Lucent introduces Inferno software innovation from Bell Labs

MURRAY HILL, N.J. -- Lucent Technologies today announced plans to bring the
latest networking software innovation from Bell Labs to market.

Called Inferno, this new software supports highly interactive networked
software applications -- anything from electronic mail and work-at-home
capabilities to video games and pay-per-view movies -- on almost any
computer or entertainment system, over any communications network, from
telephony and cable television to satellite broadcast and the Internet.

In addition, with Inferno, applications developers need to create only one
program to run on a variety of devices, such as computers, TVs, and
telephones.

"This is just one example of the kind of innovation Lucent Technologies can
bring to the marketplace because we have Bell Labs," said Henry Schacht,
chairman and CEO of Lucent Technologies.

The company said it will begin licensing Inferno software immediately to
telephone and cable companies as well as electronic device manufacturers,
applications developers, and content providers.

Inferno software requires minimal hardware and uses less than one megabyte
of memory, which makes it well suited to emerging network environments and
for use with a wide range of communications devices, including multimedia
PCs, Internet terminals, hand-held devices, advanced telephones and
set-top boxes.

Lucent Technologies said telephone companies, cable television companies
and businesses, such as hotels, can use Inferno to provide a wide range of
advanced services to their customers.

"Inferno is a unique network operating system that adapts to whatever you
plug into it -- from a high-end workstation to an inexpensive hand-held
device," said Dennis Ritchie, head of systems software research at Bell
Labs. "Imagine the ease and flexibility of a world in which you can get
your e-mail virtually anywhere, from any machine -- on your PC at the
office, from a screen phone in an airport, on your TV at home or on a
hotel room TV if you're traveling."

The company said a dedicated business unit will develop, market and sell
Inferno. Comprised of 20 professionals and headed by Vice President and
General Manager Mike Skarzynski, this team will have the opportunity to
draw on the full range of Lucent Technologies' resources to bring Inferno
to market.

"Inferno is networking software and builds on our unique abilities there,"
said Bell Labs President Dan Stanzione. "We've established a dedicated
team to get this innovation off the bench and into the marketplace
faster."

The Inferno software was developed by researchers Rob Pike, Phil
Winterbottom and Sean Dorward of the Bell Labs Computing Sciences Research
Center, where the UnixR operating system and the C and C++ programming
languages also were invented. A detailed description of Inferno is
available on the Bell Labs web site at http://inferno.bell-
labs.com/inferno/.

The Inferno offer includes the network operating system; the communications
protocols, called Styx; the network API (application programming
interface); the programming language, known as Limbo and the "virtual
machine" called Dis. Inferno runs as a stand-alone operating system on
Intel x86, MIPS and ARM processors, or can be hosted as a virtual system
on UNIX, NT and Win95 platforms.

Lucent Technologies was formed as a result of AT&T's previously announced
plans to restructure itself into three separate companies. Lucent
Technologies designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and
private networks, communication systems and software, consumer and
business telephone systems and microelectronics components. Bell Labs is
the research and development arm for the company.
 
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