Ericsson's 5G Software Plug-ins Extend LTE

Ericsson announced a number of 5G Plug-Ins, software-driven innovations that bring essential 5G technology concepts to existing LTE networks. Ericsson said LTE will continue to expand and evolve, addressing both an increased number of subscribers and their growing demands for extreme app coverage for data and video, as well as new low power wide area (LPWA) applications for the Internet of Things (IoT).  These include:

• Massive MIMO Plug-In: Massive MIMO is the combination of Single-User MIMO (SU-MIMO) and beamforming supported by advanced antennas with a large number of steerable ports. Massive MIMO improves both the user experience and the capacity and coverage of the network. 
• Multi-User MIMO Plug-In: building on Massive MIMO, Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO) transmits data to multiple user devices using the same time and frequency resources and coordinates beamforming. MU-MIMO provides a better user experience, enhances network capacity and coverage, and reduces interference.
• RAN Virtualization Plug-In: RAN Virtualization improves network efficiency and performance by enabling Virtual Network Functions (VNF) to be centralized on a common platform supporting both 4G and 5G.
• Intelligent Connectivity Plug-In: where 5G and 4G coverage areas overlap, Intelligent Connectivity enables the network to robustly anchor and intelligently route data based on application requirements and network resource availability, increasing the combined data throughput of 4G and 5G resources.
• Latency Reduction Plug-In: this Plug-In shortens access procedures and modifies the frame structure to enable instant network access and more frequent transmissions. This in turn reduces time-to-content while enabling real-time communications for key 5G applications such as smart vehicles.

"5G will be driven by new use cases requiring higher performance - from connected cars with perfect driving records, to immersive augmented reality for remote surgery, to multi-K movies on mobile devices. 5G will unlock new consumer and industrial applications, and with our 5G field trial plans already well underway, we are now introducing Ericsson 5G Plug-Ins, which enable the evolutionary steps that operators need to take as they develop networks to secure their 5G future," stated Arun Bansal, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Unit Radio, Ericsson.

http://www.ericsson.com

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Bluetooth 5 Promises 4X Range, 2X Speed

The next update to Bluetooth, which should arrive in late 2016 to early 2017, promises significantly increased range, speed, and broadcast messaging capacity.

Bluetooth 5 will quadruples range, doubles speed, and increases data broadcasting capacity by 800%, according to the Bluetooth Special Interest group. The increased data broadcast capacity will drive the adoption of Bluetooth-enabled beacons and location-based services in the home automation, enterprise, and industrial markets.

“Bluetooth 5 will transform the way people experience the IoT by making it something that happens simply and seamlessly around them,” said Mark Powell, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. “Increasing operation range will enable connections to IoT devices that extend far beyond the walls of a typical home, while increasing speed supports faster data transfers and software updates for devices. And now with the ability to broadcast a much richer set of information, Bluetooth 5 will make beacons, location awareness, and other connectionless services an even more relevant part of an effortless and seamless IoT experience”

https://www.bluetooth.com

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ASML to Acquire HMI for Sub-10nm Lithography

Netherlands-based ASML, a leading provider of lithography systems for the semiconductor industry, agreed to acquire Taiwan-based Hermes Microvision,  a leading supplier of pattern verification systems used for advanced semiconductor devices, in a cash transaction valued at about TWD 100 billion (approximately EUR 2.75 billion).

The two companies are leaders in their respective fields and have been working together on new approaches that IC manufacturers can use to improve yields in the production of the most advanced microchips as they enter sub-10 nanometer resolutions and 3D integration. This requires very dense, high resolution metrology to measure and control device performance, whereas 3D integration requires very dense, high voltage contrast metrology for process control.

“Our over-arching goal is to serve our customers even better and offer them the tools they need to achieve higher yields at the most advanced nodes. This acquisition is intended to make a strong product offering even stronger. Our metrology technologies are complementary, and when combined offer the chance to significantly improve process control, and hence yields, for our customers. Our two companies have worked together for almost two years to see how we could best combine our capabilities, and found that we could significantly improve this constructive cooperation and better serve our customer by teaming up as one company. This also means that we expect enhanced product offerings faster,” said Peter Wennink, President and Chief Executive Officer at ASML.

http://www.ASML.com

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Samsung Acquires Joyent for Container-Native Platform

Samsung Electronics has acquired Joyent, a start-up based in San Francisco that delivers container-native infrastructure, offering public cloud and private cloud software solutions for real-time web and mobile applications. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Since its inception, just over ten years ago, Joyent has developed Node.js, a Javascript runtime, into a de facto standard for web, mobile and IoT architectures. Joyent now offers Triton, a containers as a service solution, and Manta, a scalable object storage solution.

As a result of this acquisition, Samsung will become an anchor tenant for Joyent’s Triton and Manta solutions. Joyent said Samsung will bring it scale, financial muscle, and a strong partner for innovation. Joyent will continue as an independent subsidiary of Samsung.

