[November 17, 2003] NEC Contributes To Moonv6 Demo Of IPv6 Using BlueFire Routers And Switches NEC America, Inc. (NEC) announced its contribution to Moonv6, a multi-vendor demonstration of the next-generation Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). Among the first data networking solutions to support IPv6, NEC's BlueFire routers and switches are deployed in several positions within the test network. NEC's BlueFire Series of multiservice switch routers, enterprise multilayer switches and access routers were used at an event that formally launched a nationwide IPv6 proving ground at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) in Durham, N.H. The performance and interoperability of the BlueFire components contributed to the success of the Moonv6 project. The Moonv6 project aims to test the protocol under real-world conditions and is backed by the U.S. Defense Department, leading IPv6 engineering groups and more than 30 of the country's largest networking, testing and communications companies. It is a collaborative effort that includes several Department of Defense agencies as well as the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines. The DoD began phasing out IPv4 this autumn, mandating that all networking devices sold to the military must be IPv6-compatible by 2008. "NEC foresaw the need to support IPv6 several years ago," said Kiyoh Takahashi, vice president and general manager for NEC America's IP Network Division (IPND). "In 2000, we delivered our first hardware-based IPv6 switches to BIGLOBE, Japan's second largest Internet Service Provider. It was only a matter of time before IPv6 would be implemented throughout the United States so we have incorporated the protocol in hardware to proactively anticipate customer needs." The IPv6 test bed network will remain in place as a U.S.-wide proving ground for industry, universities, research labs, Internet providers, the Department of Defense and other government agencies to help facilitate wide-scale adoption and deployment of IPv6 throughout North America. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]