Nokia to Test Artemis pCell Wireless with Operators

Nokia Networks has agreed to test Artemis Networks' pCell wireless technology in 2016 with wireless operators, initially in large indoor venues and other high density areas.

The companies will jointly offer pCell Proof-of-Concept deployments to selected Nokia Networks customers. The companies may extend the collaboration to consider further advanced features that could be enabled by pCells, such as precise 3D location positioning.

Nokia said pCell has the potential to enhance the capacity of conventional 4G TD-LTE networks in certain use cases, while remaining compatible with unmodified devices.

The pCell concept uses radios to transmit signals that deliberately interfere with each other, combining to synthesize tiny pCells, each just one cm in size. Every mobile device has its own pCell, a “personal cell,” each getting the full spectrum capacity.

“In addition to creating transformative internal innovations, we continuously look for and evaluate external innovations to bring the most advanced solutions to the operators. We are keen to see the potential for pCell in enhancing 4G LTE downlink and uplink capacity given the rapidly growing network demands such as concurrent HD video streaming,” stated Hossein Moiin, Executive Vice President and CTO at Nokia Networks.

Steve Perlman, Founder & CEO of Artemis Networks, said: “We are delighted to collaborate with Nokia, the world’s leading 4G LTE network vendor, to offer pCell Proof-of-Concept deployments to selected customers. pCell technology has the potential to significantly increase the downlink and uplink capacity of spectrum, while remaining compatible with existing 4G LTE devices.”

http://networks.nokia.com/news-events/press-room/press-releases/nokia-networks-artemis-to-trial-pcell-technology
http://www.artemis.com/pcell

• Steve Perlman, Artemis Founder & CEO, has previously served as  an Apple Principal Scientist and Microsoft Division President.  He holds over 140 U.S. patents and is credited with the invention of Apple Quicktime.

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ClearSky Data Raises $27 Million for Enterprise Storage Service

ClearSky Data, a start-up based in Boston, announced $27 million in a Series B funding for its a global storage network

ClearSky's global storage network manages the entire data lifecycle, combining the performance and availability of local enterprise storage with the scalability and economics of the cloud. ClearSky’s fully managed service automatically caches data across a network of geographically distributed layers, making data available to enterprise users where and when it’s needed.  The service combines primary storage, backup and disaster recovery with on-demand scaling and agility. It automatically caches data – moving cold data to the cloud, keeping warm data in metro-based PoPs within 120 miles of customers, and storing a small portion of hot data on-premises.

The funding round was led by Polaris Partners, with a strategic investment from Akamai Technologies. Previous investors General Catalyst and Highland Capital Partners also participated in the funding. This brings total investment in the company to $39 million.

“Managing primary storage is a huge and poorly served challenge in the enterprise infrastructure market. Legacy systems have failed to address customer needs and no one has figured out how to leverage the economics and agility of the cloud – until now. ClearSky has addressed this challenge head-on, creating a breakthrough software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering for primary storage,” said Dave Barrett, managing partner of Polaris Partners. “We’ve entered the next generation of the enterprise and ClearSky has a great opportunity to build the next major infrastructure company.”

Andy Champagne, vice president and chief technology officer, Akamai Labs at Akamai Technologies said, “ClearSky’s global storage network is the way for enterprises to move their data to the cloud—with the security, performance and availability they need to succeed. At Akamai, we know firsthand how to build a global network that meets the stringent requirements of enterprise customers, and we look forward to working with the ClearSky team to help customers worldwide as they adopt this new approach to enterprise storage.”

http://www.clearskydata.com/

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Rackspace Launches Carina Container Cluster Service

Rackspace introduced a native container cluster service called Carina.

Carina focuses on portability and ease-of-use for deploying a cluster of containerized applications. It leverages bare-metal performance, Docker Engine, native container tooling and Docker Swarm for orchestration.

Rackspace said one of the advantages of Carina is that it uses the native Docker API and tooling.  Containers sit on top of the server, which helps eliminate hypervisor overhead, allowing faster application performance. The idea is to get customers to a “zero infrastructure” container environment, where Rackspace manages the infrastructure and Docker environment for customers.

