LSI Corporation today announced immediate availability of LSI(TM) Broadband Access Software Release 8.1 for the family of LSI APP communications processors. The new software supports the IPv6 protocol, including enhanced security and quality of service (QoS) management capabilities that are crucial to the effective delivery of services over IPv6, in addition to supporting IPv4 video, voice and data services.

Today's traffic management schemes must be able to prioritize network services so that network providers can deploy tiered customer services with multiple quality and price levels. LSI Broadband Access 8.1 enables tiered services in IPv6 networks by providing network managers with service-aware management tools such as subscriber flow isolation and dynamic priority modification. The software also provides sophisticated bandwidth-capping algorithms that optimize bandwidth allocation and reduce the need for constant capacity upgrades.

"The rapid growth of tiered services is driving the need for service-aware features that are easy to deploy," said Bob Wheeler, senior analyst, The Linley Group. "The new version of LSI Broadband Access software provides next-generation service-aware features for IPv6 now, which will enable OEMs to deliver IPv6 broadband access-ready systems in 2010."

The continued expansion of wireless and wireline Internet usage is being driven in part by the deployment of innovative, tiered services that require higher levels of QoS, service configurability, data security and mobile application support. LSI Broadband Access software enables a new generation of service-aware, tiered subscription plans in IPv6 broadband access networks. Using programmable hardware schedulers in the LSI APP communications processor and its own hierarchical scheduling algorithms, the software enables network traffic to be dynamically shaped for specific services and subscribers.

"Our new software enables service providers to deploy the tiered services they require and increase IP address capacity immediately," said Sindhu Xirasagar, product line manager, Networking Components Division, LSI. "In addition, it provides our OEMs with a common, full-featured platform for the development of highly intelligent, highly configurable, next-generation services."

LSI Broadband Access software is currently deployed in DSLAM, MSAN and PON MDU systems around the world, enabling several million VDSL2, ADSL2 and GPON/EPON ports. It uses a single API for the complete suite of LSI APP3300 and APP300 devices and is configurable with any brand of customer premise equipment, so OEMs can leverage a single application across a broad system portfolio. The result is a solution that can deliver cost-optimized, any-to-any networks over a wide range of performance levels.