Monday, August 15, 2011

GE's Ruggedized Video Processing Platform Employs Tilera Many Core Processor

GE Intelligent Platforms unveiled a ruggedized video processing platform suited for applications such as unmanned aerial drones that use the Tilera TILEPro64 many-core processor.


The GE 3U OpenVPX-REDI GFG500 Gigabit Ethernet Video Processor and the 3U OpenVPX-REDI MCP500 Processor boards are designed for demanding video and network processing applications that will be deployed in harsh environments.


The GFG500 is pre-loaded with GE's sophisticated algorithms for capturing and processing multiple simultaneous video streams from Gigabit Ethernet-compliant video sources. The MCP500 is a general purpose, many core processor platform designed for accelerating software applications through multiprocessing. The MCP500 is an ideal rugged processing engine for netcentric applications such as packet processing, intrusion detection/deep packet inspection, unified threat management, network monitoring and forensics in tactical wireline and wireless environments.


"As unmanned vehicles – especially unmanned aerial vehicles – assume greater significance in the gathering and communication of intelligence, so the requirement to capture, process and distribute highly detailed video information is becoming an absolute requirement," said Chris Jobling, Product Manager, GE Intelligent Platforms. "The GFG500 and MCP500 respond to this requirement by delivering outstanding video and networking performance within the compact, lightweight footprint of the 3U VPX format – while their ruggedness means that they can be deployed in the harshest of environments."

The Tilera TILEPro64 700MHz processor features an 8 x 8 grid of 64 general purpose processor cores for compute-intensive applications.
http://www.ge.com

Cult of Mac: Why Is Apple Secretly Installing LTE Equipment

Reports surfaced that Apple may be installing LTE equipment in some of its U.S. stores. A report from Cult of Mac speculates that the mysterious gear reported photographed in an Apple store supports the 700MHz and AWS bands that will be used by AT&T. http://www.cultofmac.comhttp://bit.ly/n62sh0

Blue Coat Reports Disappointing Quarter, CEO Steps Down

Blue Coat Systems reported net revenue of $109.5 million for the first quarter of its fiscal 2012, down from $120.7 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 and $122.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011. On a GAAP basis, the Company reported net income of $2.7 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, compared with net income of $9.0 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 and $13.9 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, in the first quarter of fiscal 2011.


"Our first quarter results were disappointing as they came in below our expectations," said David W. Hanna, chairman of the board of directors. "We are taking the necessary actions to reinforce our leadership position in the Web security market, while capitalizing on opportunities in the WAN optimization market based on our strong competitive advantages."


For the second fiscal quarter ending October 31, 2011, Blue Coat currently expects net revenue in the range of $103 to $110 million. On a GAAP basis, the company currently expects net loss of $(0.04) per diluted share to net income of $0.04 per diluted share. http://www.bluecoat.com

  • Michael J. Borman joined Blue Coat in September 2010 as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Previously, he spent nearly 30 years at IBM and later was CEO of Avocent Corporation, a developer of server switching systems and software from July 2008, until its acquisition by Emerson Electric in December 2009.

Blue Coat Appoints Greg Clark as CEO

Blue Coat Systems, which supplies Web security and WAN optimization solutions, appointed Gregory S. Clark as president and chief executive officer following the resignation of Michael J. Borman, who has departed as president and CEO and as a director. Mr. Clark most recently was president and CEO of Mincom, an enterprise software company that was acquired in July by the ABB Group, a leader in automation and power technologies.


The Blue Coat board has named board member Carol G. Mills as interim CEO until Mr. Clark's arrival. Ms. Mills has held executive positions at technology companies including CEO of Acta Technology, EVP at Juniper Networks, and VP/GM at HP. http://www.bluecoat.com

Huawei Develops Node Scale Vectoring

Huawei Technologies announced the development of Node Level Vectoring (NLV) technology for eliminating crosstalk in copper pairs. The technology significantly improves throughput in VDSL2 networks. Huawei said its tests of vectoring show the ability to deliver 100 Mbps services at a distance of 300 meters, and 80 Mbps at a distance of 500 meters -- representing gains of approximately 70%.

http://www.huawei.com

Nokia Siemens Networks Gains DISA Certification

Nokia Siemens Networks has been accorded "Approved Products List" (APL) status by the U.S. government's Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), enabling the Department of Defense (DoD) and other government agencies to purchase the company's Military Next Generation (Mil NGN) solution. Concurrent with APL status, the DoD has awarded Nokia Siemens Networks contracts to install three Mil NGN systems at locations in Germany, South Korea and Japan. http://www.nsn.com

Telefónica Germany, Telekom and Vodafone

Telefónica Germany, Telekom and Vodafone have agreed to establish their mobile payment service as an independent company. The new entity, known as mpass, will begin operating as early as this year.


More and more customers are taking advantage of convenient and secure payment via mobile or stationary internet from a mobile phone. Once the mobile payment scheme mpass is up and running, the three telecommunications providers plan to expand on their position in mobile payment. The new company will concentrate on stepping up distribution and marketing activities, as well as developing new products.


Aided by new technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC), the three carriers expect that mobile users will soon be able to make simple, secure and wireless payments in retail shops.


"Payment by mobile phone will increasingly feature in our daily lives," says Michiel van Eldik, Managing Director of Wholesale & Partner Management at Telefónica Germany. "It has actually been possible for several years. And the first NFC smartphones, with full functionality for all aspects of credit and bonus cards, are already in the stores. I think that even as early as next year, consumers will be leaving their credit cards at home and paying by mobile phone instead."


