Sunday, January 2, 2011

TDS Chooses Calix for VDSL2 Upgrade in 20 States

TDS Telecommunications, the eighth-largest wireline communication service provider in the U.S, is upgrading its Calix C7 Multiservice Access Platforms (MSAPs) in twenty states with VDSL2.



TDS is utilizing all-Ethernet VDSL2 to enable voice, high-speed data, and in some areas video services to over one hundred communities. The service targets 25 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream. This initiative, which was recently rolled out to customers in Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin, will be expanding to thirteen more states in the first quarter of 2011, reaching subscribers across hundreds of nodes embedded in nearly 150 networks. http://www.calix.com

Motorola Spin-Offs Take Effect

The two divisions of Motorola officially become separate companies on January 4, 2011.



Motorola Mobility Holdings (MMI) is the company's smartphone division.



Motorola Solutions Inc. (MSI) is the company's division that includes public safety radios, handheld scanners and telecom gear. It closed at $40.51.



Both companies will continue to use the Motorola brand. http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Homehttp://www.motorolasolutions.com/US-EN

Marvell Moves to 802.11n Beamforming

Marvell will integrate transmitter beamforming technology into its family of Avastar 802.11n solutions to improve link robustness for clients ranging from new and existing 1x1- 4x4 MIMO products to legacy devices.



Beamforming is a specialized method of radio-frequency (RF) transmission used in Wi-Fi access points (APs), substantially enhancing signal reception at the client and, as a result, extending Wi-Fi signal coverage by two to four times. It can also be used between two clients in conjunction with Wi-Fi Direct.



Marvell said its beamforming does not require special antennae or any other cost increase of the wireless subsystem and provides greater than 10dB of perceivable gain in over-the-air tests in home and enterprise
environments. This gain translates to an increased throughput of 2x to 20x depending on the environment.



"Existing wireless solutions still presents different challenges when it comes to the long range and high throughput required for applications such as HD video streaming. Marvell raises technology bar with Wi-Fi solutions leveraging beamforming technology, increasing throughput at range and delivering consistent performance at all times, ultimately providing greater user experience with Wi-Fi than what has traditionally been possible. Marvell's leading Wi-Fi solutions will fundamentally change how the technology is used today and enable a plethora of new applications and innovative products," stated Weili Dai, Co-founder of Marvell.http://www.marvell.com

Video: Lantiq Discusses "The Future of Networking"

Lantiq is a brand new company with 25 years of history. Tracing its origins to Siemens Semiconductor (later Infineon Technologies), Lantiq is focused on the future of broadband and home networking. Imran Hajimusa, President of Lantiq North America, discusses technology evolution, home networking in the broadband era, competition in the silicon space, and network access trends.









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http://www.lantiq.com

Lantiq Debuts G.hn Home Networking Silicon

Lantiq introduced its "XWAY" HNX family of chips supporting the ITU-T G.hn global standard for next generation wired home networks.




G.hn, which enables network connectivity across all common in-home wiring with data rates as high as 1 Gbps, is expected to become an integral feature in residential gateways, consumer electronics devices, personal computers and Internet-connected smart home devices. The new XWAY HNX devices can be connected using any combination of phone, power and cable wiring.



The new Lantiq devices incorporate four exclusive technologies designed to improve the broadband services model for service providers:

  • Lantiq XWAY STREAM (LXS): provides "end-to-end carrier-grade QoS over Anything" (including G.hn, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, DSL and PON). It allows service providers to pick and choose which services and applications receive the highest priority inside both the access and home networks.


  • Lantiq XWAY HARMONY (LXH): a spectrum management technology that maximizes performance of VDSL and G.hn networks operating side-by-side.


  • Lantiq XWAY PROBE (LXP): real-time diagnostic information about subscribers' home networks that lets service providers optimize performance even in highly complex subscriber environments.


  • Lantiq XWAY PATH FINDER (LXF): provides automatic path selection across the home network, using real-time link quality information to choose the optimal communication path (802.11n, wired Ethernet, G.hn, etc.) and dynamically avoid line noise that creates network bottlenecks.


Lantiq XWAY HNX chips can be used in standalone G.hn node applications or as part of multi-service platforms. The Lantiq XWAY HNX 156 and HNX 176 are G.hn Universal Digital Transceiver chips compliant with ITU G.9960, G.9961 and G.9972 and IEEE 802.3. The devices support all of the media types and the 25, 50 and 100 MHz band plans defined in the G.hn standard. Each chip architecture includes integrated RISC processor; Gigabit Ethernet PHY, RGMII and Ethernet switch; PCIe interface (master and slave); SPI; I2C; UART; on-board RAM; hardware accelerated MAC & PHY to ensure hostless, wirespeed performance; and support for home networking API and hardware abstraction layer functions for ODMs to build service provider-class products. HNX176 also supports external DRAM, which is needed to support such features as TR-069 service management.



