Abstracts of Magazine FUJITSU 2002-7 (VOL.53, NO.4)

Special Issue : Broadband Internet

• Next-generation Transport Solution: FLASHWAVE

Fujitsu's FLASHWAVE family of photonic transport products covers a broad range of applications including core, metro, and access networks for the Internet and digital era. This paper outlines the family, focusing on two products designed to handle the rapid increase of IP traffic. FLASHWAVE4530 is a multi-service model with a transport capacity of 10 Gbps that supports voice/leased-line and data services. The model features a gigabit Ethernet interface and layer-2 switching function. FLASHWAVE2750 is a packet transport model optimized specifically for IP services, and provides a full IP network by resolving transport delays and quality deterioration in data relay processes. These products enable the diversification of services and creation of new networks in government offices, corporations, and telecommunication carriers.

• IP Server Based on TRIOLE

The rate at which high-speed, broadband networks are developing is accelerating and shows no sign of leveling off. Future enterprise systems will have to be constructed on network infrastructures that are faster and have a broader bandwidth. However, it is difficult to individually enhance system components such as servers, storage, and networks. It is therefore necessary for future network-based enterprise systems to provide solutions that include all of system components. For this purpose, Fujitsu is promoting TRIOLE, which is a new platform concept that covers servers, storage, and networks. Fujitsu has also released IP Server, which is a new solution that constructs intelligent networks based on TRIOLE to support enterprise system network infrastructures. This paper describes TRIOLE and IP Server.

• Broadband Network Product: GeoStream Series

Over the past several years, developments in information technology spurred by the Internet have revolutionized the business environment. As a result, it has become essential for business success to be able to quickly achieve Internet connectivity by integrating activities with the IP infrastructure. This paper introduces the GeoStream series of products for constructing IP network infrastructures. This series is suitable not only for service providers such as carriers and ISPs, but also for enterprise users. This paper describes the main technologies incorporated in the GeoStream series for delivering the following: 1) high speed, high capacity, and high availability, 2) a multi-service functionality that can simultaneously provide data services such as E-mail and Web access as well as voice services such as VoIP, and 3) an economical broadband environment that efficiently uses optical fibers.

• Broadband Internet Data Center Service

Because of the growing number of users who access the Internet over broadband networks such as ADSL, CATV, and FTTH, company systems require a higher availability, response, and confidentiality and more advanced technologies. On the other hand, the construction and maintenance of the IT infrastructure and the management of system/network operations are becoming more and more complicated. Fujitsu is already developing an Internet system outsourcing service called IDC Service at two data centers in Tatebayashi and Akashi. In addition, to meet the various needs of systems in the broadband era, in October 2001 Fujitsu opened a new Data Center in Tokyo called the Tokyo System Center, which is an advanced form of IDC that specializes in broadband operations. Fujitsu has also started providing a wide range of broadband-driven services that fully exploit the infrastructure of the Tokyo IDC. This paper introduces B-IDC, which is a new outsourcing service specially designed for the broadband era.

• B-FENICS Network Service

The current broadband trends as represented by the Internet are changing the operation modes of corporate networks. Conventionally, in order to keep communications costs low, companies have looked for systems that reduce the need for external connections. However, due to recent technological innovations, connection costs have dropped dramatically. This has enabled companies to restructure their business methods so they are based on a thorough use of these newer networks. Fujitsu has the largest and fastest backbone network in Japan and is now offering a network service called B-FENICS that provides broadband access, for example, ADSL and FTTH access, over this network. This paper introduces the structure of Fujitsu's network infrastructure and some of the features of its Internet services, intranet services, and related value-added services. This paper also gives examples of advanced developments such as CDN and IPv6.

• Corporate Portal Service: B-Front

Corporations are becoming increasingly dependent on IT in their business activities. This situation is expanding the digital divide between employees, and as a result there is a growing need for a corporate portal service that offers optimized information to individual employees and also raises their IT literacy. In response, in November 2001, Fujitsu launched a corporate portal service in cooperation with service content providers. The new service, B-Front, is supports business collaboration and provides a large volume of up-to-date service contents to improve business efficiency. B-Front is striving to stimulate human resources and support employees from both sides of business and company benefit programs. This paper describes the portal services that B-Front currently provides and various functions developed to support them. This paper also describes the future challenges and directions of B-Front.