“At Rackspace, our mission is to give customers industry-leading service and expertise on the world’s leading technologies. Carina extends this mission as part of our strategy to support OpenStack’s position as a leading choice for enterprise clouds,” said Scott Crenshaw, SVP, strategy and product at Rackspace. “Carina design makes containers fast, simple and accessible to developers using native container interfaces, while leveraging the infrastructure capabilities of OpenStack.”

“The Carina beta from Rackspace makes it fast and simple to start a Docker Swarm cluster. They have put the Docker experience front and center without any abstraction,” said Nick Stinemates, VP business development of Docker, Inc.  “You can get started in under a minute and pull images into a cluster straight from Docker Hub, or leverage existing Docker tools and plugins that natively “just work.” This is exciting as it builds on and partners with our existing community and ecosystem. The focus on container developer experience is paramount and they’re showing a commitment to it.”

http://blog.rackspace.com/newsarticles/carina-by-rackspace-simplifies-containers-with-easy-to-use-instant-on-native-container-environment/

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World Radiocommunication Conference Seeks Consensus on Spectrum Allocations

The ITU's World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15 kicked off in Geneva and is scheduled to run through the end of November.

The WRC is held every three to four years to review, and, if necessary, revise the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of the radio-frequency spectrum and the geostationary-satellite and non-geostationary-satellite orbits.

WRC-15 will address a number of key issues, in particular:

• Mobile broadband communications: Provision of additional frequencies to meet the rapidly growing demand for mobile broadband communications.
• Emergency communications and disaster relief: Allocation of frequencies for advanced public protection and disaster relief.
• Monitoring the environment and climate change: New allocations for earth-exploration satellite services with higher resolution radar imagery for improved global environmental monitoring.
• Unmanned aircraft and wireless avionics systems: Spectrum for the aeronautical sector, related to the use of unmanned aircraft systems, and wireless avionics intra-communications to allow for the heavy and expensive wiring used in aircraft to be replaced by wireless systems.
• Global flight tracking for civil aviation: WRC-15 will consider allocating spectrum for global flight tracking for improved safety.
• Enhanced maritime communications systems: Maritime communications, facilitating the use of on-board digital transmissions and automatic identification system on vessels for improved navigation safety.
• Road Safety: Allocation of frequencies for short range, high-resolution radars for collision avoidance systems in vehicles for increased road safety.
• Operation of satellite systems: Allocation of spectrum for broadband satellite systems; providing for earth stations on-board moving platforms, such as ships and aircraft; and improving coordination procedures to make more efficient use of spectrum and satellite orbits.
• Universal Time: examining the feasibility of achieving a continuous reference time-scale, by modifying Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-R/conferences/wrc/2015/Pages/default.aspx

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Hibernia Extends Ethernet to Equinix Cloud Exchange

Hibernia Networks is extending its Ethernet connectivity to and within the Equinix Cloud Exchange in Asia, Europe and North America.

The Hibernia Networks’ EtherReach Cloud Exchange service, which the companies describe as one of the largest network connectivity deployments for Equinix’s Cloud Exchange to date, initially includes 12 major cities located across six countries.  The second phase, slated for completion in the first quarter of 2016, will expand the reach to 18 cities in eleven countries.

“EtherReach Cloud Exchange provides enterprises, system integrators and wholesale customers with a secure, dedicated global network connectivity solution to the robust selection of cloud service providers available on the Equinix Cloud Exchange,” states Al DiGabriele, senior vice president of product and marketing at Hibernia Networks. “Combining a more consistent and lower latency network experience with access to cost-effective cloud services allows customers to simplify operations, improve efficiencies and accelerate time to market.”

“With locations in 33 markets worldwide, Equinix’s data centers are a major hub for cloud services, and Equinix Cloud Exchange is available in 21 of those markets, and growing,” states Jim Poole, vice president of service provider marketing at Equinix. “Being able to tap into Hibernia Networks’ high capacity, low latency network infrastructure provides customers with a cost-effective, secure and reliable dedicated connection as an alternative to the public Internet.”

http://www.equinix.com/industries/cloud-providers
http://www.hibernianetworks.com/hnservices/wholesale-services/

New Hibernia Express Cable Timed at Record 58.95ms Latency for NY-London

Thursday, September 24, 2015  Hibernia, Submarine Cable, Undersea  No comments

The new Hibernia Express transatlantic cable is delivering an actual tested latency of better than 58.95ms (milliseconds) from New York to London, which is faster by more than half a millisecond off the original projected speed.

