ZTE Shows LTE-A CoMP Prototype

At Mobile World Congress, ZTE demonstrated a prototype LTE-Advanced CoMP (Coordinated Multipoint) technology with a downstream peak speed of over 1 Gbps. The prototype incorporates a number of key technologies such as multi-antenna enhancement, MU-MIMO, and multi-point joint coordinated transmission. Through the use of CoMP technology in the solution, throughput on the edge is dramatically increased.


The company said it plans to introduce commercial LTE-A products in 2012.
http://www.zte.com.cn

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National Broadband Map Shows 68% Penetration

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published its online National Broadband Map -- providing a searchable database on broadband Internet availability and adoption across the country.



The database includes more than 25 million searchable records showing where broadband Internet service is available, the technology used to provide the service, the maximum advertised speeds of the service, and the names of the service providers. Users can search by address to find the broadband providers and services available in the corresponding census block or road segment, view the data on a map, or use other interactive tools to compare broadband across various geographies, such as states, counties or congressional districts.


A key finding in the data is that a digital divide persists between urban and rural areas.


"The National Broadband Map shows there are still too many people and community institutions lacking the level of broadband service needed to fully participate in the Internet economy. We are pleased to see the increase in broadband adoption last year, particularly in light of the difficult economic environment, but a digital divide remains," said Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling. "Through NTIA's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, digital literacy activities, and other initiatives, including the tools we are releasing today, the Obama Administration is working to address these challenges."


Additional findings include:

• Approximately 36 percent of Americans have access to wireless (fixed, mobile, licensed, and unlicensed) Internet service at maximum advertised download speeds of 6 Mbps or greater, which some consider the minimum speed associated with "4G" wireless broadband service. Ninety-five percent of Americans have access to wireless Internet service speeds of at least 768 kbps, which corresponds roughly to "3G" wireless service.



• 68 percent of U.S. households have broadband access, as compared to 63.5 percent last year.



• Overall, the two most commonly cited main reasons for not having broadband Internet access at home are that it is perceived as not needed (46 percent) or too expensive (25 percent). In rural America, however, lack of broadband availability is a larger reason for non-adoption than in urban areas (9.4 percent vs. 1 percent). Americans also cite the lack of a computer as a factor.

http://broadbandmap.gov/technology

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Mobile World Congress 2011 Tops 60,000 Attendees

This week's Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona attracted over 60,000 attendees -- a new record for the four day event. Attendance was up 20% over last year.



"The record attendance to this year's Mobile World Congress is indicative of the impact and importance of mobile in not only technology and telecommunications, but across nearly all facets of the private and public sectors," stated John Hoffman, CEO, GSMA Ltd. "Mobile truly is leading a transformation in how the world communicates, how business is conducted and how people live their lives. We are very proud of the contribution that the GSMA and the Mobile World Congress have in furthering this transformation."http://www.gsmworld.com

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Netronome Forms Partnerships with McAfee, VSS, Qosmos

Netronome has completed compatibility testing in the McAfee Security Innovation Alliance (SIA) program to become a Technology Partner. Under the McAfee SIA program, Netronome SSL Inspector appliances have demonstrated interoperability with McAfee Network Security Platform devices. The Netronome SSL Inspector appliances provide line-rate decryption of encrypted traffic, and the joint solution with McAfee leverages this capability to detect and protect against threats hidden within encrypted traffic.



In addition, Netronome is partnering with VSS Monitoring to provide interoperable solutions for the real-time examination of traffic encrypted with SSL.. Network administrators will be able to use their existing analytical tools to inspect SSL packets in real time at 10 Gbps throughout large distributed enterprise and carrier-class networks. The solutions are built around VSS Distributed Traffic Capture Systems that provide real-time access for the high-performance Netronome SSL Inspector appliance.



Netronome has also formed a partnership with Qosmos, which specializes in Network Intelligence (NI) technology. The joint solution can scale deep packet inspection (DPI) from 1 Gbps to 100 Gbps while simultaneously offering a rich detection set for thousands of applications and protocols. The integrated solution is designed for manufacturers of security applications.http://www.netronome.com http://www.vssmonitoring.com

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Netronome Boosts its Network Flow Processor with 40G, 10G Copper Interfaces

Netronome has added 10GBASE-T and 40GBASE-SR4 Ethernet interfaces for use with its family of PCIe network acceleration cards and production-ready network processing platforms.



Netronome supplies Network Flow Processors that are designed for tight coupling with embedded multicore Intel and x86 processors. This accelerates network, security and content processing platforms used in 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps networks. It is the only line of processors backward compatible with the market‐leading Intel IXP28XX. Netronome's heterogeneous multicore processing architecture provides independent layers of workload-optimized packet, flow, security and application processing to dramatically increase network performance. Simultaneously, it frees IA/x86 resources to provide more application and control plane processing. Because the platform is based on standard Intel-based CPUs, developers of Linux-based network and security applications can significantly reduce development time and costs.



Netronome's new 10GBASE-T and 40GBASE-SR4 interface modules include fully integrated network bypass support, reducing the need for costly external hardware.



Netronome's NFP-3240 network flow processors can be used in the 1U and 2U platforms that offer up to 200 Gbps of L2-L7 network and security application performance with sub-50 microsecond latency for security applications.



"Netronome pioneered flow processing and is committed to providing our customers the silicon, hardware, software and building blocks to securely process flows at the speeds required for next generation platforms," said Jarrod Siket, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Netronome. "The new accelerated 40 Gbps and copper 10 Gbps interfaces will allow our customers to continue to meet their design goals at a fraction of the time and cost of alternative solutions."http://www.netronome.com

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ZTE Develops Cloud Radio Access Network

At Mobile World Congress, ZTE introduced its next generation C-RAN (Cloud of Radio Access Network) wireless architecture aimed at significantly reducing mobile operator CAPEX and OPEX.





C-RAN, which follows the architectural lead of China Mobile, would leverage centralized processing, collaborative radio, real-time cloud infrastructure, energy efficiency gains and the power pf cloud computing.



ZTE is working on dynamic baseband sharing. Its design separates the Remote Radio Unit (RRU) and the Baseband Unit (BBU) on the wireless side, enabling a centralized facility for base-stations. ZTE is also working on better optical backhaul technology.



ZTE estimates that this cloud-based RAN approach could reduce a carrier's total cost of ownership by 40%.






http://www.zte.com.cn

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Australia's NBN Co acquires AUSTAR Spectrum

NBN Co will acquire AUSTAR's 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz spectrum licences for $120 million. The spectrum will enable NBN Co to roll out a high-speed fixed-wireless service to rural and regional areas.



The first NBN Co fixed-wireless commercial services are scheduled for delivery in mid 2012. NBN Co has previously outlined plans to deliver next-generation wireless and satellite services to seven per cent of premises outside its fibre footprint.



AUSTAR Chief Executive Officer Mr John Porter said: "This is a great result for NBN Co, AUSTAR and most importantly, regional Australians. There is no doubt that NBN Co will build broadband services in regional Australia very efficiently with consumers outside metropolitan markets finally gaining access to world-class broadband services."



NBN Co recently announced its pricing for wholesale broadband services starting at a download speed of 12/1 megabits per second (Mbps) for a uniform national wholesale access price of $24 a month.http://www.nbnco.com.au

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