Ipsilon Networks Inc is targeting Cisco Systems Inc’s huge installed base of router networks by adding Cisco technology to its Internet Protocol Switching offerings. In a move that may lead to legal proceedings, Ipsilon says it has been able to add Cisco Systems’ proprietary IGRP Internet Gateway Routing Protocol, used in Cisco routers, without prior knowledge or assistance from Cisco. Network Briefing hears that the Sunnyvale, California-based company was able to work out the routing protocol during a four month project using network analyzers and a specification published on the Web by Rutgers University of New Jersey. The maneuvre means that Ipsilon’s Internet Protocol Switching will work in pure Cisco router networks. Cisco is reported to be in legal discussions with Ipsilon regarding the news, although neither company would comment. Ipsilon, however, is confident that it has not infringed Cisco’s copyright. According to Larry Blair, the company’s vice-president of marketing, At no time did we recompile Cisco source code. It is a standard practice in the industry. It is not unlike how Cisco moved into the IBM Corp Advanced Peer to Peer Networking and Digital Equipment Corp DECnet market. Although Internet Protocol Switching can work in a mixed network of Cisco Internet Gateway Routing Protocol routers and other routers running either the industry-standard Open Shortest Path First or RIP, Routing Information Protocol, the Internet Gateway Routing Protocol support eliminates the requirement to have those other routing protocols running in the network. According to the company, adding Internet Gateway Routing Protocol support to their products can be achieved through Web browser access to a one-page set-up procedure. Ipsilon’s routing protocol implementation is in beta testing and the company plans to release it by the end of the year. Ipsilon also said it had examined the issues involved in migrating the IGRP protocol to the next version of the Internet Engineering Task Force’s Internet Protocol, the IP V6. The company submitted a draft specification to the Task Force and has requested that it hold a session on the topic at its next meeting in December.
