The Next-Generation Internet: IPv6 Overview Podcast

Mike Q and I recorded "The Next-Generation Internet: IPv6 Overview" podcast today. Below are the show notes. You can listen directly by turning up your speakers and clicking here.

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Shownotes:

Intro: The world has changed significantly since the Internet was first created. IPv6 gives over 4.3x10²⁰ unique addresses for every square inch on the planet, and is going to allow us to do things we've only dreamed of in the past. In this podcast we give an overview of IPv6.

Mike: Gordon, before we get into the technology, can you give us an update on IPv6 history in the United States?

Sure Mike, this comes from a 1-minute history of the Internet by Federal Computer week at FCW.COM


Mike: So, the federal government has ordered its agencies to become IPv6- capable by June of 2008 and this is going to happen in June on our federal government networks - how about businesses?

It's happening with business too Mike. Let's take Verizon as an example as quoted in a Light Reading post from last September.

Verizon Business, which began its first phase of deploying IPv6 on the public IP network in 2004, will complete the North America region in 2008 and move into the Asia-Pacific and European regions from late 2008 to 2009. The company will operate both IPv6 and IPv4, in what is known as a "dual stack" arrangement, on its multi protocol label switching (MPLS) network core. The company also has deployed IPv6 throughout its network access points (peering facilities) where Internet service providers exchange traffic.

Mike: So, what's the problem with IPv4?

It's a combination of a lot of things - Microsoft has a nice set of resources on IPv4 and IPv6 - let's use that as a guide:

The current version of IP (known as Version 4 or IPv4) has not been substantially changed since RFC 791 was published in 1981. IPv4 has proven to be robust, easily implemented and interoperable, and has stood the test of scaling an internetwork to a global utility the size of today’s Internet. This is a tribute to its initial design. However, the initial design did not anticipate the following:

The recent exponential growth of the Internet and the impending exhaustion of the IPv4 address space. IPv4 addresses have become relatively scarce, forcing some organizations to use a Network Address Translator (NAT) to map multiple private addresses to a single public IP address. While NATs promote reuse of the private address space, they do not support standards-based network layer security or the correct mapping of all higher layer protocols and can create problems when connecting two organizations that use the private address space. Additionally, the rising prominence of Internet-connected devices and appliances ensures that the public IPv4 address space will eventually be depleted. The growth of the Internet and the ability of Internet backbone routers to maintain large routing tables. Because of the way that IPv4 network IDs have been and are currently allocated, there are routinely over 85,000 routes in the routing tables of Internet backbone routers. The current IPv4 Internet routing infrastructure is a combination of both flat and hierarchical routing. The need for simpler configuration. Most current IPv4 implementations must be either manually configured or use a stateful address configuration protocol such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). With more computers and devices using IP, there is a need for a simpler and more automatic configuration of addresses and other configuration settings that do not rely on the administration of a DHCP infrastructure. The requirement for security at the IP level. Private communication over a public medium like the Internet requires encryption services that protect the data being sent from being viewed or modified in transit. Although a standard now exists for providing security for IPv4 packets (known as Internet Protocol security or IPSec), this standard is optional and proprietary solutions are prevalent. The need for better support for real-time delivery of data—also called quality of service (QoS).

While standards for QoS exist for IPv4, real-time traffic support relies on the IPv4 Type of Service (TOS) field and the identification of the payload, typically using a UDP or TCP port. Unfortunately, the IPv4 TOS field has limited functionality and over time there were various local interpretations. In addition, payload identification using a TCP and UDP port is not possible when the IPv4 packet payload is encrypted. To address these and other concerns, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has developed a suite of protocols and standards known as IP version 6 (IPv6). This new version, previously called IP-The Next Generation (IPng), incorporates the concepts of many proposed methods for updating the IPv4 protocol. The design of IPv6 is intentionally targeted for minimal impact on upper and lower layer protocols by avoiding the random addition of new features.


Mike: OK - can you list the primary features of IPv6? What makes it different?

