Tag Archive for Cisco

| March 7, 2011
Comments Off on Tech Titans Talk Tax Cuts with POTUS

Tech Titans Talk Tax Cuts with POTUS

Tech Titans Talk Tax Cuts with POTUSFortune is reporting that a group of tech, pharmaceutical, and energy giants are lobbying for a tax cut that would allow them to bring home the estimated $1 trillion they’ve got parked overseas at a steeply discounted rate. Fortune’s sources say that Apple (AAPL), Cisco (CSCO), and Oracle (ORCL)  are among the major players looking to win a one-year tax amnesty on their foreign earnings, allowing them to repatriate that money at a tax rate of about 5%, instead of the 35% they face now.

Multinationals prevailed on Congress to approve a one-year tax holiday once before, as part of a jobs package in 2004. Back then, the companies argued the relief would help them boost economic growth because they’d plow their repatriated money into research, investment, and hiring. And while plenty of outfits benefited from the break – 843 corporations made use of the holiday, bringing back a total of $362 billion, according to the IRS — the broader economic benefits were dubious.

The Treasury Department wrote rules trying to make sure that the recovered cash was in fact invested back into the companies. But money is fungible. Although the rules expressly prohibited using the funds for dividend payments or stock buybacks, later analysis has shown participants sent most of it to shareholders anyway. One study cited by Fortune from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that for every dollar of repatriated cash, companies bumped up shareholder payouts between 60 and 92 cents.

“A tax holiday would bring a substantial amount of cashback to the United States and paying that out to shareholders is good for the economy,” said study co-author Kristin Forbes, an economics professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a member of then-President George W. Bush‘s council of economic advisers told Fortune. “But if you’re a politician claiming this will create a lot of jobs or new investment, it isn’t supported by the data.”

In order to sell the deal, Cisco CEO John Chambers and Oracle president Safra Catz argued in an October editorial in the Wall Street Journal that a second holiday would help put Americans back to work. But they don’t promise that companies would drive all of their repatriated money directly into job-creating investments. They acknowledge that companies might pass the money along to shareholders again. But Mr. Chambers and Ms. Catz argue on top of direct investments, the tax cut holiday would spur a new stimulus by boosting markets, thereby increasing consumer confidence. And they say the tax revenue itself could fund $50 billion worth of credits to encourage new hiring — a sum only possible in the unlikely event companies decide to bring home the entirety of their overseas reserves.

President Obama’s recent dinner with Silicon Valley’s tech titans was a star-studded event according to TechCrunch.

Obama tech- dinner toast

Invitee included Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Carol Bartz, Cisco’s CEO John Chambers, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, Netflix (NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings, Genentech Chairman Art Levinson; Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt; former state controller and venture capitalist Steve Westly Doerr, and Stanford University President John Hennessy. The event was held at Kleiner Perkins partner John Doerr’s home.

After the dinner, White House press secretary Jay Carney said the group talked about ways to invest in innovation and how to increase jobs in the private sector. He said Mr. Obama also discussed proposals to invest in research and development and his goal of doubling exports in five years.

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I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that what POTUS calls, “increase jobs in the private sector” would mean a “tax cut holiday” for the tech titans.

It should be no surprise that the Tech Titans who supped with POTUS were big political contributors and supporters of the tax cut holiday. What happened to “Yes We Can”?

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| October 3, 2009
Comments Off on Smart Grid needs IPv6

Smart Grid needs IPv6

Smart Grid needs IPv6Cisco Systems is looking at IPv6 as a critical component in securing the next-generation electricity distribution system. IPv6 is attractive to the Smart Grid initiative for two reasons, the first being an abundance of IP addresses available in the expanded 128-bit address space for all the gizmos they hope to sell in a market that Cisco pegs at $20 billion a year. “IPv6 is an interesting discussion and one that occupies a lot of bandwidth at Cisco,” Marie Hattar, Cisco’s vice president of network systems and security solutions marketing, told InternetNews.com. “Some people say that for smaller deployments, we could get away with IPv4, but the smart grid has a number of parts.”

