Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Cisco's 100G CPAK CMOS-based Transceivers Deliver 70% Space and Power Savings


Cisco showcased its new 100 Gbps, CMOS-based transceiver technology at this week's OFC/NFOEC 2013 event in Anaheim, California. The new technology, which Cisco describes a breakthrough for the rollout of 100G services, is powered by Cisco’s nLight silicon.

By integrating advanced optics in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, Cisco is able to significantly increase face-plate density for 100G pluggable optics.

The Cisco "CPAK" transceiver, which will initially be available on the Cisco ONS 15454 MSTP 100 G coherent transponder, reduces space and power requirements by over 70 percent compared with alternative transceiver form factors, such as CFP. Future routing and switching line cards will also incorporate CPAK technology.

"Cisco’s CMOS design allows us to utilize the immense and highly evolved CMOS IC fabrication industry, which delivers low-cost, highly integrated and reliable components,” said Bill Gartner, vice president and general manager of Cisco’s High End Routing and Optical business unit. “We see this as a critical differentiator to reduce the power, cost and size of components, and it will help make 100 gigabit as widely deployed as 10 gigabit is today. No other industry solution offers as much opportunity to reduce 100 gigabit deployment costs as the Cisco CPAK.”

Cisco’s first line card to incorporate CPAK technology is the 100Gbps CPAK Coherent DWDM line card, compatible with the ONS 15454 MSTP platform.  The card uses Cisco’s 100GE IEEE standards-based LR4, SR10 and ER4 CPAK pluggables on the client interface and Cisco’ ultra long-haul coherent technology on the network facing (trunk) interface.

In addition, Cisco announced that its 100G DWDM powered by nLight technology can cover distances of up to 4,800 km without the need for signal regeneration.  The density of the technology enables 6 x 100G Transponders in a 6 RU chassis, or the equivalent of 8.4 Terabits of I/O in a single rack.

Cisco also noted that its nLight silicon photonics could be further developed in state-of-the-art 28nm CMOS silicon to enable 400Gbps and 1 Tbps rates.

http://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=1157237

China Mobile and Ericsson Test Uplink Coordinated Multipoint in the TD-LTE


China Mobile and Ericsson have verified the performance of Uplink Coordinated Multipoint (UL CoMP) in a TD-LTE trial network. The companies confirmed that in cell edge areas, UL CoMP can achieve 50-100 percent uplink throughput gain.

Ericsson said UL CoMP is one of the key technologies of LTE Advanced that can greatly improve network capacity and coverage.  The technology enhances uplink signal strength and effectively suppresses interference from neighboring cells. It is implemented at the network side with no requirement on terminals or protocols.

Currently, China Mobile is evaluating the network performance improvement brought by the introduction of UL CoMP to determine the priority of this technology in their future standard.

http://www.ericsson.com

Huawei Shows WDM Prototype Carrying 20x 2 Tbps Channels

Huawei is showcasing a 40T Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) prototype at this week's OFC/NFOEC 2013 event in Anaheim, California.

The prototype supports simultaneous transmission of 20 C-band optical channels running at 2 Tbps, providing an industry-leading capacity of up to 40 Tbps per fiber.

Huawei cited three innovations in its platform:

The combined use of Electrical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (eOFDM) and frequency-domain Hybrid Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) technologies substantially improve spectrum efficiency to 10 bit/s/Hz.

The combined use of Flex-Optical Digital Signal Processing (Flex ODSP) and Hybrid Soft-/Hard-Decision Multi-level Coding (HMLC) technologies extend the transmission distance to beyond 1,000 km over common single-mode fiber and Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFAs).

Software-implemented transceiver technology allows optical modulation formats such as Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying (QPSK), 16QAM, 32QAM, and 64QAM to be adjusted or combined, achieving a configurable transmission rate and distance for each service. As a result, dynamic service needs in varied scenarios can be easily met.

In 2012, Huawei completed a 2 Tbps WDM field trial with Vodafone, achieving up to 3,325 km transmission for 2 Tbps signals. The 40T WDM prototype is another major breakthrough in high-speed transmission proving current commercial optical networks will be ready for the upcoming flood of digital traffic.

http://www.huawei.com

Huawei Develops All Optical Switching

Huawei showcased prototypes of an All-Optical Switching platform at this week's OFC/NFOEC 2013 event in Anaheim, California. The Optical Burst Transport Network (OBTN) prototype joins a Petabit Photonic Cross-Connect (PPXC) prototype showcased at earlier OFC/NFOEC events. This new All-Optical Switching Network architecture makes further advances in any-topology networking and coherent transmission for optical bursts.

Huawei said All-Optical Switching Network technology could eliminate the need for Optical-Electrical-Optical (OEO) conversion or electrical switching. Huawei solves the challenge of switching multi-dimensional and multi-wavelength optical bursts through the use of Optical Time Slot Interchange (OTSI) technology. This enables any-topology, all-optical contention-less networking. 

Huawei is also demonstrating 100 Gbps optical burst transceiving, an industry first.  

Huawei noted that its All-Optical Switching Network architecture is compatible with traditional WDM and Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) networks.

http://www.huawei.com

Proximion Launches 16-port Flexible-Grid Optical Layer Monitor


Proximion AB, which develops optical modules and sub-systems based on Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) technology, introduced a 16-port, flexible-grid Optical Layer Monitoring product as part of its "WISTOM" line.  An 8-port version was already available.

The 16-port WISTOM measures channel power, frequency, OSNR, wavelength drift, line-width & capacity utilization of 16 DWDM ports independently of channel plan, channel grid, modulation format or data rate.