Sure Mike - this list also comes from Microsoft's website. The following are the features of the IPv6 protocol:

1. New header format
2. Large address space
3. Efficient and hierarchical addressing and routing infrastructure
4. Stateless and stateful address configuration
5. Built-in security
6. Better support for QoS
7. New protocol for neighboring node interaction
8. Extensibility

Mike: Let's go through the list with a brief summary of each. Your first item on the list was the new header format. What's different?

Mike: How about number 2, large address space?

Mike: Number 3 was efficient and hierarchical addressing and routing infrastructure - can you describe?

Mike: How about number 4, stateless and stateful address configuration?

Mike: Number 5 was built-in security.

Mike: How about number 6, better support for QoS?

Mike: And number 7, new protocol for neighboring node interaction?

Mike: And finally, number 8, extensibility.

Mike: Are there any other things you want to add to the list?

Mike: Are we ready?

I always look at the end devices (even though there is so much more) and, if we just look at desktops, you have to look at Microsoft.

Microsoft started with the following implementations of IPv6, all subsequent versions/products continue to support IPv6:

The IPv6 protocol for the Windows Server 2003 and later families.
The IPv6 protocol for Windows XP (Service Pack 1 [SP1] and later).
The IPv6 protocol for Windows CE .NET version 4.1 and later

The capture and parsing of IPv6 traffic is supported by Microsoft Network Monitor, supplied with Microsoft Server 2003 and later products.


Mike: This is a good overview - next week we'll get into some details on the IPv6 protocol!

Video Delivery and MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) Podcast

Mike Q and I recorded the 26 minute and 30 second podcast "Video Delivery and MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group)" today. Below are the show note questions and some diagrams referred to in the podcast. You can listen directly by turning up your speakers and clicking here.

If you have iTunes installed you can get this one, listen to others, and subscribe to our podcasts by following this link. If you don't have iTunes and want to listen to other podcasts and read full sets of shownotes using your web browser, follow this link.
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Intro: The Moving Picture Experts Group or MPEG, is a working group of ISO/IEC charged with the development of video and audio encoding standards. In this podcast we look at the MPEG standards and video delivery systems.

Mike: Gordon, what sources are we referring to here?
Wikipedia and white paper from the MPEG Industry Forum at www.m4if.org/public/documents/vault/m4-out-20027.pdf. we've also got a couple of diagrams from the Verizon website.

Mike: What's the history of MPEG?

Mike: Are these open standards?

Mike: What's the history? Can you tell us about MPEG-1?

Mike: How about MPEG-2?

Mike: We don't hear much about MPEG-3 - what's up with that?

Mike: Let's talk about MPEG-4 now.

Mike: What are some of the advantages of MPEG-4?

Mike: Let's switch gears and talk about carried video delivery systems - specifically the telcos and cable companies. How is this technology used?
It's different for broadcast and video on demand (VOD) content. Let's discuss broadcast systems and look at how Verizon (as an example) is setup.

Two National Super Head Ends (SHE) - one in Tampa and the other in Bloomington, IL:

- Diversely located - Satellites collect video feeds
- Video is converted to digital MPEG-2 and packaged in a 10-GigE payload
- SHE servers “pitch” data to the Video Hub Office (VHO)
- Three OC-192 SONET (long haul) rings that drop and continue GigE to VHOs

Mike: What is OC-192? Mike: OK, these video hub offices are distributed over Verizon's footprint - what happens when they get the video?
Video Hub Office (VHO) ex. Burlington MA Combines:

- National Channels
- Servers “catch” data from the SHE servers
- Off-Air, program guide, public, education, and government (PEG) channels, and local ads are injected
- Encrypts all content
- Content sent over several 1-GigE links to local Video Serving Offices (VSO, ex. CO) over SONET (medium haul)
- VSO then sends it to the OLT and then to the PON network for delivery to customer.