The second benefit to the Smart Grid is the security features in IPv6 which will add a layer of protection to the vulnerable electric grid management systems. Security is also now top of mind as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now investigating a report into potential threats to the West Coast power grid. Earlier this year, widely circulated reports noted that foreign entities—presumably from China—infiltrated the U.S. power grid on several occasions and have the ability to disrupt power distribution.

China infiltrated the U.S. power grid

At the 2009 Black Hat security conference, a security researcher detailed security vulnerabilities in smart grid meters. “If you think about hacking into a smart meter, it’s like hacking into your TV’s remote control — you still get your TV,” Ms. Hattar said. “The meters are a reporting mechanism but it’s not going to affect the electrical system.” Still, Cisco’s Hattar added that smart meter vendors are concerned about security and Cisco will work with them. “A key part is to build out an end-to-end framework that is secure. A lot has to do with isolation and not exposing the grid to points of entry that are hackable.”

“As utilities are looking to build out smart grid, it’s more effective to agree on a common protocol across the board as opposed to trying intermix different ones,”  Hatter says. “In many ways, this is like the early days of the Internet where we ultimately settled on IP. We see IP as the scalable protocol for smart grid and we’re working with a variety of vendors to advocate this and make this the key protocol of choice.”

Cisco is among the numerous IT vendors with initiatives for improving the power grid. IBM is working with several of its partners on power grid issues through its Smart Planet program.

There’s likely to be subsidiary benefits to the smart grid, like furthering the cause of IPv6  since tens of millions of users and new devices around the world will require connectivity. For example, with utilities adopting IP-enabled metering for thousands of homes connected to the network, there could be an issue with addressing over IPv4. On IPv6, thanks to its plentiful address availability, there are no addressing issues.

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Not only is this a technological issue, but it is an energy policy issue. An electrical grid that can support Smart meters, will allow energy producers to better control the flow of electricity, which will increase the efficiency of the electrical grid, which will, in turn, decrease our dependence on fossil fuels. America needs to get off of electrical generation by fossil fuels and this technology can speed the process before it is too late and gasoline reaches $7.00 a gallon making the current recession seem like a walk in the park.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| September 26, 2009
Comments Off on Big Blue Props Up Broadband over Powerline

Big Blue Props Up Broadband over Powerline

Big Blue Props Up Broadband over PowerlineBig Blue continues to support Broadband over Powerline (BPL) as a way to close the broadband divide in rural areas. According to an IBM Global Financing press release the division has established a financing agreement with DS2, a supplier of integrated chip technology for powerline vendor International Broadband Electric Communications’ Broadband over Powerline Regenerating Unit (BRU) smart boxes. The BRU’s are attached to an electric utility pole to provide high-speed Internet signals to residential customers via the electrical drop. IBEC is working with rural electric utility cooperatives to extend broadband access to ‘unserved’ customers mainly in the South, East, and Midwest.

This is not Big Blue’s first major BPL investment. Even as many industry pundits were reading BPL its last rites, IBEC signed a $9.6 million agreement with IBM to deploy BPL networks in Eastern U.S. electric cooperatives. The investment was heralded by the Utilities Telecom Commission (UTC) as a “major step forward in bringing broadband services to the residents of rural America.” At that time, IBM and IBEC said they were working with the Midwest Energy Cooperative to deliver broadband over powerline to area residents and businesses throughout the seven counties the utility serves.

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Sounds to me like they are propping up their SmartGrid ecosystem in the upcoming battle with Cisco over the estimated $20 Billion a year electrical grid modernization market.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| September 11, 2009
Comments Off on 802.11n Ratified -Yawn

802.11n Ratified -Yawn

802.11n Ratified -YawnToday (09-11-09) the IEEE Standards Board has ratified the IEEE 802.11n™-2009 amendment. This vote ends a seven year effort to, “enable rollout of significantly more scalable WLANs that deliver 10-fold-greater data rates than previously defined while ensuring co-existence with legacy systems and security implementations” according to the IEEE. The 560-page document describing 802.11n will be published in mid-October 2009. Bruce Kraemer, Chair of the IEEE Wireless LAN Working Group said in a press release,

The performance improvements achieved via IEEE 802.11n stand to transform the WLAN user experience, and ratification of the amendment sets the stage for a new wave of application innovation and creation of new market opportunities.

