Archives for February 2016

A new kind of network: RINA progress update

An interview with Dr Eduard Grasa, i2CAT Recursive InterNet Architecture (RINA) is a “return to fundamentals” redesign of data networking. (For an introduction, see my 2013 article “TCP/IP vs RINA”.) I interviewed Eduard Grasa of Fundacio i2CAT, a research centre in Barcelona. Eduard is a member of the European network research community who is actively leading cutting-edge research.

Mobile is not everything (and that’s OK)

As I type these words, I am perched on one of the benches in the main thoroughfare of the cavernous venue hosting Mobile World Congress (MWC). Above me is a video screen warning me of the perils of the infamous local pickpockets, so I know I’m definitely in Barcelona!

Why there is no “Moore’s Law” for networks

My article on the misguided belief in a “Moore’s Law” for networks has been republished in The Mobile Century magazine, distributed by the Global Telecom Women’s Network.

Are you a ‘game changer’?

I have recently had the pleasure of attending a series of events hosted by eg.1, a business insight and talent company. I was introduced to them by Keith Willetts, Founder and Director of TM Forum, who co-hosted the initial event. I found their core insight both professionally interesting and personally valuable, so I would like to share it […]

Beyond ‘neutrality’: How to reconnect policy to reality?

I have some bad news: the published literature on ‘net neutrality’ fails to grasp the stochastic nature of broadband and its implications. This means that the relationship of traffic management to QoE is universally misunderstood and/or misrepresented.

The case for reality-based broadband regulation

Imagine a book on astronomy that didn’t mention planets, stars, galaxies, black holes, light or gravity. You’d find it a bit of an oddity, no? Well, that’s the situation we have in broadband policy: a body of literature that has collectively disconnected from the underlying physical reality.

Network Cost & Risk Transformation

Most of the articles I write are about general communications industry issues. For a change, I have put together a short description of the services that my company and my colleagues at Predictable Network Solutions Ltd (PNSol) jointly offer.

Introducing Verbol voice: A radical take on hypervoice

In the not too distant future, intelligent machines may join us in all of our voice conversations. The early steps towards re-imaging the phone call include technologies like call recording and speech recognition. The idea of hypervoice captures the maturing of this trend of computer-enriched voice communications.

Why SDN is not enough

A hot topic in telecoms at the moment is ‘software-defined networking’ (SDN). This term covers a range of technologies that put networks under the control of centralised management software. But what if SDN misses the point of why broadband networks exist in the first place?