Mike: Broadcast is still done using traditional RF modulation methods - correct?
Yes - that will change - rumor has it Verizon will be trialing IP Broadcasting this summer in Pennsylvania - just a rumor!

Mike: Now - Video on Demand (VOD) does things a little differently - correct?
Yes - VOD delivers IP content to the customer - it is not in RF format:

- Content is requested by user via the IP network (private subnet)
- Content is then streamed from the video pumps to the Video Distribution Routers (VDR) in the VHO (ex. Burlington)
- VDR then sends 10-GigE links to a Video Aggregation Router (VAR)
- The Video Aggregation Router (VAR) then sends it to the Gateway Router (GWR) in the VSO (ex. CO)
- GWR then sends it to the OLT and then to the PON network

Mike: So - Verizon is combining Voice, Video and Data services on the same fiber?
Yes - Here's another nice diagram from the Verizon website:

More Telephone History (1878-1918)

A couple of weeks ago I pulled a piece out of a book I wrote about ten years ago titled Introduction to Telecommunications Networks. In that post I described the first year in the development of telephone technology. As a follow-up to that post, here's some of the major technical breakthroughs that happened between 1878 and 1918.

1878
Bell sets up the first operator switching exchange and at the same time, Western Union Telegraph Company (http://www.westernunion.com) decided to use its existing national telegraph wire network to set up its own telephone company. Bell quickly sued Western Union and Western Union settled out of court, selling its network to Bell.

Henry Hummings in England gets a British patent for a variable resistance telephone transmitter that used finely ground carbon. The carbon transmitter solved many of the early problems Bell had trying to use liquid and electromagnetic transmitters. The carbon transmitter also used a voice cone attached to a diaphragm.

The diaphragm, which was attached to a conductor, vibrated with sound waves and caused the closed container of ground carbon to compress and uncompress changing resistance in the same way the liquid transmitters did.

1885
American Telephone and Telegraph Company (http://www.att.com) was formed to provide long distance telephone service, connecting small Bell regional telephone franchises.

AT&T buys Henry Hummings’ ground carbon variable resistance telephone transmitter patent rights.

1886
Thomas Edison modified Henry Hummings’ finely ground carbon transmitter by using larger carbon granules. The larger granules created more current paths with sound wave compression and therefore allowed more current to flow in conjunction with the compression. The larger granules also did not pack as tightly over time like the finely ground carbon in Hummings’ transmitter. When they did pack, usually lightly hitting the transmitter on a hard surface would loosen them up.

1899
AT&T reorganizes, assuming the business and property of American Bell and becomes the parent company of the Bell System.

1908
Siemens (http://www.siemens.com) first tests dialtone on the public switched telephone network in a German city.

1918
AT&T patents an anti-sidetone solution for telephone receiver and transmitters. This technology allowed talkers to more easily adjust their voice volume when speaking into the telephone transmitter.

I'll continue with more history in a later post.

Community College Engineering Student Transfer

Yesterday I checked in via LinkedIn with a Holyoke Community College Engineering program
graduate who transferred to a nationally ranked top ten engineering university. The student is studying Electrical Engineering there and I asked how things were going. Here’s a screen shot of the response I got with identification information removed – including student name and the transfer university. Pretty cool!

The student compliments my two classes (Circuits 1 and Circuits 2) but there is so much more. Both classes are Calculus and Differential Equations based so the students need to really know their math stuff before I get them. The math, physics and chemistry instruction is  exceptional at Holyoke Community College – as it is at so many other community colleges in the country.  It is not just the STEM classes that prepare students for my classes though. To get their degree our students need to take additional courses including English Composition, History, Social Sciences and in some cases Business courses. These courses are critical, complementing the technical knowledge, skills and abilities gained in engineering courses, producing well-rounded professionals capable of addressing complex challenges with creativity, empathy, and ethical awareness.

 

I see it every day with students coming to my classes prepared to learn, solve problems, communicate and understand some pretty complex stuff. Amazing faculty doing amazing things in their classrooms makes it pretty easy for me to teach those classes.

