand server multiplexer, essentially a "mirror image" of the video multiplexer mentioned above, including an algorithm which optimizes bandwidth utilization and minimizes jitter propagation to the set-top, substantially reducing per-stream cost.

• Specified and architected a 622 Mb ATM-in/18 X 28 Mb MPEG-2 channel-out Video-on-Demand multiplexer/"Interactive Cable Gateway" (which also routes IP traffic when the channel isn't occupied with MPEG-2) on a single card which plugs into several different router platforms for deployment in cable head-ends. As of this writing, this architecture represents the lowest cost per port and per video stream in the industry, and the highest port density available, as well as the first-in-the-world implementation of MCNS, an encryption algorithm devised by the MSO's to protect their MPEG-2 payloads.

This card does ATM reassembly, dynamic PID remapping, MPEG dejitterization (KSA's V.P. of Engineering, Ron Todd, was the first to dejitterize an MPEG-2 signal across the public network, per the ATM Forum), IP insertion into MPEG private data, LAN emulation, routing to appropriate output stream, SNMP management via a MIB and contains the first-ever implementation of MCNS.

Scalable - a chassis can be configured for from one to 20 OC-3c equivalents (in increments of one OC-3c), resulting in initial low cost with an easy upgrade path. A stand-alone version would allow fine-grain scalability (per OC-3 or OC-12, not per ATM switch), which would be more cost-effective in smaller installations, or in initial installations that will expand over time.

• As of this writing, KSA is specifying and architecting, with our customer's stated intention to award us the design implementation and manufacturing, several head-end subsystems, all DVB-compliant, of a Switched Digital Video system, including an MPEG-2 encoder module; a multi-channel Variable Bit Rate (I-Frame and IPB-Frame) MPEG-2 encoder bank which accepts NTSC and PAL, analog and digital satellite feeds, real-time digital video, stored MPEG-2 and local ad insertion; an MPEG-2 decoder module; an MPEG-2/ATM multiplexer/remultiplexer; DS3 and OC-3 transport modules/line interface cards; and an SNMP-based network management system

NETWORK INTERFACE MODULES

• Architected, designed and prototyped a QPSK/ATM/MPEG-2 network interface module (NIM) to interface the termination of the coax to the set-top box in a Hybrid Fiber-Coax (HFC) system.

• Specified, to one degree or another, QPSK/MPEG-2/ATM interfaces to ethernet LAN's and to ATM workstations and the QAM and QPSK subsystems of hybrid fiber-coax systems.

VIDEOCONFERENCING

• Designed, implemented, tested and integrated SPIFF video accelerator firmware for a customer's flagship videoconferencing platform. SPIFF is a DSP (TMS320C80 and C-Cube CL 4020)-based video accelerator which enables 30 frames per second operation in videoconferencing applications (also does encoding and decoding).

• Specifying, architecting and designing an MVIP/WIN 95-based multiple V.34 modem-behind-ISDN to provide modem functionality in support of H.324 (POTS videoconferencing) when the network connection is a digital channel (ISDN PRI or BRI) for a video teleconferencing system

• Developed unit, integration and system test plans and specified component-, integration- and system-level integration and test environments for a customer's flagship videoconferencing product.

• Designed and implemented real-time pipelined microcode for a RISC processor in support of H.263 video compression for a customer's videoconferencing product.

• Porting a new kernel operating system (pSOS) and real time audio/video/communications control code onto a customer's videoconferencing platform.<\P>

OTHER

• Architected and designed ASIC's, board-level circuitry and diagnostics associated with the JPEG compression/decompression subsystems of a multiple audio and video channel digital video editing engine designed to "plug and play" on either IBM PC-compatible, MAC or Silicon Graphics platforms

• Specified a network control system for a video dial-tone network which included protocols as well as the hardware for end-to-end signaling and MPEG-2 video distribution.

• Specified the system integration and test system for a hybrid fiber-coax Video-On-Demand/Near Video-On Demand (VOD/NVOD) network, which was being built for one of the RBOC's.

• Conducted the system integration and test of the hardware and system software portions of a video dial-tone network for one of the Local Exchange Carriers (LEC's)

• Wrote the specifications for the network control system for a video dialtone network which included protocols as well as hardware for end-to-end signaling and MPEG-2 video distribution, including retransmission mechanisms, power calibration algorithms and ranging algorithms and additional protocol elements which allow head end equipment to configure the operation of set-top terminals, to log errors on a channel and set top terminal basis, and to manage needed adjustments to the set top's transmit power level and its TDMA timing.

• Specified all elements of a hybrid fiber-coax system return path which used ATM cells as the basic unit from the set-top to the head end, augmented by forward error correction and a sequence-numbering scheme. The ATM cells are recovered in a demodulator which performs error correction and power level measurements as well as alignment measurements to a TDMA slot definition clock which allows ranging adjustments to be performed. Some aspects of the MAC-level protocol have been accepted by DAVIC.

• Developed techniques for providing consistent latency in the set-top messaging protocol (a single channel is shared by multiple set-tops in this system architecture) and for merging TDMA capabilities with Aloha capabilities, allowing for optimal sharing of upstream channels among multiple set-tops, etc. Also developed an Aloha scheme to allow limited-traffic interactive operations.

INTERNET/ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

TECHNOLOGY

• Software Engineering and Application Programming (Object-Oriented: JAVA, ActiveX, CORBA, OLE, C++, HTML)

• Security (MIME, Secure MIME, PKCS, Kerberos, RSA, Cylinks, Powerkey, MCNS)

• Data communications (HTTP, PPP, TCP/IP, IPX, 10/100/1000 Megabit Ethernet, token ring)

• Access (SONET OC-3, OC-12; T-3/E-3, T-1/E-1; ADSL, HDSL, VDSL; frame relay, ISDN, SMDS)

• System Engineering

• Electronics Design Engineering

PROJECTS/PRODUCTS

• Specified and architected many commercial Internet-based audio and video applications ("Jukebox-in-the-Sky" for downloading of CD's and "virtual jukebox" applications, real-time internet broadcast of live concerts, etc.)

• Specified, architected and prototyped an electronic commerce system which operates seamlessly over the Internet and public switched network; includes a distributed, object-oriented platform (UNIX/NT/C++), open E-mail, and very substantial encryption and authentication/validation provisions.

• Specified security features for a major worldwide electronic commerce platform

• Specified subscriber authorization systems for major worldwide electronic commerce platform

• Participate in international standards bodies for definition, specification and implementation of advanced electronic commerce security facilities and systems

• Investigated, specified MIME and Secure MIME for encapsulation of objects sent over unsecure networks

• Investigated, performed feasiblity, performance and interoperability analyses relative to the use of JAVA with MIME and HTTP

• Architecting and implementing a very high transaction volume user authorization server

• Architecting and implementing custom web browsers which enable operations systems modification, remote configuration of "1-500" services by subscribers, etc.

• Investigated, specified the use of PKCS and MIME protocols for the exchange of authorization certificates

• Specified and architected an electronic banking system, including platform and applications

• Investigated the feasibility and viability of electronic banking, including the first deployment of Automated Teller Machines (ATM)

• Investigated the feasibility and viability of the Arpanet as a facility for electronic mail/file transfer on behalf of M.I.T. and UC Berkeley (Lawrence Livermore Laboratory) for the Atomic Energy Commission and Energy Resources Development Authority

• Investigated the feasibility, viability of collaborative (distributed) computing over the Arpanet for M.I.T., UC Berkeley, AEC, ERDA

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