Virata Simplifies Home Networks with UPnP

By Michael Foley
iApplianceWeb
(08/22/01, 08:37:50 AM EDT)

Virata Corporation has integrated Universal Plug-and-Play (UPnP) Internet Gateway Device specification for NAT traversal into its Integrated Software on Silicon (ISOS) platform. Incorporating UPnP into ISOS will allow any Virata-enabled gateway or router to be auto-detected by PCs running Windows Me and Windows XP. Once detected, an end-user can automatically set-up a gateway through simple, interactive point-and-click responses. Integrating NAT traversal into ISOS through UPnP will simplify networking applications, such as online gaming, video conferencing, and instant messaging by eliminating the user's need to configure port mappings on a gateway or router. This will allow a user to simply plug in any new UPnP-enabled device and have it automatically work on the network.

UPnP is a networking architecture supported by Windows Me and Windows XP that enables network devices of all forms, such as PCs, PDAs, printers, broadband routers, and consumer electronics to truly plug in and play on the home network. UPnP devices will be able to seamlessly connect and communicate with each other over any TCP/IP network without the need for user configuration, centralized servers, PCs, or product-specific driver software. UPnP builds upon existing standards and technologies, such as TCP/IP and HTTP, and is anticipated to simplify consumer-service activation for a wide range of service types.

Interfacing NAT software with UPnP in ISOS, Virata-based gateways will be able to accommodate applications needing to seamlessly "traverse the NAT" and should eliminate the need to manually configure gateway ports when setting up a connection to external PCs or servers.

Link:
Virata