IEEE logoKelly Davis-Felner, marketing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA), told Network World that “The core interoperability is totally preserved with the [existing] draft certification program.” Ms. Davis-Felner says,  ”Existing draft-11n products should work seamlessly with future products based on the final standard. No existing products will have to be retested in the updated certification program.”

Today’s ratification marks the high-point for other 802.11 wireless products. This approval will green-light the development and deployment of 11n products in the enterprise. There is no longer a reason for firms deploying greenfield WLAN’s to roll put anything but  802.11n. The WFA expects 11n shipments to rise to 45% of all 802.11 shipments in 2009. Reaching 60% in 2012 based on data from market researcher ABI Research. But how long will 802.11n last?

WiGig logoNetworkWorld is reporting that Microsoft (MSFT), Intel (INTC) and others have formed the Gigabit Wireless Alliance (WiGig). WiGig is to create anew wireless specification with a data speed of up to 6Gbps. WiGig is also actively involved with the IEEE’s 802.11ad task group. And if WiGig is to slow. James Buckwalter, a professor at the University of California San Diego has developed s a silicon-based amplifier that transmits 10Gbps wireless in 100 GHz frequency bands according to NetworkWorld. Coverage could also be over a kilometer, which beats traditional WiFi‘s 100 meters.

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The formal ratification of the IEEE 802.11n standard is a good thing. However we have recommended that clients seriously consider this technology in greenfield installs with Wi-Fi approved 802.11n since the beginning of the year.

Related articles

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Category: wi-fi | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
| April 25, 2009
Comments Off on Wi-Fi Settlement to Cost Billions

Wi-Fi Settlement to Cost Billions

Wi-Fi Settlement to Cost BillionsAustralia’s national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) has won its Wi-Fi patent troll case. They confirmed (4-22-09) that the patent cases heard in the Eastern District Court of Texas as concluded “successfully.” CSIRO sued most of the tech world over its claim of inventing the technology behind Wi-Fi Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs).

Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research OrganizationCSIRO claims to have patented core elements of the technology used in 802.11a and 802.11g wireless devices. “CSIRO has negotiated settlement with each of the 14 companies involved in four concurrent litigation cases,” the agency said in a statement. “The commercial terms of the settlements with these companies will remain confidential.”

Wi-Fi patent claim

The CSIRO first applied for the US patent in 1993. It was awarded US patent number 5,487,069, entitled “Wireless LAN” on 23 January 1996. The patent describes a “peer-to-peer wireless LAN” that can operate in the kind of multi-path environment created by radio echoes in typical office buildings. It includes three ways to get high-speed transmission despite the hostile conditions in an office environment. First, they describe transmitting over a relatively large number of parallel sub-channels within the available bandwidth so that each channel has a low bit rate. Second, the patent describes transmitting data in small packets with forward error correction (FEC) and using interleaving. These concepts are all featured in descriptions of the 802.11 physical layer CISRO claims to have patented core elements of the technology used in 802.11a, 802.11g, and 802.11n wireless devices.

negotiated settlementCSIRO has previously said that its patent allowed speed increases up to a factor of five over previous WLANs. They claimed to have, “offered licenses on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms to major suppliers as soon as they started selling devices which used the CSIRO technology.”

However, troubles began following the Cisco (CSCO) acquisition of Radiata from Macquarie University. The university had carried out for the purpose of commercializing CSIRO’s technology. Now CSIRO claims the work forms a key part of commonly used Wi-Fi products

The CSIRO filed Wi-Fi patent infringement suits against 3Com, Accton (2345), ASUS (2357), Belkin, D-Link (DLINK), Fujitsu (6702), Marvell (MRVL), (manufacturers of Apple’s (AAPL) iPod), Nintendo (7978), SMC and Toshiba (TOSBF). Several large technology vendors bit back – with  Apple, Dell (DELL), HP (HPQ), Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT), and Netgear (NTGR) bringing cases against CSIRO in trying to have the patent invalidated.