"We are proud to introduce the 16-port WISTOM that not only has twice the number of ports to competing subsystems, it is also the only subsystem that scans the complete C-band in less than 0.1 milliseconds and reports channel specific problems with a response time of less than 10 milliseconds, while simultaneously measuring all key optical parameters”, says Adel Asseh, VP Product Management at Proximion.

http://www.proximion.com/Products/WISTOM

CommScope Acquires iTracs for Data Center Mgt

CommScope has acquired iTRACS, a company that specializes in open, enterprise-class data center infrastructure management (DCIM). Financial terms were not disclosed.

iTRACS, which is based in Tempe, Arizona, offers a Converged Physical Infrastructure Management (CPIM) solution that provides a holistic view of the entire physical data center and that dynamically understands how a change or failure of a single device in the ecosystem affects the performance of all other devices and conditions in the environment. The platform allows users to see, understand, manage and optimize these dynamics continuously in a real-time visualized 3D environment.

CommScope said the acquisition will strengthen its position in infrastructure management.

“Together with iTRACS, we can provide business enterprises around the world with the broadest and best possible solutions for designing, managing, monitoring and planning data center infrastructure,” said Kevin St. Cyr, senior vice president of Enterprise Solutions, CommScope.

http://www.commscope.com
http://www.itracs.com/

South Korean Banks Hit in Cyber Attack

South Korean banks and TV broadcasters suffered a coordinated cyber attack on Wednesday afternoon.  Impacted organizations include Shinhan Bank, Nonghyup, KGS, MBC and YTN, with outages lasting several hours. North Korea is suspected in the attacks.

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130320000730

Robert McDowell to Step Down from FCC

Robert McDowell announced plans to step down as FCC Commissioner in the coming weeks.

In 2009, President Obama will renominated Robert M. McDowell for a second term as FCC Commissioner. 

McDowell, who is a Republican, was first nominated by President George W. Bush in 2006. Immediately prior to joining the FCC, Commissioner McDowell was senior vice president and assistant general counsel for COMPTEL, an association representing competitive facilities-based telecommunications service providers, emerging VoIP providers, integrated communications companies, and their supplier partners, where he had responsibilities involving advocacy efforts before Congress, the White House and executive agencies.

 
http://www.fcc.gov

QualiSystems Hits Testing Milestone -- 5 Million Devices

QualiSystems' TestShell Framework now manages more than five-million devices worldwide in the testing labs of network equipment manufacturers (NEMs), storage manufacturers, telecom operators, data center providers, Fortune 500 enterprises and electronics device manufacturers. The company said its TestShell is now installed in over 100 test labs worldwide and managing nearly $1 billion in lab equipment.

TestShell enables test engineers to inventory, control, schedule and provision all network, storage, and computing elements in complex test lab environments. By automating the sharing of costly equipment resources, TestShell dramatically increases device utilization and testing productivity, leading to significant CAPEX savings and enabling faster time to application, product and service launch.

http://www.qualisystems.com


ADTRAN Enhances its Total Access 5000 with 8x10GE Module

ADTRAN is enhancing its Total Access 5000 platform for the metro core with a new module that offers 8x10GE optical transport with Ethernet switching.  This expands the service delivery, aggregation and transport capacity of the Total Access® 5000, a 21 usable slot system, to more than 200 Gbps per slot.

ADTRAN’s ONE solution suite integrates a packet optical solution with Broadband Access and Carrier Ethernet service delivery enabling seamless networking from access to core via wavelength, OTN or MEF-compliant Carrier Ethernet switching.

http://www.adtran.com


Sunrise Telecom Adds OAM and MPLS-TP Test Capabilities


Sunrise Telecom has aded OAM (Operations, Administration and Management) and MPLS Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) capabilities to its RxT Smart Productivity Test Platform. The new features, which are integrated into the RxT 10GE module, enable service providers to successfully and efficiently deploy and maintain advanced Carrier Ethernet services such as LTE, IPTV and mobile backhaul.

The OAM features of the RxT 10GE include connectivity check messages, Ethernet loopback, and link trace generation and analysis. For testing cell site Ethernet backhaul and Ethernet business services, the RxT 10GE supports CFM testing based on IEEE 802.1ag and ITU Y.1731 standards.

The RxT 10GE also now features testing of MPLS-TP services, an emerging Layer 2 transport technology, to verify that MPLS-TP services are properly configured for end-to-end OAM. Customer and control plane data verification is seamlessly included in the RxT 10GE module which means MPLS-TP and SLA verification can be determined simultaneously, increasing the efficiency of both installation and network troubleshooting.

http://www.sunrisetelecom.com/products/rxt_10ge.php

Cambium's High Capacity Line-of-Sight Radio Selected by USAF


The U.S. Air Force has selected Cambium Networks' point-to-point (PTP) 45600 High Capacity Line-of-Sight (HCLOS) radio for its Theater Deployable Communications (TDC PMO) program of record. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Cambium said its PTP 45600 HCLOS radio will be used to provide reliable and secure voice, video and data functions for both deployable warfighters and first response missions anywhere in the world.  The Theater Deployable Communications (TDC PMO) program is supported by General Dynamics.

http://www.cambiumnetworks.com

Blackberry Founders Establish Venture Fund


Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin, who together founded BlackBerry, announced Quantum Valley Investments, a new, $100 million private fund that will provide financial and intellectual capital for the further development and commercialization of breakthroughs in Quantum Information Science.

Quantum Valley Investments is headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

http://www.quantumvalleyinvestments.com