IBM Commits $100 Million to Big Data R&D

IBM announced a $100 million investment for continued research on technologies and services focused on "big data" -- including massive scale analytics, software, systems and services capabilities. The goal is to enable chief information officers (CIOs) to construct specific, fact-based financial and business models for their IT operations.


IBM is currently rolling out software capabilities to analyze massive volumes of streaming data with sub-millisecond response times and Hadoop-based analytics software to offer scalable storage to handle tens-of-petabytes level data. The company is also introducing a suite of services to infuse predictive analytics throughout their IT operations.
http://www.ibm.com

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Broadcom Announces 40nm Satellite Set-top box Chip

Broadcom announced its next-generation 40nm high definition (HD) satellite set-top box (STB) system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution. The new device is aimed at low cost HDTV and interactive services to emerging markets such as BRICA (Brazil, Russia, India, China, Africa). For example, Sky Brazil (offers 25 HD channels), Russia's NTV Plus (offers 8 HD channels) and Dish TV India (offers 35 HD channels). The percentage of satellite STBs shipping that support HD in Brazil, Russia and India will grow from 13 percent in 2010 to 57 percent in 2016, according to ABI Research.


The new Broadcom BCM7358 HD satellite STB SoC is a single-channel, 1080p HD advanced video coding (AVC) satellite receiver chip. It features a high performance CPU and graphics engine, DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) connectivity support and advanced security functionality. Sampling is underway.
http://www.broadcom.com

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Brocade Hits Q2 Revenue of $550 Million, up 9.8% YoY

Brocade recorded quarterly revenues of $550 million, representing an increase of 9.8% year-over-year and resulting in diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.06 on a GAAP basis and $0.13 on a non-GAAP basis.


In the quarter, Brocade saw product revenue growth of 17% year-over-year in its storage networking business driven by strong revenues across the product portfolio that included over 20% growth for both backbone/director and Server product revenues.


Brocade also saw its Enterprise and Service Provider Ethernet businesses revenue grow 24% year-over-year led by its EMEA, Americas and Asia Pacific geographies. Overall Ethernet business revenue was up 1% year-over-year as lower Federal Ethernet revenue offset the growth in Enterprise and Service Provider businesses. Brocade exceeded its expectations for non-GAAP EPS and non-GAAP operating margin in the quarter.


"Brocade executed well in Q2 delivering nearly 10 percent growth year-over-year in revenue driven by strong performances in our Ethernet business among enterprises and service providers and stronger-than-expected performance in our SAN business," said Michael Klayko, CEO of Brocade. "We are excited about our opportunities going forward as there is no doubt that the networking industry is in the beginning stages of a new innovation cycle driven by the IT imperatives of virtualization and cloud computing. We believe that Brocade has established a clear leadership position by out-innovating the rest of the industry and delivering purpose-built solutions to customers well-ahead of the competition."http://www.brocade.com

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EU Funded Research Looks for Internet of the Future

The European Commission hosted a "Future Internet week" event in Budapest to review the progress of some 140 "Future Internet" research projects which it supports. These efforts are part of a €600 million "Future Internet" Public-Private Partnership launched earlier this month and aimed at developing new ways of building better services and improving business innovation online.


The partnership will explore eight areas where this data revolution could spur innovation and jobs in the mobile, software and service industries. The European Commission has made available € 300 million in funding over 5 years, with Europe's research organisations, public sector and industry committing an equal.


Examples of EU-funded flagship research projects in the field of the Future Internet include:


2020 3D MEDIA: creating a 3D value chain in the entertainment industry. This project researches how technology can become interoperable to capture, produce, distribute and display three dimensional (3D) sound and images and create a more cost-efficient value chain as the 3D industry expands. http://www.20203dmedia.eu/


SENSEI: integrating the physical world into the digital world. SENSEI creates an open business-driven IT architecture that addresses how globally distributed sensing devices (e.g. public transport sensors) deal with the problem of handling increasing data traffic. "Smart places" can be created by connecting the real and the digital worlds. For instance, by connecting to the Internet some wireless sensors placed on buses, car-poolers can receive a text message when there is a bus nearby, which could get them to their destination more quickly.
http://www.ict-sensei.org/index.php


Internet of Things Architecture: bringing science-fiction into our lives. Different devices and objects communicate via different means (e.g. smart tags (Radio Frequency Identification Devices – RFID) and smart sensors) that do not necessarily support interoperability. Separate data systems can only deal with a limited amount of data growth and inadequately protect privacy and security. This jigsaw puzzle of systems could slow down global solutions for the future Internet of Things.
http://www.future-internet.eu/

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NEC UNIVERGE Certified with Verizon IP Trunking

NEC's UNIVERGE SV8500 Communications Servers are now certified with Verizon's IP Trunking Service.


