Thursday, March 19, 2009

ZTE Secures US$15 Billion Credit Line from China Development Bank

China Development Bank will provide ZTE a US$15 billion credit line, including ZTE's overseas project financing and ZTE's credit limits, under a 5-year agreement announced by the companies. The two companies are currently in discussion to develop specific terms and procedures on financing project and how to effectively execute the business cooperation.


ZTE noted that in view of the current global financial crisis, majority of mainstream financing agencies based in Europe and the U.S. are trying to find ways how to address issues such as inadequate liquidity and credit crunch. In contrast, China Development Bank claims a healthy balance sheet as well as strong financing and credit worthiness.


China Development Bank is the fifth largest commercial bank in China. In 2008, its total asset was valued at 2,890 billion RMB with non-performing loan ratio within 1%. The bank also holds exceptional advantage in the area of export credit.


ZTE generated 2008 revenue of approximately RMB 44,293 million (US$6,388 million), representing an increase of 27.37% over 2007. In the 3G tender bids offered by China's three largest telecom operators, ZTE obtained about 30% of the total local markets to deploy about 660,000 3G carrier frequency, positioning itself as the clear leader in China's 3G industry.
http://wwwen.zte.com.cn

STMicroelectronics Launches Single-Chip Set-Top Box ICs

STMicroelectronics introduced two new single-chip STB ICs for cable and satellite set top boxes that share a common architecture and are software compatible, enabling efficient development and fast time-to-market for products such as basic zappers, interactive and DVR-capable STBs, and hybrid STBs.


The STi5197 (cable) includes a QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) demodulator and the STi5189 (satellite) includes a QPSK (quadrature phase-shift keying) demodulator, and both products have a common architecture for MPEG-2 audio/video-decoding and application-processing functions. The common architecture saves product development time, lowers bill-of-material costs, and simplifies pc-board design to deliver highly price-competitive products into global markets. Each device supports relevant cable or satellite broadcast standards. The STi5197 supports DVB-C including ITU-T J83 Annexes A/B/C, and TSMF (Transport Stream Multiplex Frame). The STi5189 supports DVB-S for satellite. All industry-standard middleware and browsers are also supported.


Both ICs support all major conditional-access security schemes, with integrated DVB, DES (Data Encryption Standard), Multi2 and ICAM (Integrated Conditional Access Module) descramblers as well as a built-in smart-card interface, which will help to broaden markets for pay-TV services.
http://www.st.com

AOptix Secures $12.9 Million in Venture Funding

AOptix Technologies, a start-up based in Campbell, California, secured $12.9 million in new venture funding for its advanced iris recognition systems and ultra-high bandwidth wireless optical communication solutions. AOptix is currently in production and launch of the company's first commercial product release for the iris biometrics market, the InSight 2 Meter Iris Recognition System.


The financing round was led by Northgate Capital of Danville, CA. Participation in the round also included leading venture capital firms, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Clearstone Venture Partners, DAG Ventures, W Capital Partners and Lehman Brothers.


AOptix said recent defense contract wins have also accelerated the company's free space optical (FSO) communications division. Ultra-high bandwidth optical wireless connections at long distances are achieved through their patented adaptive optics correction technology.
http://www.aoptix.com

Opnext Demos 16G Fibre Channel Longwave

Opnext is demonstrating its new 16G Fibre Channel Long Wave (FC LW) SFP+ Transceiver prototype at this week's OFC/NFOEC conference in San Diego.


Based on Opnext's 1310nm DFB laser technology, the Opnext 16G FC LW SFP+ optical transceiver offers transmission distances of up to 10km. The next generation 16G FC product specifications are currently in discussion at the T11 industry standards committee. Market release of the 16G FC product line will be in 2010.


The company recently released its 8G FC short wave and long wave product line into mass production. Storage OEMs are currently in the process of rolling out their 8G FC products.
http://www.opnext.com

Broadcom Expands Set-Top Box Family with HD Decoders

Broadcom expanded its portfolio of set-top box (STB) system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions with new products that offer a streamlined feature set targeting single, multi-format high definition (HD) decode, including support for China's audio/video standard (AVS).


Broadcom said service providers are demanding a broader range of STB solutions to address whole-home connected entertainment environments that include a high-end media gateway in the living room along with mid-to-lower-range thin client devices in "second" rooms such as bedrooms or dens. Meanwhile, consumers want shared/networked digital video recorder (DVR) capabilities that allow multiple users to store, time shift or access content from media servers or residential gateways for playback on STBs anywhere in the home.