• ValueContents Service

ValueContents (VC) Service is designed for network businesses connected with contents. VC Service provides essential components to content holders who wish to enter network businesses and to users who wish to utilize various kinds of contents for their Internet businesses and intranets. VC Service offers a complete set of solutions, from content production to value-added content supply, sales, and user support, via an outsourcing service. This paper introduces VC Service and also introduces two of Fujitsu's state-of-the-art technologies that are used in this service. These technologies are an intellectual information gathering technology that can automatically collect, classify, analyze, and process billions of Web pages and a cross-media searching technology that efficiently retrieves images by using related keywords.

• Broadband B2B Services

Rapid developments in information technology accompanying the use of broadband have brought about a major revolution in conventional e-commerce between enterprises (B2B). To survive the fiercer competition in the manufacturing industry, business paradigms offering new collaborative e-commerce for efficiently sharing information between partner companies are required. Conventional batch-type EDI has been used for exchanging data between enterprises, but "RosettaNet," which enables real-time processing between machines, is starting to spread. The range of e-commerce has expanded from simply receiving and sending purchase orders, to include exchanging design information at the development stage. This paper outlines the trend and standardization of e-commerce and introduces the B2B service "ProcureMART" of Fujitsu.

• e-Business Support Services

Since 1997, Fujitsu has offered the FENICS intranet service and the Virtual Private Office (VPO) service as inB services and has offered the i-Brand service as a B2C service. These services make it possible to provide ASP services for basic business functions, for example, a customer intranet construction function, information-sharing groupware function, mail function, Internet Web site function, member management function, and settlement function. Fujitsu has supported customers' business activities by supplying these safe services to customers at a low price and within a short period. Based on our five years of experience in providing these services, we have now developed the e-business support services. These are new services to help users take advantage of the recent rapid evolution of broadband networks. This paper describes this services.

• AppFly Streamed Application for Business and a Look at Business Models for Application Streaming

New technological advancements in Internet technologies have made it possible to stream applications over broadband networks. This advanced technology enables the holders of standalone PC applications to provide them via a broadband network without the need for remodeling. End users can then use these applications with ease anytime and anywhere simply from their browsers. Fujitsu is the first company to incorporate this technology into an outsourcing service, called Applications on the Fly or AppFly. The new service targets business and consumer application holders, including ISPs and CSPs. This paper introduces the features of AppFly and some possible new business models for application holders.

• Broadband Contents of @nifty

NIFTY Corporation provides many types of pay contents to its @nifty members. The contents include services provided by content providers (CP), for example, streaming of movies and downloading of books, and services that @nifty provides by itself, for example, Internet telephone services and virus scanning. Broadband contents are taking firm root in such fields as entertainment, education, and community services, and are clearly beginning to change our lifestyles. It is generally considered that this trend will steadily spread to include more and more users with widely differing lifestyles. This paper describes some typical contents as case studies and considers the future direction of broadband contents provided by CPs and @nifty.

• IPv6: Fujitsu's Activities and the Protocol's Future

IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) has been developed as a long-term solution for IPv4 address exhaustion. It will provide some important new services that are not available in IPv4, for example, automatic IP-address generation and Mobile-IP. These characteristics of IPv6 will enable electrical appliances to be connected to the network and will promote new services such as remote maintenance. Fujitsu has investigated the use of IPv6 for routers and servers to help build the IPv6 infrastructure and has also participated in some of the government's experimental IPv6 projects. Fujitsu is now studying practical applications of IPv6, for example, the use of IPv6 for server clusters and middleware, and is also developing an IPv6 chip for home electrical appliances and other killer IPv6 applications. This paper introduces some of Fujitsu's IPv6 activities and discusses the future of this protocol.