“Samsung evaluated a wide range of potential companies in the public and private cloud infrastructure space with a focus on leading-edge scalable technology and talent. In Joyent, we saw an experienced management team with deep domain expertise and a robust cloud technology validated by some of the largest Fortune 500 customers,” said Injong Rhee, CTO of the Mobile Communications business at Samsung Electronics
http://www.samsung.com
http://www.joyent.com

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"5G for Switzerland" Backed by Swisscom and Ericsson

Swisscom, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and Ericsson are launching a "5G for Switzerland" program that aims to understand to how 5G can play a transformative role in areas such as smart transportation, autonomous driving, automated traffic control systems, smart grid, IoT, and virtual reality.

Heinz Herren, CTO and CIO Swisscom said: “5G is still in the early stages of development. For Swisscom it is essential to be in on the planning from the start, preparing for future applications.”

Martin Buerki, Ericsson Country Manager, Switzerland, said: “We are delighted to partner with Swisscom and EPFL to extend our 5G for Europe program to Switzerland where we can address the innovation potential that 5G communications technology will bring by working together with local industries.”

http://www.ericsson.com

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T-Mobile US Impletements Enhanced Voice Service Codec with Ericsson

With Ericsson’s support, T-Mobile U.S. has implemented the Enhanced Voice Service (EVS) next-generation audio codec, which was standardized in 3GPP for VoLTE/LTE networks.

The companies confirmed that T-Mobile provides nationwide EVS support for VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling users, delivering even greater audio quality than current HD voice services, and better call reliability and quality across both T-Mobile’s LTE network and Wi-Fi access.

“With Ericsson’s partnership, we’ve been able to bring better voice reliability and higher fidelity calls to T-Mobile customers in more times and places than HD voice alone could provide. We already have three EVS-capable devices in the market and will have seven by the end of the year,” stated Mark McDiarmid, Vice President Radio Network Engineering and Development at T-Mobile.

https://www.ericsson.com/news/160614-evolved-hd0-voice-for-volte_244039855_c

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Coriant Adds SDN Capabilities

Coriant announced a number of new features and capabilities that extend SDN control to a broader set of multi-layer (Layer 0-3) transport applications. These include:

• Extended SDN control from metro to core – Coriant extends SDN automation and control from the long haul optical core (e.g., Coriant hiT 7300) to packet-centric metro and access applications with availability of Coriant Transcend SDN Solution support for the Coriant mTera Universal Transport Platform (UTP), Coriant 7100 Packet Optical Transport Platform, Coriant Pluggable Optical Layer, Coriant Groove G30 DCI Platform, and Coriant 7090 Packet Transport Platform.
• Seamless SDN and NMS interworking – by leveraging common resources and algorithms, including Path Computation Element (PCE) and network databases, Coriant improves interworking between the Coriant Transcend SDN Solution and Coriant TNMS. 
• Improved Planning and Optimization – new Coriant TNMS software features provide more comprehensive support for full lifecycle tasks, including network planning, commissioning, maintenance, and optimization. Recently deployed in production Tier 1 networks, these intelligent optical control capabilities accelerate time-to-market for high-speed services by automating operational tasks and improving efficiencies in service workflows.
• Support for MEF Ethernet Services – Coriant expands the multi-layer capabilities of the Coriant Transcend SDN Solution with the addition of support for Carrier Ethernet (CE) and MPLS-TP-based networks and services, with APIs that follow MEF's Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) reference architecture.  

"New video and cloud traffic demands are driving the need for enhanced software capabilities that help service providers more effectively manage the transition from traditional to SDN-enabled operational environments," said Filipe Caetano, Director of Product Management, Coriant. "Our new software enhancements reduce the cost of operating end-to-end networks and bring a new level of automation to the planning, commissioning, and management of end-user services."

http://www.coriant.com

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IBM and VMware Extend Strategic Cloud Partnership

VMware Horizon Air customers will now be able to take advantage of cloud-hosted desktop and application services via the IBM Cloud.

The announcement reinforces IBM Cloud being a strategic cloud partner for VMware.

VMware Horizon Air cloud services delivers full Windows desktops or published applications to desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

“Our strategic partnership with IBM continues to grow and evolve as we look to enable customers to access corporate applications and data through a secure digital workspace," said Sanjay Poonen, executive vice president and general manager, End-User Computing, and head of global marketing and communications, VMware. “Customers are asking for choice and innovation, while protecting existing IT investments. Offering VMware Horizon Air on the IBM Cloud addresses customer demands with an enterprise-grade cloud and services from two proven and trusted companies.”

http://www.vmware.com
http://www.ibm.com

• Earlier in 2016, IBM and VMware announced a strategic partnership designed to help enterprises take better advantage of the cloud’s speed and economics to extend existing workloads from on-premises software-defined data center to the cloud.

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