We (community colleges) often face unjust criticism due to misconceptions. Despite offering quality education, we’re sometimes seen as inferior to four-year institutions. We provide valuable opportunities and options with smaller classes, dedicated faculty, and affordable tuition. And let's not forget transfer to four year institutions.

 

Thanks to the unnamed student – you certainly made the day!

STEM Studies: The Future of Engineering

Lauren Wilson,  Director of Admissions at Florida Polytechnic University offered the following as a guest post. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks Lauren!

New developments in the field of engineering owe a large debt to engineers with degrees from the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). These developments are making huge strides for organizations across the board, but the environmental, medical and manufacturing industries in particular. Here are four examples.

3D Printing

Prototypes are a key part of turning a concept into a final product, but creating one was labor-intensive before the advent of 3D printing. 3D printing allows mechanical engineers to put their imaginations to the test and build 3D visual representations much faster than physical prototypes. In addition to speed, 3D printing is also more cost-efficient and easier to use than physical prototyping.

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is changing the way mechanical engineers work by opening up the possibility of manufacturing devices on the molecular and atomic level for custom applications. These devices, which are designed to reduce weight, volume and power demands, carry the added benefit of greater sustainability.

For example, a nanotechnology engineer may work in the environmental industry testing different pollutants in the world’s food supply on the cellular level. Successful research would reduce these pollutants on a nanoscale and lay the groundwork for a more sustainable future.

STEM-focused curriculums provide an advantage in nanotechnology, because students work with cutting-edge technology to find solutions for real-world challenges. STEM universities also quickly adapt to industry changes to ensure best practices are taught for creating these materials.

Grid Decentralization

Electrical engineers focus primarily on up-and-coming fields in the engineering industry, including grid decentralization. Grid decentralization is gaining popularity from Colorado to Denmark as a way to reduce the environmental impact created by its communities. Unlike conventional power stations, grid decentralization technology uses renewable energy sources like solar and wind to create power. STEM studies have helped cities and countries transform the way they collect power by thoroughly covering topics ranging from micro-grids to “smart” grids. More importantly, these studies put creative power directly into the hands of students with hands-on projects, internships and real-world challenges. 

Lean Manufacturing

Lean manufacturing has dramatically reshaped the roles of industrial engineers over the past decade. Driven by STEM studies, lean manufacturing is focuses on eliminating waste from production processes to create a more agile system. With a primary focus on making systems more sustainable, faster and cost-effective, industrial engineers developed this principle based on studies in STEM subjects including: multifunctional materials, nanotechnology, supply chain logistics, Six Sigma and system analysis. 

Universities offering industrial engineering degree programs take a pragmatic approach to learning in the classroom. Students can expect to concentrate on applying the principles of design, analysis and manufacturing to real-world challenges to improve mechanical systems.

Artificial Organs

Biomedical engineering fuses engineering principles with biology to build life-saving medical technologies such as artificial organs. Although biomedical engineering has had a long history, the most recent groundbreaking technologies are a result of advanced education in STEM subjects. Artificial hearts and iPills, for example, are two biomedical engineering breakthroughs that have restored hope for critically ill patients. Biomedical engineering students in STEM learn how to develop and maintain improved medical systems, and perform research on artificial organs, implanted devices, prosthetics and radiation therapy.

STEM focuses solely on the four subjects used most frequently by engineers, and it essentially guarantees that more breakthroughs and improvements are to come. With the help of a STEM education, engineers can apply best practices for reducing energy consumption, minimizing environmental impact and increasing efficiency. From 3D printing to nanotechnology, there’s no denying the future of engineering is bright and full of potential.

Lauren Willison

As the Director of Admissions at Florida Polytechnic University, Lauren Willison is responsible for supporting the Vice Provost of Enrollment in managing recruitment efforts. She develops and coordinates on- and off-campus events, as well as manages the campus visit experience.

