GSMA: Mobile Ecosystem Accounts for 4.4% of Global GDP

The GSMA now estimates that mobile technologies and services accounted for 4.4 per cent of global GDP in 2016, equivalent to around $3.3 trillion of economic value. This is forecast to increase to more than $4.2 trillion by 2020, or 4.9 per cent of projected global GDP, as countries around the world continue to benefit from the improvements in productivity and efficiency made possible by mobile technology. The mobile ecosystem directly and indirectly supported 28.5 million jobs in 2016, a figure expected to increase to 30.9 million by 2020.

Some highlights from the GSMA’s ‘Mobile Economy’ report presented at Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona:

• By the end of 2016 there were 4.8 billion unique mobile subscribers and 7.9 billion SIM connections worldwide. 
• The 5 billion-subscriber milestone will be achieved by mid-year 2017 and will increase to 5.7 billion by the end of the decade. 
• By 2020, almost three-quarters of the world’s population will be subscribed to a mobile service. 
• More than half of connections (55 per cent) were running on mobile broadband (3G/4G) networks, which are forecast to account for almost three-quarters of connections by 2020.
• At the end of 2016, 580 4G (LTE) networks had been launched across 188 countries, providing 4G coverage to approximately 60 per cent of the global population.
• Looking further ahead, the study predicts that the first commercial 5G networks (based on LTE Release 15) will launch in 2019 and will provide coverage to a third of the world’s population by 2025. The number of 5G connections is forecast to reach 1.1 billion by that time.

“Mobile is a global platform that today supports two-thirds of the world’s population, delivering the connectivity and infrastructure that is powering new digital economies and addressing socioeconomic challenges,” said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA. “Our latest Mobile Economy report reveals how the near ubiquity of smartphones and high-speed connectivity is enabling innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence and driving the digital transformation. Mobile operators have invested over a trillion dollars in their networks since 2010 and will invest a further $700 billion over the remainder of the decade as we enter the 5G era.”

http://www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/.

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Huawei Launches CloudMetro and 100 GBE-enabled NFVI

Huawei has released its advanced CloudMetro platform, designed to help operators accelerate their digital transformation and adopt cloud technology to enable resource pooling and enhanced service agility and automation, and its new 100 Gigabit Ethernet-enabled network functions virtualisation infrastructure (NFVI) solution.

CloudMetro solution

Huawei's CloudMetro solution moves management and service functions to the network cloud engine (NCE) to enable an on-demand, 'Lego'-style service provisioning capability. By introducing service function chains to support on-demand service function selection and deployment, the architecture is designed to reduce trial costs, shorten service time-to-market down to days and address carriers' differentiated service requirements.

The platform offers standard northbound interfaces that are open to third parties, so allowing a wider range of applications to be supported. Huawei also provides lab facilities for remote online integration verification, thereby enabling joint development with partners. Huawei intends to cooperate with industry partners to help deliver mutually beneficial solutions.

Huawei noted that forwarding-control separation allows cloud-based centralised resource control and ondemand dynamic resource scheduling for increased resource utilisation, while unified service management, centralised resource control and flexible resource scheduling across layers, domains and vendors enable selfservice operation and one-touch service provisioning. In addition, the router can be used to construct an E2E, slicing-capable network.

NFVI solution

Huawei also released its 100 Gigabit Ethernet-capable NFVI solution that provides high bandwidth and low latency performance. Based on Huawei's FusionServer E9000 converged architecture blade server, the solution integrates 100 Gigabit Ethernet switch modules and FPGA acceleration cards, NVMe SSDs and the FusionSphere virtualisation platform, which delivers the performance for carrier-class applications.

Huawei noted that to leverage the operational and business advantages of NFV, it believes the NFVI must be able to accommodate increasing east-west traffic within the data centre by providing a high-speed Ethernet fabric capable of supporting high capacity and lower latency between virtual network function (VNF) elements.

