SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cisco Systems, Inc.,the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today introducesseveral newstandards-based software features including DiffServ-aware TrafficEngineering (DS-TE) and Quality of Service (QoS) enhancements to deliverMultiprotocol LabelSwitching (MPLS) guaranteed bandwidth services. By deploying Cisco'sMPLS solution for guaranteed bandwidth services, service providers nowcan offer voiceand data services with point-to-point bandwidth guarantees using an MPLSnetwork -- an industry first for connectionless networks.

"Cisco's DiffServ-aware TE solution will enable us to providepoint-to-point guarantees across our 2.5 Gigabit per second packetnetwork in France," says HervePrigent, MPLS and Guaranteed Bandwidth project leader for TF-NGN andtechnical manager at CRIHAN. ``We need these point-to-point guaranteesfor trunkingapplication flows in support of metacomputing and remote control oflarge scientific equipment that previously was possible only withcircuit-switched networks."

In a separate announcement:

Cisco Systems Inc.,the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today announcesavailability of theindustry's most comprehensive Quality of Service (QoS) DifferentiatedServices (DiffServ) solution. Cisco's DiffServ solution, enabled byCisco IOS® Software, offersseveral management and provisioning tools to increase networkscalability and manageability. These tools, including Cisco QoS DeviceManager, QoS Policy Manager,Cisco Internet Performance Monitor and Cisco Service ManagementSolution, have been enhanced to provide enterprise and service providercustomers with theflexibility to provision DiffServ across a wide range of link types,speeds, platforms and network usage scenarios.

"Cisco's DiffServ solution represents an important milestone for thefuture of Cisco's QoS strategy, setting the stage for more simplifiedprovisioning andIntServ-DiffServ integration on Cisco platforms, as well as a movementtowards truly powerful policy-based networking," says Tere Bracco,director of eBusinessInfrastructure, Current Analysis.

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