Hibernia Networks said its new undersea cable has undergone rigorous testing over the past two weeks. Testing parameters included power stability, spectral efficiency and latency. The results confirmed the latency on Hibernia Express from LD4 in Slough, England to NY4 in Secaucus, New Jersey to be under 58.95ms.



http://www.hibernianetworks.com/hibernia_express

• Hibernia Express utilizes a 6-fiber-pair submarine cable, with a portion of the fibers optimized for lowest latency and a portion optimized for 100X100 Gpbs design capacity. The total cross-sectional design capacity of the cable will be over 53 Tbps. Hibernia Express will initially launch with 100 Gbps transmission capacity using TE SubCom’s C100 SLTE platform. Hibernia Express follows the most direct route between the UK and North America, promising to reduce latency by at least 5 milliseconds over existing cables.

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Mellanox Open Ethernet Gains Acceptance by Open Compute Project

The Open Compute Project (OCP) has accepted Mellanox Technologies' 10GbE and 40GbE switch systems. This includes:

• the MSX1710OCP spine switch system, with 36 QSFP+ interfaces
• the MSX1410OCP leaf / top-of-rack (ToR) switch system, with 48 SFP+ interfaces and 12 QSFP+ interfaces

Both switch systems are based on the company's SwitchX-2 silicon, which is designed for non-blocking 2.56 Tbps full wire speed forwarding with cut-through latency and deterministic zero packet loss performance. Mellanox is a co-author of the Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI), which enables applications and Ethernet protocol stacks to operate seamlessly over any Open Ethernet compatible switch hardware platform. Mellanox was the first to integrate the SAI layer and to offer its free download as an open-source.

“It is exciting to see organizations such as Mellanox take an active role in shaping the future of open networking through not only its open collaboration and participation in the OCP Networking Project, but through its willingness to open the specs and designs around in its SwitchX-2 product line,” said Amber Graner, operations director for the Open Compute Project Foundation. “The Mellanox switch contributions are another great example of how OCP through member participation is accelerating the future of open hardware in the networking ecosystem.”

http://www.opencompute.org/wiki/Networking/SpecsAndDesigns#Accepted_Hardware
http://www.mellanox.com/

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T-Mobile Launches 4G LTE CellSpot

T-Mobile is introducing a residential small cell for providing LTE coverage inside a home.

The T-Mobile 4G LTE CellSpot delivers a 4G LTE signal for customers with or without an indoor cellular signal on compatible 3G, 4G and LTE handsets for up to 16 callers at one time anywhere a customer has broadband Internet and T-Mobile wireless spectrum. The customer must provide the location address and acknowledge 9-1-1 limitations. The device is free for customers on T-Mobile's Simple Choice plan.

“Where the T-Mobile Wi-Fi CellSpot’s like a T-Mobile tower, this new 4G LTE CellSpot is a T-Mobile mini-tower—and it’s a huge feat of engineering,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. “The big difference between us and the carriers is that they’ll do absolutely everything they can to bleed you dry. We’ll do absolutely everything we can and use every proven technology available to give you the best coverage possible.”

https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/media-kits/4g-lte-cellspot.htm

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AquaComms Picks Ciena for its new Trans-Atlantic Network

AquaComms has selected Ciena's GeoMesh solution for its new AEConnect Cable System.

AEConnect is a new subsea cable system that is a diverse trans-Atlantic route and spans more than 5,400 km connecting New York with the West Coast of Ireland, including deep water branching units for future landing station connectivity. In addition to the trans-Atlantic segment, the system supports metro networks, data center interconnectivity (DCI) and access to all of the major data centers in Dublin, as well as from Wales to London.