The NFVI 100 Gigabit Ethernet solution leverages Huawei's FusionServer E9000 which can support 100 Gbit/s per port for external bandwidth of up to 4 Tbit/s, while providing port forwarding latency of less than 600 ns for the entire chassis. In addition, the network can be managed by the SDN controller, and for applications such as network protocol offload and encryption/decryption the NFVI solution features FPGA acceleration cards and NVMe SSDs to reduce the CPU load.

http://www.huawei.com

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Qualcomm and Mercedes-AMG Test 802.11ad for Racecar Data

Qualcomm and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport are conducting field trials to test high-speed wireless download of vehicle sensor information utilizing 802.11ad Wi-Fi technology in the 60 GHz band.

Initial testing was conducted during the Formula 1 US Grand Prix in the 2016 season and will be extended during the British Grand Prix in July.  During these field trials, race engineers utilize both 5 GHz 802.11ac and Multi-gigabit 802.11ad Wi-Fi technology, which operates in the millimeter wave (mmWave) 60GHz band, to gather data directly from the Team’s race car while in, or approaching the garage. The handover between the two 802.11 modes are handled automatically as radio conditions dictate throughput performance.  Racecar telemetry data pulled via Wi-Fi using the 5 GHz spectrum included tire data utilizing thermal cameras.

Qualcomm said the goal of the trial is to accelerate how quickly and efficiently data can be pulled from the vehicle, as well as help evaluate vehicle performance under extreme race conditions, helping with quicker assessments and less time in the pit lane.

“Qualcomm Technologies has been leading the way in creating a robust 802.11ad ecosystem, helping industry leaders introduce the first commercial smartphones, access points, notebooks and adapters using our 802.11ad chips.  802.11ad Multi-gigabit Wi-Fi technology can also address the growing need of bandwidth for content-rich applications in homes, offices and cars. We look forward to continuing this trial with the Mercedes-AMG

http://www.qualcomm.com

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Altice's SFR Virtualizes Mobile Core with Cisco and Red Hat OpenStack

SFR, Altice’s French subsidiary, is transforming its mobile packet core infrastructure with an NFV platform architected to support multiple vendors. The solution is based on Red Hat OpenStack Platform, in combination with Cisco networking, virtualization and data center compute solutions.

The companies report that 50 percent of the mobile traffic is already running on its virtualized platform and 80 percent is planned by end of 2017.

“NFV is a reality at SFR,” said Philippe Le May, SFR CTO, Altice Group. “We are focused on innovating faster and taking bold leaps to transform our network operations, providing our customers with experiences beyond mobile that no one else can match.”

“Our strategy is to enable our customers’ success at growing both profits and revenues by connecting new services and virtualized applications to networks and clouds,” said Yves Padrines, vice president, Global Service Provider EMEAR, Cisco.

http://www.cisco.com

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Cisco Powers Jio's All-IP Platform - Fastest Growing Network in the World

Cisco confirmed that it is working with India's Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) to further expand Jio’s existing multi-terabit capacity, first All-IP converged network. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Jio's network is the fastest growing in the world.  Within six months of launch, it reached 100 million broadband and VoLTE customers. Since its launch, Jio has accelerated India’s monthly user data consumption 40 times, the highest in the world. With the advanced All-IP network, Jio offers a premium broadband service at U.S. $0.15/GB, making it the most affordable in the world.

The network supports a combination of high-speed data, mobile video, VoLTE, digital commerce, media, cloud, and payment services. The Cisco All-IP network helps Jio to deliver the vision of Digital India and transform the delivery of citizen services from transportation, utilities and financial inclusion to entertainment, agriculture, education, and healthcare in the country.

The Jio All-IP digital platform is built on Cisco’s Open Network Architecture and Cloud Scale Networking technologies featuring IP/MPLS, spanning areas including Data Center, Wi-Fi, Security and Contact Center solutions. Jio has laid more than 185,000 miles (or 300,000 KM) of fiber, and built India’s largest cloud data center to build platforms for applications and vertical solutions.

