Today, more and more traffic is carried on IP-based networks. Not only best-effort services but also some mission-critical tasks are depending on IP networks. Network operators and service providers are now seriously concerned about how to build a "carrier-grade" IP network to meet these demands. This session will cover technologies and architectures for carrier-grade IP networks which bring guaranteed QoS, traffic management and control capability, high reliability, high scalability and so on. The session will include discussions on technology and product development trends, standardization status, and deployment experiences and plans for some of the key technologies, such as QoS control, MPLS/GMPLS, and photonic networks.

Tohru Matsunaga
Executive Manager, Network System Innovation Project
Network Service Systems Laboratories, NTT

Mr. Matsunaga has been engaged in research and development on core technologies in next generation core networks for broadband communication services. Prior to the present position, he was mainly involved in research on photonic switching systems since 1984.

Alan Bugos, Vice President, Engineering, iBasis, is responsible for overseeing the engineering design, testing/evaluation, systems integration, and global deployment of iBasis' International Internet telephony network, including enhanced VoIP services and applications. Mr. Bugos brings to iBasis over 12 years of hands-on experience in telecommunications, optical networking, data networking, and communications systems integration.

Shinya Kukita, Assistant General Manager, Network Platform Planning Division, NEC Corporation, joined the company in 1981 and has since engaged in various development activities around fiber-optics communication systems. These include PDH and SDH digital transmission equipment design, SDH network management system design, and data networking system design. Mr. Kukita is responsible for business strategy and product planning for next-generation networks.

Fan Lingyuan, Chief System Engineer, IP Telecom Network Project, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., has been involved in IP and mobile network research and development since 1997. His current R&D focuses primarily on end-to-end QoS technologies in IP networks, including bearer control technologies and architectures, QoS policies decision, QoS technology standard, and system design in this field.

Renaud Moignard, Research and Development, France Telecom, deals with MPLS and multicast for IP core and aggregation networks. His team is involved in engineering studies, equipment validation, and standardization and innovation in those two domains. Prior to this position, Dr. Moignard was an architect of next-generation networks, working especially on IP and VoIP functional architectures. Before joining R&D division, he held different positions in new entrant operators in France, mainly as a wireless engineer for mobile networks and for wireless fixed local loop.

Ken-ichi Sato, Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, was an executive manager of the Photonic Transport Network Laboratory at NTT before joining the university in April 2004. His R&D activities cover future transport network architectures, network design, OA&M systems, photonic network systems including optical cross-connect/ADM and photonic IP routers, and optical transmission technologies. Mr. Sato has authored/co-authored more than 180 research publications in international journals and conferences. He holds 35 granted patents and more than 100 pending patents.