NEC's UNIVERGE SV8500 and Verizon IP Trunking, now available in the United States and a number countries in Europe, target medium- and large-sized enterprises seeking to deploy advanced IP features, streamline network management and control operational costs. In addition, by adding NEC's unified communications (UC) applications enterprises and vertical businesses, such as healthcare, hospitality, education and government, can streamline processes and improve communications efficiency through enhanced collaboration and mobility.
http://www.necam.com/entcomm

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EU Action Targets Deutsche Telekom

The European Union has taken legal action to oblige the German government to comply with EU law and so not protect Deutsche Telekom from competition on the broadband market.



If applied as originally drafted, a German law would have made it difficult for telecom operators to compete on this market. As Germany has now removed the provision in question, the European Commission has closed the infringement case it had opened against Germany. The case goes back to 2007, when amendments to the German telecoms law provided for an effective exemption of Deutsche Telekom's fast internet access network (VDSL) from any measures taken by the German regulator to promote competition in this area of the telecoms market. In December 2009 the EU's Court of Justice confirmed the Commission's position that the new German law limited the discretionary powers of the national telecoms regulator, in contravention of EU telecoms rules. The Court also confirmed that existing and potential competitors were placed at an unfair advantage by this law.



The European Commission has also closed a second infringement case against Germany concerning restrictions on the technologies allowed to use the 2.6 GHz radio frequency band. Germany's national rules have now been changed, opening the frequencies to all compatible wireless systems that provide telecoms services (i.e. not only mobile but also fixed wireless services). As a result, there is no longer any impediment to the roll-out of EU-wide wireless broadband services in that frequency band and customers stand to have more choice.
http://www.europa.eu

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Georgia Tech Researchers Demo 25 Gbps over Plastic Optical Fiber

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta demonstrated an error-free data transmission over 100 meters of 80 μm-diameter core plastic optical fiber (POF) at record 25 Gbps. The coupling tolerances to reach error-free transmission (defined as a bit error ratio <10-12) were as high as ~35 µm. The tests used and 850 nm VCSEL from VI Systems GmbH.



Optical data transmission of up to 40 Gbps has been realized with high speed photodetectors and transimpendance amplifiers from VI Systems. The V40-850C chip is available in a 250 x 250 µm single die size or as 1x4-channel or 1x12-channel chip array.



The target applications are proprietary optical links and active optical cables at 40 Gbit/s and 100 Gbit/s, Fibre Channel at 14 Gbps and 28 Gbps, and Infiniband FDR (14 Gbps) and EDR (26 Gbps) applications.



Product samples are available now.http://www.v-i-systems.com/

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SURFnet Selects Ciena for Coherent 100G

SURFnet, which operates an advanced research network in The Netherlands, will upgrade its backbone with support for full photonic flexibility and the deployment of 100 Gbps on international links connecting the Netherlands to research communities like CERN in Switzerland.



SURFNet is using Ciena's ActivFlex 6500 Packet-Optical Platform equipped with WaveLogic coherent optical processors and ActivSpan Common Photonic Layer. Ciena's ActivFlex 6500 platform, supports both coherent 40G and 100G transmission, allowing SURFnet to gradually scale its network as requirements change. Combined with Ciena's ActivSpan Common Photonic Layer, the solution supports ROADM functionality throughout the network.



SURFnet supports more than one million education and research users across the Netherlands. Its existing mixed 10G/40G optical backbone – built by Ciena – is one of the most advanced networks in the world, enabling a collaborative environment for the Dutch research and education community and its peers worldwide. In December 2010 SURFnet awarded Ciena a contract to continue building the current SURFnet optical network, which will include advanced coherent optical solutions that allow SURFnet to expand and enhance its network by upgrading capacity and adding full photonic flexibility to the core infrastructure.



Ciena noted that it has shipped in excess of 7,000 coherent 40G/100G line interfaces to more than 80 customers across the globe with more than 5.5 million coherent kilometres deployed. Research and education organisations using Ciena equipment include RENATER (France), CANARIE (Canada), Internet2 (US), and JANET (UK).http://www.ciena.com

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