In June 2007, the CSIRO won a case in the U.S. Federal Court against Japanese manufacturer Buffalo Technologies. This win is the basis the firm has used to demand royalties from a broader set of manufacturers that market Wi-Fi equipment.

As the case has played out in the last few weeks in and out of the Texas court, CSIRO struck individual deals with its adversary’s including; Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Intel, and Microsoft

HP was the first to settle on 04-02-09. CSIRO spokesperson Huw Morgan said, “CSIRO can confirm that a settlement has been reached with Hewlett-Packard Company in relation to the wireless patent case.” Mr. Morgan continued  in the Sydney Morning Herald, “There will be no further comment at this time due to confidentiality and ongoing litigation.”

Fujitsu logoFujitsu Computer Systems Corp. was dismissed by the Court with prejudice in the first court-approved settlement to emerge in the case on April 8. The terms of the settlement remain confidential.

PC manufacturer Asus and Microsoft separately settled their lawsuits with the CSIRO on 04-14-09 terms of the settlement were not disclosed. CSIRO had accused Microsoft of wrongfully using its patent. Microsoft was seeking a ruling of non-infringement for the wireless technology included in the Xbox video-game system.

Microsoft logoIntel and Dell also settled on 04-19-09 for undisclosed and confidential terms.

Accton Technology Corp., SMC Networks, Belkin Corp. and Belkin International, Inc., D-Link Systems, Inc., Netgear, Inc., Nintendo of America, Inc., Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., and 3Com Corp., announced on 4-20-09 that they had reached a settlement with CSIRO.

Cisco and its Linksys division aren’t on CSIRO’s list. Cisco agreed to patent terms when it acquired an Australian network authentication firm a few years ago. Apple dropped out in December 2006.

Dr. Alex Zelinsky, director of the CSIRO ICT Center confirmed that all CSIRO opponents had chosen to settle the wireless case. CSIRO deputy chief of operations Mike Whelan said that the terms of the settlement would remain strictly confidential. Dr. Zelinsky speculated to ITNews, however, that the payoff could be worth upwards from $100 million up to a billion dollars and keep royalty payment flowing into the agency for up to a decade.

Timeline

  • November 1993: CSIRO lodges a US patent for the invention of a wireless LAN.
  • January 1996: US patent 5,487,069 is issued to CSIRO.
  • 1997: CSIRO and Macquarie University form Radiata, a company established for the purposes of commercializing the patent.
  • 2001: Cisco Systems acquires Radiata for $295 million.
  • 2003: CSIRO engages in patent licensing discussions with several manufacturers, none of which agree to pay licensing fees.
  • February 2005: CSIRO lodges a suit against Buffalo Technology for alleged patent violation in the Eastern District of Texas Court as a test case for its patent.
  • May 2005: Two groups of industry heavyweights — including Dell and Intel, and Microsoft, HP, and Netgear, lodge lawsuits against CSIRO seeking to overturn its patent.
  • November 2006: CSIRO has its patent upheld by the Eastern District of Texas Court in its case against Buffalo Technology.
  • September 2006: CSIRO counter-sues the industry parties attempting to overturn its patent, claiming these companies infringe on its patents.
  • September 2007: CSIRO refuses to offer any amnesty to IEEE members that infringe on its patent.
  • April 02, 2009, HP settles suit.
  • April 13, 2009, Microsoft settles suit
  • All other firms settle the suit on April 20, 2009.

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If your installation includes Aruba, Meru, or Trapeze, you can hope that CISRO goes back to developing Wearable Instrument Shirts or Airhockey Over a Distance, and not squeezing more revenue for the taxpayers of Australia out of this initial victory by going after all the other Wi-Fi vendors.  If upheld, CSIRO will collect what it has often described as a small royalty on all devices containing Wi-Fi.

The cases are:

  • Intel Corp. v. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, 06cv551
  • Microsoft Corp. v. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, 06cv549, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas (Tyler)

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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