NEWS
Wind River Accelerates the Extensive Utilization of the Internet with its WindNet IPv6 Family of Products
Wind River today announced that the company continues to drive technology to new heights by providing a network stack that supports the next generation Internet Protocol, known as IPv6. The first product generally available is WindNet IPv6.
- Japan, the Asia Pacific region, Europe and the rest of the world suffer from a shortage of IP addresses and are looking to companies such as Wind River to provide them IPv6 technology.
- Global customers who want to develop next generation communications products ranging from small/home office appliances, consumer electronics and network infrastructure equipment can turn to Wind River.
- As an extension to its market-leading embedded operating system, VxWorks, Wind River's IPv6 product offering will help the new protocol proliferate broadly in all manner of connected devices.
- Current "early adopter" customers include Siemens and Hughes Network Systems.
"Currently, IP version 4 (IPv4) supports up to four billion IP addresses, yet the number of connected devices ranging from desktop PCs and cell phones to wireless automotive applications continue to increase at a rapid pace. The IPv4 address space will soon be exhausted, making it imperative that companies provide technology to support this growth," said Dave Fraser, group vice president of products at Wind River. "By providing our global customers with IPv6 products, Wind River will help to enable the future growth of a connected world and accelerate Internet communications."
"Hughes Network Systems has been using Wind River's software in selected products for more than 12 years", said John Kenyon, senior vice president, software engineering at Hughes Network Systems." Their VxWorks operating system, IPv4 stack, and home gateway routing software have helped us to achieve improved time-to-market and higher product quality, and we now look forward to implementing IPv6 in the future."
IPv6 is expected to replace the current Internet Protocol version IPv4 used throughout the Internet. IPv6 is designed to enable future growth of the Internet by enhancing the current IP protocol standard. It includes the ability to provide a virtually unlimited amount of user addresses for networks and systems connected to the Internet, and improved data security features. Because there are a finite number of IPv4 user addresses, which are being quickly exhausted by the rapid deployment of new usages of the Internet, IPv6 is quickly gaining support in Japan, the Asia Pacific region and Europe where IP addresses are in short supply.
The auto-configuration mechanism built into IPv6 provides another key advantage over IPv4, enabling customers to connect any device to the Internet without having to configure complicated network parameters. The new protocol also enables Internet traffic requiring varying qualities of service to be supported, facilitating a rich mix of voice, video, and data communications.
WindNet IPv6 is a full-featured implementation of the internationally accepted IPv6 networking standards. Designed with special attention to performance, scalability, and hardware portability, the new product leverages Wind River's experience as the world's leading provider of embedded technology. WindNet IPv6 is also fully integrated with Wind River's market-leading VxWorks real-time operating system, Tornado development tools, device management products and related networking protocols - giving developers all necessary components to build and manage IPv6-enabled products. Finally, the product is prepared to support the IPsec security protocol that provides authentication and encryption for Internet traffic. Customers can use Wind River's IPsec implementation as the foundation for creating secure virtual private networks (VPNs) and secure end-to-end communication.
In addition, WindNet IPv6 can be used in 3G wireless applications. Wireless networking vendors need IPv6 if their products are to effectively communicate with one another. With the proliferation of globally routable IP-aware devices, such as cell phones, video-game consoles and PDAs - combined with the increasing demand for wireless Web access - migration to IPv6 is becoming a necessity.
"Siemens requires IPv6 technology for the development of next generation wireless telephony and infrastructure equipment (3G). Through our long-standing relationship with Wind River, Siemens looked to Wind River to develop and integrate an IPv6 protocol stack into our various products," said Director of R&D Klaus Hjorth of Siemens Mobile Networks. "Through Wind River's dedication to the future of IPv6, Siemens will be able to offer its customers next generation Internet technology."
Availability
WindNet IPv6 is currently available for "early adopter" customers and will be available generally by September 2002. Additional WindNet IPv6 products to include a stack tuned for routing applications, routing protocols, remote access, security, management and voice over IP. For more information, contact the local Wind River salesperson in your area or go to http://www.windriver.com/corporate/html/contact.html.
About Wind River
Wind River is a worldwide leader in embedded software and services for creating connected smart devices. Wind River provides software development tools, real-time operating systems, and advanced connectivity software for use in products throughout the Internet, telecommunications and data communications, digital imaging, digital consumer electronics, networking, medical, computer peripherals, automotive, industrial automation and control, and aerospace/defense markets. Wind River is How Smart Things Think. Founded in 1983, Wind River is headquartered in Alameda, California, with operations worldwide.
Wind River Systems, the Wind River Systems logo, WindNet, and How Smart Things Think are trademarks of Wind River Systems, Inc.; Tornado and VxWorks are registered trademarks of Wind River Systems, Inc. All other names mentioned are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective companies.
Contact Information
Jessica Miller
Global Corporate Communications