Cisco to open R&D centre in Japan

Cisco will open a Tokyo-based research and development centre focusing on internet software and routing technologies in February 2005.

The company will initially invest £6m over five years in the centre, which will employ 10 engineers working on development of the company's Internetwork Operating System (IOS) and IOS XR software, routers, Internet Protocol version 6 and wireless technologies, the company said.

IOS is the Cisco software that supports Cisco-built networks. IOS XR is a newer version that supports the company's recently developed Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS-1).

The opening of the centre comes after the company won several major contracts for its software and equipment based on the CRS-1 system from Japanese customers.

Softbank, which operates broadband services in Japan under the Yahoo name, has chosen CRS-1  for its network backbone. Japan's National Institute of Informatics will also use the CRS-1 as its core routing system for research into grid, supercomputing and other applications, according to Cisco.

Earlier this month Cisco announced it would develop co-branded products such as routers running on IOS XR for Japan-based networks with Fujitsu.

Paul Kallender writes for the IDG News Service