The new devices build on the company's BCM7405 premium IPTV chip. Broadcom is introducing two new HD solutions, the BCM7205 and BCM7206, and a new SD solution, the BCM7466. All chips feature multi-format video support with an MPEG-4/VC-1/MPEG-2/AVS-compliant HD video decoder. The BCM7205/BCM7206 solutions are designed for the needs of the mid-range single HD decode STB, providing significant bill-of-materials (BOM) cost optimizations for this segment of the market. Similarly, the BCM7466 is designed for the entry-level SD output segment of the STB market. http://www.broadcom.com

CIP Technologies Develops 100 Gbps 2R Regenerator

CIP Technologies has released a new 100 Gbps version of its all-optical 2R (reamplification and reshaping) regenerator for optical networking applications. Based on CIP Technologies' HyBoard hybrid platform, the new device is fabricated from an integrated combination of an array of the company's' high-speed nonlinear semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA-XN), and planar silica Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs).


This component combination extends the outstanding signal regeneration properties of the company's hybrid 2R device from data rates of 40 Gbps to 100 Gbps, and retains multi-channel capability.
http://www.ciphotonics.com

Alcatel-Lucent and Politecnico di Milano Research 100G

Alcatel-Lucent has signed a two-year agreement with Politecnico di Milano to conduct research in the fields of 100 Gbps technology, multi-service network design and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology for metro-access network applications. The agreement builds on an existing partnership in research, with a particular focus on next-generation optical networks.


Alcatel-Lucent said its objective is to further accelerate its product innovation by leveraging the high level skills of Politecnico's researchers and to reduce its time-to-market to be even more competitive in the marketplace.
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

Sony Ericsson Warns on Weak Q1 Sales

Sony Ericsson warned that its net sales and net income before taxes in the first quarter of 2009 continue to be negatively affected by weak consumer demand as well as de-stocking in the retail and distribution channels.


Although final results may differ, Sony Ericsson plans to ship approximately 14 million phones during the first quarter of 2009 with an estimated ASP (average selling price) of EUR 120. Gross margin is expected to decline both year-on-year and sequentially. Net income before taxes is estimated to be a loss in the range of EUR 340 - 390 million, excluding restructuring charges in the range of EUR 10 - 20 million.

Sony Ericsson will announce its first quarter results on April 17.
http://www.sonyericsson.com

China Unicom Awards WCDMA Contract to Ericsson

Ericsson has been selected by China Unicom to supply WCDMA networks and services for 15 Chinese provinces. Specifically, Ericsson will supply the 2G/3G common core platform, WCDMA RAN system, network rollout services, tuning, spare parts and training services over the coming months. Deliveries and deployment have already begun. Up to now, first 3G calls have been successfully made in all the 14 cities supplied by Ericsson for China Unicom's initial pre-commercial launch scheduled on May 17, the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.


Ericsson, along with its partners, was awarded contracts to supply WCDMA core and/or radio access network systems in 15 provinces, including Beijing, Jilin, Jiangsu, Hubei, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Anhui, Henan, Hainan, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Shandong, Guangdong and Hunan.


Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.ericsson.com

Georgia Tech Forms 100G Consortium

Ten companies have joined forces with the Georgia Institute of Technology to establish the Georgia Tech 100G Optical Networking Consortium, which will perform multidisciplinary research in all aspects of 100-gigabit-per-second transmission, supported by the diverse and complementary strengths of the industrial partners and faculty members. Research topics range from fundamental studies of 100G optical transmission to assessment of optical and electronic technologies that will be used in such high-speed optical networks.


To date, more than $2.2 million in support has been designated for this facility by the consortium's founding research members -- ADVA Optical Networking, Ciena, OFS, and Verizon --and by supporting members Avanex, IBM, Narda Microwave, Nistica Picometrix and RSoft Design Group.


A variety of network architectures will be studied, including realistic impairments found in regional and ultra long haul links. These efforts also actively support the upcoming IEEE 100G standard for short reach, client-side transport in the local area network and future IEEE standards for short reach transmission over laser-optimized multi-mode fiber in data centers.


"Our industry-led effort creates a unique opportunity for students and industry to define and validate the enabling technologies necessary for 100G networks," noted Stephen E. Ralph, the consortium's director and a professor in Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).


Co-director of the effort is Gee-Kung Chang, Byers Eminent Scholar Chair in Optical Networking. Joining Ralph and Chang in the quest for 100Gb/s transport is Byers Professor John D. Cressler, whose research addresses high-speed electronics challenges, and Professor John Barry, whose work focuses on critical signal processing issues. All three faculty members are also based in ECE.
http://www.gatech.edu