Testing meets a 'multimedia digital tsunami' (continued)

A continuation of our interview with Atul Bhatnagar, president and CEO of Ixia, which appeared in the August 2010 Viewpoint column.

By Larry Maloney, Contributing Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 8/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

Atul Bhatnagar President and CEO Ixia Calabasas, CA With more than 20 years in the computing and communications industries, Atul Bhatnagar runs Ixia's day-to-day operations and is also intimately involved with strategy and long-term business planning. Prior to joining Ixia, he led product development at a mobile-to-mobile convergence start-up, DiVitas Networks, focusing on WiFi and cellular convergence. Prior to that, he served as VP and GM of the Enterprise Data Networks Division of Nortel. Bhatnagar also held management positions at Alteon Web Systems and Hewlett-Packard. He holds an MSEE from the University of New Mexico and a BSEE from India's Birla Institute of Technology and Science. Contributing editor Larry Maloney conducted a phone interview with Atul Bhatnagar about test challenges and solutions in wired and wireless networks. Read the first part of this interview. Read past Viewpoint columns at www.tmworld.com/viewpoint.

Read the first part of this interview.

Q: What do you see as the purpose of the new Network Test Automation Forum?
A: Ixia is one of the founding members of that new group, whose main mission is to ensure interoperable test solutions. That's very important, because no single company has a monopoly on test solutions, and customers should not have to bear the burden of integrating test solutions.

One goal, for example, is to develop a software layer that resides between network equipment, such as switches and routers, and network test equipment. But NTAF isn't the only industry body concerned with important collaboration. As we developed our 100-Gigabit testing technology, we worked very closely with IEEE and networking companies.

Q: To what extent does Ixia partner with other test firms in providing solutions for your customers?
A: It's an important part of our strategy, because in this day and age, no one company has the time or money to implement everything customers need. We basically do two types of partnerships.

One approach is to operate as an OEM, integrating certain technologies developed by other firms into our products. The second approach is to partner with others in providing a solution for customers. For example, Ixia partnered with Codenomicon to develop IxDefend, a set of tools that network equipment companies use to evaluate vulnerability to security threats. We also work with companies like Accanto and Fanfare to develop various test modules.

Q: How does last year's acquisition of Catapult and Agilent's N2X Data Network testing line expand Ixia's test solutions?
A: As noted earlier, the Catapult acquisition put us squarely in the wireless space. It made us a key player in the simulation and testing of base stations and enhanced packet core. What we are finding is that the next generation of wireless core is leveraging IP standards and security standards from the IP networks, and we already have core products in that arena.

The acquisition of Agilent's N2X product line was really a consolidation opportunity. N2X was number three in its market when we acquired it, and it had done a fantastic job with broadband networks, with carriers, and with the divisions of large networking companies that cater to the carriers. Ixia's strength was always in the switching and routing divisions of networking companies, and the N2X acquisition gave us broader market share, greater international presence, and stronger ties with carriers.

As the economy bounces back, both of these acquisitions will add considerably to our growth.

Q: How much of Ixia's first quarter revenues can be attributed to these new acquisitions?
A: Total revenue for the 2010 first quarter was $63 million, a 67% increase versus the same quarter in 2009. About $19.2 million of the $63 million came from products associated with the Catapult and N2X acquisitions. But even without these new products, Ixia's revenue from its core products grew substantially on a year-over-year basis.

Q: What's the genesis of Ixia's IxGreen test suite?
A: Energy efficiency is becoming more and more of an issue with our network customers, but until recently, there wasn't a methodical way of measuring it. So, Ixia worked with Juniper Networks and Lawrence Livermore Labs to develop an ECR (energy consumption rating) for networking equipment.

Basically, the concept is that if you want to measure the energy efficiency of a networking switch or router, you can't provide realistic data until you load it up and start exercising the chips, FPGAs, and other aspects of the hardware. What the ECR algorithm does is measure wattage against megabit per second of data transmission based on different loads on the network.

IxGreen is the industry's first green test-and-measurement solution, allowing measurement of a network device's power consumption at various load conditions. Using real-world application traffic profiles, IxGreen offers fully integrated energy measurements, comprehensive reports with time-related energy and external load data graphics, plus analysis of the conducted test. This concept has been very well received, and many companies are now using IxGreen in the development stage of their network devices to measure the energy efficiency of their design. The test suite is also being used after equipment is deployed, especially with all the interest in green data centers.

Q: From a global standpoint, which regions do you feel are leading the way in deploying advanced communications networks?
A: We see a lot of diversity. No single region is pushing all the technology envelopes. For example, LTE and 4G are being pushed very aggressively in Asia, particularly Japan, Korea and also to some extent in China with TDD-LTE (time-division duplex LTE).

In North America, we see significant interest in high-performance, converged data centers, especially next-generation Ethernet infrastructure. Security issues are also very important in North America right now, as is layer 4 -7 testing for deep packet inspection devices. Looking at Europe and the Middle East, the large telecom carriers and equipment manufacturers are driving the converged wireless and wired infrastructure and are pushing for advanced testing solutions. And in all of these regions, we see very strong interest in 10-, 40-, and 100-Gigabit technology. Every region also is deploying next-generation IP and Ethernet infrastructure.

Q: Looking to the future, what capabilities will your customers require in cutting-edge test systems?
A: First, customers are pushing us hard to keep pace with the scalability of networks, particularly the adoption of 10-, 40-, and 100-Gigabit technology. The density of these high-speed Ethernet links also is increasing significantly. Second, customers are confronted with this digital tsunami of rich multimedia applications, so they need leading-edge tools for realistic simulations, often involving millions of end users. That's essential for capacity planning. Third, as networks become more and more mobile, security is becoming a bigger issue. So, you need to test for vulnerability of your crucial data as it moves through the network. And finally, with the growth of converged data centers, customers want to make sure that their various test solutions are interoperable.