SAN JOSE, Calif. (IP MULTICAST INITIATIVE SUMMIT) -- Feb. 10, 1998 -- Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced industry interest for its new multicast specification which Cisco recently submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The PGM Reliable Transport Protocol was developed by Cisco, with technical contribution from TIBCO Software, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA), to assure scalability and dependability of bandwidth-conserving applications. The new transport technology eases network management tasks of applications such as desktop conferencing, software distribution, stock quote and real-time news distribution and messaging in addition to broadcast radio and television, and gaming.
In related announcements, GlobalCast Communications and TIBCO Software announced support for the PGM Reliable Transport Protocol. Other companies currently evaluating the protocol include Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Precept Software Inc., and StarBurst Communications.
Cisco has led the multicast technology standardization, development and deployment on the Internet and intranets. Multicast technology enables efficient usage of the network bandwidth to reach hundreds, thousands and millions of users simultaneously with audio and video data. PGM Reliable Transport Protocol adds a layer of reliability to the multicast networks enabling business-class applications such as real-time financial data distribution and software distribution.
"PGM Reliable Transport Protocol fills the need as a standardized mechanism for reliable multicast for both the host and the network," said Cliff Meltzer, Cisco vice president and general manager of Cisco IOS® technologies. "PGM Reliable Transport Protocol brings application vendors and network vendors closer together to make available more business-critical applications quickly."
"We are excited about our involvement in the design and development of this improved multicast industry standard," said Mark Bowles, chief technology officer of TIBCO Software Inc. "We plan to base our future products with this technology which provides significant benefits to customers who require reliable delivery of real-time, event-driven business information."
"As the market for videoconferencing continues to grow, we believe a reliable multicast technology will become increasingly more important to businesses," said Scott Darling, general manager of the Business Communication Products Operation at Intel Corporation. "We are pleased Cisco is developing a protocol, and we look forward to working with them and other industry leaders in developing a scalable and robust standard."
"Microsoft is excited by the application of Reliable IP Multicast and sees PGM addressing some problems spaces not addressed by other multicast protocols," said Peter Ford, senior program manager, networking, Windows Operating Systems Division at Microsoft. "We appreciate Cisco advancing the industry dialog on reliable multicasting."
"We expect a broad scope of users to benefit from the way we are working with Cisco to propel use of reliable multicast technology forward," said Tom Jasek, president and CEO of GlobalCast. "Making this technology available to software developers writing networked applications will raise the bar for customers selecting the Internet as their network of choice."
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