"Queues at supermarket checkouts will soon be a thing of the past," says Christian Illek, Director of Marketing at Telekom Deutschland, adding: "mpass will make mobile payment easier, faster and more secure than with conventional payment means. Within the mpass partnership we are not only applying the specific benefits of mobile phones in the payment market, but, more importantly, we are bundling our customer reach with that of our partners." http://www.telefonica.com

First AT&T LTE Devices on Sale Aug. 21

AT&T will begin selling its first LTE devices in stores and online on August 21 -- even before its LTE network has commercially launched.


The first devices will be the AT&T USBConnect Momentum 4G and the AT&T Mobile Hotspot Elevate 4G, both of which support fallback to the HSPA+ network. AT&T will offer same $50 plan for 5 GB of data as is currently available for USBConnect or Mobile Hotspot customers on the HSPA+ network.


AT&T recently announced plans to roll out 4G LTE in five markets – Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio – later this summer. A specific launch date has not yet been disclosed. By the end of 2011, AT&T plans to offer 4G LTE to customers in at least 15 markets, covering 70 million Americans.
http://www.att.com/attusbconnectmomentum4g

PMC-Sierra Appoints Two Directors

PMC-Sierra announced the appointment of Michael Klayko and Dr. Richard Nottenburg to its Board of Directors. The company also named Mr. Jonathan J. Judge as chairman of the Board.


Mr. Klayko is currently chief executive officer of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. and a member of the Brocade board of directors. Previously, he was vice president of worldwide sales at Brocade and also served as the vice president of marketing and support and vice president of OEM sales. Dr. Nottenburg is currently a member of the board of directors of Comverse Technology, Inc., Verint Systems, Inc. and Aeroflex Holding Corporation. From June 2008 to October 2010, he served as president, chief executive officer, and a director of Sonus Networks. http://www.pmc-sierra.com

WiMAX Surpasses 20 million Global Subscriber Mark

The number of WiMAX connections worldwide has passed the 20 million subscriber mark, according to figures from Infonetics Research that were cited by The WiMAX Forum. Also according to Infonetics, in the first quarter of 2011 the total worldwide sales of WiMAX equipment reached USD $502.1 million, which is up 49% from the first quarter of 2010. The analyst firm predicts that in 2011 WiMAX equipment will be a USD $2 billion industry.


Some notes from The WiMAX Forum:



  • In the first half of 2011 over 30 different WiMAX networks were either launched or expanded operations.


  • In the first half of 2011, UQ Communications of Japan doubled its subscriber base, breaking the one million subscriber mark in June.


  • YTL, a new Malaysian WiMAX operator that just launched WiMAX services in November 2010, has netted over 300,000 subscribers by June.


  • At an event in July, in which UQ Communications hosted the first public field trial of WiMAX 2, UQ and YTL signed a MoU to develop a pan-Pacific WiMAX hotzone.


  • Clearwire ended Q2 with 7.65 million total subscribers, up 365% from 2Q 2010. Clearwire also again increased its guidance to an expected 10 million subscribers by the end of 2011.


  • Jamaican operator Digicel leveraged its WiMAX network to capture 25% of the local broadband market in less than a year.


  • Mexican WiMAX operator AXTEL increased its WiMAX subscriber base by over 80% to over 332,000.
http://www.wimaxforum.org

UK to Invest £363 million in Rural Broadband

The UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced plans to invest £363 million to bring broadband to "all of rural England and Scotland" by 2015. The goal is to offer "superfast broadband to 90% or premises and broadband to 100%. "Superfast broadband" is defined as speeds greater than 24 Mbps. Broadband is defined as connections of 2 Mbps and up.


The market is expected to ensure a vibrant market for broadband services for two thirds of the population. These public monies will provide the incentive for broadband roll-outs in rural areas.


English counties are set to receive £294.8 million, and Scotland £68.8 million. Similar funding announcements have already been made for Wales and Northern Ireland as part of the government's £530 million investment programme.


http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/news_stories/8389.aspx

JDSU Debuts Tunable SFP+ Transceiver

JDSU introduced a tunable SFP+ transceiver to replace fixed wavelength SFP+ transceivers and legacy products in enterprise and metro networks. The device leverages the same Integrated Laser Mach Zehnder (ILMZ) chip that JDSU developed in 2007 to create the world's first tunable XFP transceiver for telecom networks in 2009.


Tunable transceivers enable flexibility in wavelength provisioning and lower over system cost by eliminating inventory expenses required with current fixed wavelength SFP+ products. JDSU said this new tunable SFP+ transceiver also represents the first time that full C-band wavelength tunability has been successfully demonstrated in such a compact and low-power SFP+ platform.


"The invention of the tunable SFP+ transceiver is the latest example of how JDSU's focus on R&D and vertical integration has translated into innovative and compelling new products," said Alan Lowe, president of the CCOP segment at JDSU. "We're very excited by initial feedback from customers who have told us that the tunable SFP+ transceiver will help them more efficiently manage their Enterprise and Metro networks."


JDSU is currently demonstrating the tunable SFP+ transceiver to customers and expects it to be in production within the next twelve months. http://www.jdsu.com

Ciena Adds another 40G Metro Optical Win

Russian carrier GlobalNet will upgrade its metro optical network using Ciena's 4200 Advanced Services Platform. The deployment will include Ciena's 40G technology and WaveLogic coherent optical processors. GlobalNet is a long stranding Ciena customer. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.ciena.com