AquaComms is deploying Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, powered by WaveLogic 3 Extreme coherent optics, to provide 100G services between point of presences (PoP). Ciena said the design of the AEConnect system will allow AquaComms and its customers to take advantage of advanced modulation schemes such as 8QAM and 16QAM that provide greater spectral efficiency and reach. Additionally, Ciena’s OneControl Unified Management System together with PinPoint Advanced Fiber Analytics and OneConnect Layer 0 Control Plane will provide end-to-end network management, visibility and restoration on the terrestrial segments.

http://www.ciena.com/about/newsroom/press-releases/AquaComms-Selects-Ciena-for-New-Trans-Atlantic-Submarine-Network.html

AquaComms Embarks on New America-Europe Undersea Cable

Thursday, May 28, 2015  Aquacomms, Ireland, Submarine Cable  No comments

AquaComms, a new venture based in Dublin, is preparing to launch a new trans-Atlantic cable by the end of this year.

TE SubCom has begun manufacturing on the America Europe Connect (AEConnect) subsea cable system, which will will land in Shirley, NY and Killala on the West Coast of Ireland. The cable will span more than 5,400 km with stubbed branching units for future landings. It will use CeltixConnect, an Irish Sea subsea cable wholly owned by AquaComms, to provide extended connectivity to London and greater Europe. The initial project cost is expected to be $300 million and is funded in part through a debt offering arranged by Nomura.

AEConnect will be optimized to carry 130 wavelengths of 100G per fiber pair. It will also feature an SDN control plan for advanced service provisioning.

• In August 2015, Equinix said its New York and London International Business Exchange data centers will serve as carrier-neutral network access points for AquaComms new transatlantic fiber optic system, America Europe Connect (AEConnect), which is scheduled to enter service before the end of the year.

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AT&T Wins 5-Year Contract with U.S. Census Bureau

AT&T Government Solutions won a contract to enable U.S. census takers to use mobile applications to capture and deliver sensitive survey data on-the-go in near real-time.

Under a 5-year agreement, the Census Bureau will use AT&T's 4G LTE network and Internet of Things (IoT) services to support critical survey work performed nationwide by up to 20,000 census takers.

"We're excited to provide advanced mobility and IoT services to the Census Bureau to help it transform and improve its data collection programs," said Mike Leff, vice president-Civilian, AT&T Government Solutions.

http://www.att.com

• In June 2009, Harris Corporation, the system integrator for the 2010 U.S. census, selected Sprint as the exclusive wireless data provider to help automate the process and to provide wireline and wireless data support to collect the information in real-time.  Beginning in April 2009, approximately 140,000 field workers carried the Harris custom-built devices operating on the Sprint network, with the ability to transmit collected data back to the Census Bureau in near real-time. In addition to their unique data collection capabilities, all hand held devices were equipped with GPS capabilities (allowing workers to verify addresses remotely without relying on printed maps) and fingerprint ID scanning for added security. The program also covered use of 500 Sprint Global MPLS sites across United States, roughly 1,500 managed devices including routers, switches, firewalls and Intrusion Detection Service (IDS) for additional security, more than 150,000 active telemetry wireless devices that will allow workers to collect data remotely, resulting in more accurate reporting and substantially less use of paper, and about 1,500 mobile broadband connection cards.

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Ceragon's Q3 Revenue Declines but Margin and Net Income are Up

Ceragon Networks reported Q3 revenue of $85.4 million, compared to $99.0 million for the third quarter of 2014, and compared to $94.8 millionin the second quarter of 2015. Gross margin was 31.9% of revenues, compared to 25.6% of revenues in the third quarter of 2014, and compared to 28.2% of revenues in the second quarter of 2015. Net income was $1.4 million or $0.02 per basic share and diluted share for the third quarter of 2015. Net loss for the third quarter of 2014 was $(5.6) million, or $(0.08) per basic share and diluted share.

http://www.ceragon.com

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Indosat Selects Ericsson for LTE Upgrade in Jakarta

Indosat, a member of Ooredoo Group and one of Indonesia's leading telecommunication and information operators, awarded a new contract to Ericsson to deploy 4G/LTE network in Greater Jakarta. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal covers 2G, 3G and 4G/LTE network technology, implementation services and network performance optimization. The solution includes the Ericsson RBS 6000 base station family.

Ericsson previously supplied 2G and 3G systems to Indosat.

http://www.ericsson.com

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