Bray-based network management firm Data Edge has secured deals worth €700,000 in total for the provision of its atomic timing or Synchronisation and Network Timing Protocol (NTP) services: deals which will contribute to the firm’s estimated revenue of €1m for 2008.
Data Edge, whose customer base includes banks, telecoms providers, public bodies and universities, said the growth in this market has been driven not just by a demand for next-generation services like live streaming web TV or real-time telepresence but also by newly introduced regulatory regimes in many organisations.
As transmission technology has evolved alongside next-gen networking, there exist ‘fresh timing challenges’ when it comes to the synchronisation of networks. Data edge implements Precision Time Protocol (PTP) to deal with these challenges.
Paul Phelan, chief technology officer of Data Edge, said: “NGN (next-generation networks) systems that many Irish telecoms providers are currently installing will support advanced services like internet TV and video on demand.
“However, without highly accurate timing, features we take for granted like a stutter-free picture, properly synchronised voice and video and fast channel changing will not work.
“Data Edge is playing a crucial part in ensuring the quality of these exciting new services,” he added.
This NTP service is actually being rolled out at the moment as part of Grid-Ireland, so it will essentially be linking up all the super-computers from colleges, universities and research institutes around the country.
Dr Brian Coghlan, head of Trinity College Dublin’s Computer Architecture & Grid Research Group, said that without this precise atomic timing provided by Data Edge, large-scale experiments and complex calculations for research into new drugs etc would not be possible.
By Marie Boran
Pictured: Brian McBride, managing director, Data Edge and Paul Phelan, technical director, Data Edge