A Great 2008 Summer Conference

Last week, doing something a little different than we’ve done in the past, the National Center for Telecommunications Technologies (NCTT, focusing on information and communications technologies) collaborated with sister NSF Advanced Technology Education Centers of Excellence Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC, focusing on semi-conductor, automated manufacturing and electronics) and OP-TEC (focusing on optics and photonics) to sponsor the SAME-TEC conference in Austin, Texas. Additional sponsors included Austin Community College, AT&T, Intel, National Instruments, MATEC Networks, the National Science Foundation, the Southwest Center for Microsystems Education (SCME), SEMI, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the Texas Business & Education Coalition (TBEC), Texas Instruments, and the Texas State Technical Colleges (TSTC).

SAME-TEC has a long history, starting in 1994 with the vision of David Hata at Portland Community College and continuing to grow and evolve under the leadership and direction of Mike Lesiecki and his team at MATEC.

Last year, while attending SAME-TEC 2007, Dan Hull proposed our three centers collaborate in the 2008 conference and we jumped at the opportunity. The results were greater than I certainly expected. Last week each center focused on it’s own high tech pieces and over 350 attendees had the opportunity to “mix it up” and go to sessions in other disciplines. As the SAME-TEC website notes ~ faculty connected with each other to share practices, knowledge, and new approaches to help students succeed. Industry members connected with educators to ultimately help ensure students emerge into the workforce with the knowledge and skills desired by themselves and employers. Exhibitors connected with existing and potential clients to help determine current and future needs.

Mike’s leadership, Dan’s experience and the work of each center’s team really pulled the conference together nicely. I feel incredibly fortunate to work with such talented and dedicated people.

Of course we had a few hiccups along the way and will learn from them. Next year will be even better – we’ll do it again in collaboration with a number of additional NSF Centers. Watch www.nctt.org, www.matec.org and www.op-tec.org for details.

Carrier IQ - are You Being Tracked?

Last month, security researcher Trevor Eckhart published a report accusing CarrierIQ of installing malware on more than 140 million devices worldwide. Eckhart also published a video showing CIQ's software secretly running in the background and monitoring a variety of handset activity on an HTC device including key presses, browsing history, SMS logs, and location data. If you have not seen it, here's Part 2 of Trevor's video: 



Yesterday Senator Al Franken from Minnesota "reached out" to AT&T, HTC, Samsung, and Sprint Nextel after they acknowledged their use of Carrier IQ’s diagnostic software to request that they explain (within the next 12 days) what they do with the information they receive from the software.
Also yesterday, Carrier IQ released a statement saying:

We measure and summarize performance of the device to assist Operators in delivering better service. While a few individuals have identified that there is a great deal of information available to the Carrier IQ software inside the handset, our software does not record, store or transmit the contents of SMS messages, email, photographs, audio or video. For example, we understand whether an SMS was sent accurately, but do not record or transmit the content of the SMS. We know which applications are draining your battery, but do not capture the screen.

In addition, the following updates have been posted by The Huffington Post:

Grant Paul, a well-known iPhone hacker who goes by the screenname "chpwn",wrote on his blog that Apple has included Carrier IQ on the iPhone, but the software's default is disabled.  

Want to find out if your phone is secretly tracking you? Check out our comprehensive list of the devices and carriers known to use Carrier IQ.

Apple iPad First Impression Podcast

Last week Steve Jobs and Apple announced the iPad. Jobs and Apple say the tablet-style iPad computer represents a whole new category of consumer electronic devices. On Sunday we recorded a 36 minute and 40 second podcast where Mike Qaissaunee gives his first impressions and we discussed some of the technical specifications of the iPad. Here's a list of some of the questions Mike answers:

Size - How big is the iPad?
What about the hardware? Some people are referring to this thing as a big iPhone or iPod Touch?
What about the screen?
What about capacity?
Does the iPad have senors like the iPhone?
What about wireless?
What about other carriers?
Bluetooth?
What about GPS?
Battery Life?
What about the processor?
What about the software?
What about what's missing?
So, what do you think - is this going to go down in history as a revolutionary device?

