While working on Server Client Communication Framework i came accross the Apache Netty which is pretty much the same I am plannign to develop.
Here is basic example of using these API provided by apache
http://bruno.factor45.org/blag/2010/07/15/handshaking-tutorial-with-netty/
We also need to see Apache MINA.
Here is a pretty good comparision between these 2
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1637752/netty-vs-apache-mina
I am also exploring these 2 and will post some more details soon.