Stealthy convergence startup drops the veil – a bit – and promises multimedia over many networks

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

November 14, 2005

1 Min Read
Stoke Uncloaks

Keenly watched stealth startup Stoke Inc. is going public with some details about its technology, pushing multimedia as its key capability in the increasingly crowded fixed/mobile convergence game.

The firm says it will handle calls and data across fixed and mobile networks with a "high-perfomance line rate IP session management platform," according to Sudhakar Ramakrishna, Stoke's VP of product management and strategy, or "Rama" as he told Unstrung to call him.

So what does such a beast do then?

The box, which is to be installed at major metropolitan POPs, or the "service edge" in Stoke-speak, will secure and terminate IP sessions and allow operators to perform tasks like rate limiting and bandwidth control.

"It is optimized for both voice and multimedia sessions," according to Rama, to handle "large multimedia sessions across networks."

The firm is clearly hoping to catch the growing wave of interest in delivering video and TV services over mobile networks as well as cable and DSL.

Stoke has so far gathered around $30 million in two rounds of venture funding to push its "one big network" strategy. (See Stoke Gets Stoked With $20M.)

As well as Procket-man Randall Kruep, the Stoke management team includes veterans from {dirlink 2|19} (Nasdaq: CSCO), {dirlink 12|20} (Nasdaq: JNPR), and others.

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung

About the Author(s)

Dan Jones

Mobile Editor

Dan is to hats what Will.I.Am is to ridiculous eyewear. Fedora, trilby, tam-o-shanter -- all have graced the Jones pate during his career as the go-to purveyor of mobile essentials.

But hey, Dan is so much more than 4G maps and state-of-the-art headgear. Before joining the Light Reading team in 2002 he was an award-winning cult hit on Broadway (with four 'Toni' awards, two 'Emma' gongs and a 'Brian' to his name) with his one-man show, "Dan Sings the Show Tunes."

His perfectly crafted blogs, falling under the "Jonestown" banner, have been compared to the works of Chekhov. But only by Dan.

He lives in Brooklyn with cats.

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