Tom Starr, the Chairman of the ITU-T WP1/15 committee responsible for the G.hn standards, said: "I am pleased to hear that products based on the G.9960/9961 ITU-T Recommendations will be available from Lantiq and other vendors so quickly after the approval of these standards. This will accelerate the adoption of G.hn as the next generation standard for wired home networks. I appreciate Lantiq's extensive contributions to the work in ITU-T WP1/15."



"China Telecom has been an early proponent of international open specifications such as ITU-T G.hn, which enable rapid adoption of standards-based home networks with carrier-grade QoS. We are glad to see Lantiq bringing to market G.hn-compliant products to take advantage of this emerging opportunity," said a director at China Telecom.



"In Lantiq's vision for connectivity in the digital home, we see standards-based wire line and wireless technologies working as one single network to provide the best possible Quality of Service, reach and flexibility throughout a household," said Christian Wolff, CEO of Lantiq. "From day one we are delivering G.hn solutions that will integrate seamlessly in a hybrid network infrastructure. The XWAY HNX family also includes Lantiq-exclusive technologies for optimal QoS and overall in-home network performance.".http://www.lantiq.com http://www.lantiq.com/hnx
  • In June 2010, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) formally approved the G.hn standard for next-generation wired home networks. All three components of the new standard –- the Data Link Layer (G.9961), Physical Layer (G.9960) and coexistence protocol (G.9972) –- are now complete. The first products based on this standard are expected to reach the market later this year.





    G.hn is expected to simplify the home networking market, which has until now been cluttered with many competing technologies and upgrade variations. A global standard, when implemented by service providers, could lead to better and cheaper home gateways and IPTV set-top boxes.

    Consumer electronics manufacturers will be able to provide powerful devices for connecting all types of entertainment, home automation, and security products throughout the house. Smart Grid devices such as electricity meters, heating and air conditioning systems, electrical appliances, electrical vehicles, and lighting systems will also benefit from the reliability, security, and low-power consumption provided by the G.hn Recommendation.



    "In an industry cluttered with a host of incompatible technologies, we congratulate the ITU-T for championing one standard that truly delivers anywire connectivity and next-generation performance," said Matt Theall, president of HomeGrid Forum and technology strategist at Intel Corporation. "G.hn is the only technology platform that supports every wire in the home. We believe that consumer electronics manufacturers, PC companies, and service providers--and every group that works within these markets--will benefit from the commercial availability of this technology as it rolls out later this year."

MetroPCS Offers $40/Month LTE with Unlimited YouTube

MetroPCS added a $40 per month, no-contract plan to its menu of 4G LTE services. The plans include unlimited talk, text and Web browsing on 4G LTE handsets. Three options are now available:



  • $40 service plan with unlimited talk, text, 4G Web browsing with unlimited YouTube access.


  • $50 service plan with the same unlimited talk, text, 4G Web services and unlimited YouTube access as the $40 plan. Additional features include international and premium text messaging, turn-by-turn navigation with MetroNAVIGATOR, ScreenIT, mobile instant messaging, corporate e-mail and 1 GB of additional data access, with premium features available through MetroSTUDIO when connected via Wi-Fi, including audio capabilities to listen and download music and access to preview and trial video content.


  • $60 service plan provides the same premium features as the $50 plan, plus unlimited data access and MetroSTUDIO premium content such as 18 video-on-demand channels and audio downloads.


MetroPCS is now offering LTE in nine U.S. metropolitan areas -- Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Sacramento and San Francisco. The next markets in its rollout will be Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa.
http://www.metropcs.com

Clearwire Activates in SF Bay Area

On December 28, Clearwire activated its WiMAX service in the San Francisco Bay area. Clearwire is now available in 71 markets across the United States.http://www.clearwire.com

Skype Enables Video Calling on iPhones over 3G and WiFi

Skype released a new iPhone application that supports video calling over both 3G and WiFi networks. The new Skype for iPhone app is compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPod touch 4th generation with i0S 4.0 or above. Video receiving capabilities are available on the iPod touch 3rd generation and iPad. Calls can be made between devices using the new Skype for iPhone app and desktops including Skype for Windows 4.2 and above, Skype for Mac 2.8 and above, Skype for Linux and ASUS Videophone.



The company noted that video calling represented approximately 40% of all Skype-to-Skype minutes for the first six months of 2010.http://www.skype.com

HTC Expected to Debut "Thunderbolt" LTE Smartphone

HTC is expected to debuted a LTE-enabled smartphone at the upcoming CES show in Las Vegas, possible in conjunction with Verizon Wireless. http://www.htc.com