Podcast

To access Mike Q and my 36 minute and 40 second podcast titled Apple iPad First Impression Podcast, click here.

Listen to it directly in your web browser by clicking here.

If you have iTunes installed you can subscribe to our podcasts by clicking here.

New Federal Regulations will Have Impact On Open Source Wireless Devices

On July 6, 2007, new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations in the United States went into effect on devices that use software-defined radio (SDR) technologies. These devices include wireless access points, cell phones, PDA's, wireless network cards, etc. The FCC ruling will make it more difficult for manufacturers to get approval for these types of devices in this country. Accoring to the FCC the regulations are based primarily on safety and will attempt to stop users from doing things like modifying the source code of the devices to boost power or change frequencies of the devices.

Some of the most popular SDR devices among network savvy users on the market today are the Linksys WRT54G series wireless access points. These were the first, and still most popular, consumer devices to have their source code released, allowing users to make modifications and essentially "soup up" the performance of the router. There are numerous third party firmware projects for these devices with a good active list maintained on Wikipedia linked here. Currently the three most popular firmware replacements are Alchemy and Talisman produced by Sveasoft, and DD-WRT.

The Open Source WRT54G Story linked here, describes the history of the device and also describes how you can "turn a $60 router into a $600 router". Here's a couple of quotes from the article:

"While routers used to be the domain of networking specialists, they’ve gone mainstream along with residential broadband. Commodity routers can be had for as little as – well, "free after rebate” in some cases, and often not much more. To keep them cheap, consumer-grade vendors like Linksys repackage designs from OEM vendors rather than design the hardware and software in-house".

"The tradeoff for these sub-$100 routers can be reliability, particularly in the coding of the firmware – the software “brain” that controls the router’s functions. Consumer-grade firmware may be buggy, and may be limited in functionality compared to commercial-grade routers designed for business such as those made by Cisco and SonicWall".

This is very interesting - according to a piece on LinuxDevices.com linked here:

"A summary document published by the FCC suggests that the new regulations were actually proposed by Cisco, a vendor of wireless cards and other networking equipment. The summary document suggests that because of the new rules, SDR device vendors who use open-source software in certain capacities could face challenges getting FCC approval".

You can read the 2500 word FCC summary document linked here.

The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) has responded with a white paper saying the the FCC has little regulation authority of hardware devices and the FCC is stifling software development with this regulation. The SFLC white paper is linked here.


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Listen to Mike Q and my latest podcast "One Week with the iPhone" linked here.

A Conversation with MATEC Executive Director Mike Lesiecki

I'm still picking apart John McCain's technology policy and will have my summary posted before the end of this long weekend.

Earlier this month I wrote about how the National Center for Telecommunications Technologies (NCTT, focusing on information and communications technologies) collaborated with sister NSF Advanced Technology Education Centers of Excellence Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC, focusing on semi-conductor, automated manufacturing and electronics) and OP-TEC (focusing on optics and photonics) to sponsor the SAME-TEC 2008 Conference in Austin, Texas.

SAME-TEC has a long history, starting in 1994 with the vision of David Hata at Portland Community College and continuing to grow and evolve under the leadership and direction of Mike Lesiecki and his team at MATEC. This year the conference had over 350 attendees.

At the conference we did a number of video interviews and John Reynolds, our multimedia specialist, has been hard at work editing them. We've now got the first one posted - an interview with Mike.



There will be many more posted and you can get them different ways:

YouTube: Watch our YouTube Channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/NatCtrTelecomTech

Streaming and Downloading: View streaming videos and download content using your web browser at: http://nctt.org/podcast

iTunes: If you have iTunes installed you can watch and listen to this one, watch and listen to others, and subscribe to our video and audio podcasts by following this link.

We're planning and looking forward to next years conference. Watch here, our center websites and SAME-TEC.ORG for 2009 Conference information and updates.