"We at Jio have been able to fundamentally impact how people leverage technology in their everyday lives by delivering inclusive and affordable broadband across India,” said Mathew Oommen, president, Reliance Jio. “As part of our journey in fulfilling the aspirations of the nation to be a key transformational agent in Digital Adoption and Leadership, Cisco has been a great partner for in building this highly scalable cloud centric All-IP Digital Services Network Platform meeting unprecedented data growth.

“We share the vision with Reliance Jio for an open, programmable infrastructure to simplify, automate and virtualize core network functions in order to digitize faster,” said Yvette Kanouff, senior vice president, general manager, Service Provider Business, Cisco. “This network marks a milestone, transforming the mobility business in India by delivering a broad range of mobile apps and services from one common platform.”

http://www.cisco.com

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Mellanox and ECI partner to deliver virtual CPE platform for NFV

Mellanox Technologies, a supplier of interconnect solutions for data centre servers and storage systems, and 'elastic networking' company ECI have announced the introduction of an advanced virtual CPE (vCPE) platform at the Mobile World Congress 2017.

The joint platform is designed to provide enhanced performance and efficiency and enable service providers to cost-effectively implement network function virtualisation (NFV) deployments. The solution is based on ECI's Mercury NFVi platform and uCPE solution, accelerated by Mellanox's Indigo network processor delivering over 400 Gbit/s of L2-7 packet processing. Compared to un-accelerated platforms, the ECI-Mellanox solution is claimed to deliver more than a 30x performance improvement for virtual router, L4-7 firewall and L7 QoS applications.

The ECI Mercury NFVi platform and uCPE technology converge multiple customer premises networking functions onto an elastic, software-configurable platform, with the uCPE solution enabling service providers to combine networking functions flexibly to create new value-added service mixes.

In addition, the advanced network processing capabilities of Mellanox Indigo constitute an integral part of the NFV Infrastructure to enhance the performance of virtualised network functions, particularly those requiring guaranteed throughput, packet rate, latency and jitter for SLAs.

The companies noted that compared to conventional platforms, the joint ECI-Mellanox solution can enable flexible service creation more cost-effectively together with enhanced infrastructure efficiency and in a more compact footprint.

Separately, Mellanox unveiled the IDG4400 6WIND Network Routing and IPsec platform based on the combination of Indigo and 6WIND's 6WINDGate packet processing software, which includes routing and security features such as IPsec VPNs. The IDG4400 6WIND 1 U platform supports 10/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and can deliver sustained rates of up to 180 Gbit/s encryption/decryption while providing IPv4/v6 routing functions at rates up to 400 Gbit/s.

http://www.mellanox.com

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Telefónica Tests LTE-M with Ericsson and Sierra Wireless

Telefónica has completed field testing of CAT-M1 or LTE-M for IoT over its network in Spain in partnership with Ericsson and Sierra Wireless.

The testing showed successful interoperability Sierra Wireless modem, which builds Cat-M1 chipsets in and Ericsson's Packet Core and Radio solutions.

Tests took place within 5TONIC project, the 5G research and innovation open lab of which Ericsson is an active member, founded by Telefónica and IMDEA Networks.

5TONIC Open Lab is an open place where companies and individuals test ideas with different IoT networks, according to their needs; prove concepts, experiment and build initial prototypes that can lead to a commercial offering. This Open Lab would be the first environment providing both NB-IOT and CAT-M1 (LTE-M).

http://www.ericsson.com

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GSMA's Vision for the 5G Era

At the opening of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the GSMA outlined five goals for the 5G era:

1. Provide boundless connectivity for all: 5G networks will co-exist with 4G networks and alternative network technologies to deliver a high-speed, reliable and secure broadband experience;
2. Deliver future networks innovatively and with optimal economics: All stakeholders will strive to cost-effectively deliver improved networks, relying on a combination of mainstream and alternative technologies, using both licensed and unlicensed spectrum;
3. Accelerate the digital transformation of industry verticals: The mobile industry will provide the networks and platforms to drive the digitisation and automation of industrial practices and processes;
4. Transform the mobile broadband experience: 5G networks will provide an enhanced broadband experience of up to 1 Gbps and below 10 milliseconds latency, and provide the platform for cloud- and artificial intelligence-based services; and
5. Drive growth in new use cases for massive IoT and critical communications services: 5G networks will support the massive rollout of intelligent IoT nodes for a multitude of scenarios, including critical communications services
   

The goals, which are published in a new study called ‘The 5G Era: Age of Boundless Connectivity and Intelligent Automation’, is based on an extensive survey of 750 operator CEOs and other industry stakeholders.

The GSMA forecasts that commercial 5G networks will begin to be widely deployed at the start of the next decade and, by 2025, will provide coverage to a third of the world’s population. 5G connections are forecast to reach 1.1 billion by 2025, accounting for approximately one in eight mobile connections worldwide by this time.

“The 5G era will usher in innovations that enable richer, smarter and more convenient living and working, making possible a huge array of new applications, everything from sensor-driven smart parking to holographic conference calls,” said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA. “5G is an opportunity to create an agile, purpose-built network tailored to the different needs of citizens and the economy. But it is vital that all stakeholders work together to ensure that 5G is successfully standardised, regulated and brought to market.”

The full report is available to download here.

https://www.gsmaintelligence.com/research/?file=0efdd9e7b6eb1c4ad9aa5d4c0c971e62&download

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Nokia Promises 5G FIRST End-to-End Solution in 2H17

At Mobile World Congress, Nokia is showcasing its 5G FIRST end-to-end solution incorporating its AirScale and AirFrame technology, including AirScale massive MIMO Adaptive Antenna, Cloud Packet Core and mobile transport.  The solution is expected to launch in the second half of 2017.

Nokia said it intends to give operators a first-to-market advantage based on early specifications.

The radio access network components of 5G FIRST comprise new Nokia massive MIMO Adaptive Antennas for 3.5 GHz, 4.5 GHz, 28 GHz and 39 GHz frequency bands, the AirScale System Module, AirScale cloud RAN technology and software. Nokia has upgraded its AirScale and AirFrame platforms to 5G based on specifications developed by the KT Special Interests Group (KT SIG) and Verizon 5G Technology Forum and the platforms will be adapted to 3GPP as standards develop.

Leveraging Nokia's end-to-end network capabilities, 5G FIRST also incorporates the multi-access Nokia Cloud Packet Core and the Nokia Shared Data Layer as part of a cloud-native core architecture to deliver the flexibility, massive scalability and performance operators need to rapidly and cost-effectively deliver 5G services. A comprehensive array of mobile transport offerings from Nokia address the critical capacity, reliability and latency requirements of the 5G era.

Samih Elhage, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said: "We are able to leverage our breadth of expertise to deliver a true end-to-end 5G FIRST network and services solution. Working with operators such as Verizon we can help them tailor deployments to meet their own customers' unique demands and capitalize first on the opportunities this will bring. And we can leverage the technology to work with industries to identify new uses for 5G now under the 5G community program which will in turn open up even more opportunities for our operator customers."

http://www.nokia.com

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Cisco Intros Security Architecture for Mobile Operators

At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Cisco is introducing its Security Architecture for Mobile Service Providers, promising multi-layered protection across the network, the endpoint (device) and the cloud.

New elements include:

• Network Security: To help service providers protect their mobile backhaul from attacks against the core network, Cisco introduces its next generation of highly scalable, physical and virtual Security Gateway (SecGW) solutions, supported by the Firepower 9300 and Firepower 4100 Series firewall appliances, ASR 900 Series routers and Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance (ASAv).  
• Device Security: Cisco security on the device enables enterprises and service providers to extend visibility and device-level protection to offer the most robust mobile device platform for the enterprise.
• Cisco and Samsung will deliver endpoint visibility and data intelligence to business customers via Samsung Knox, Cisco AnyConnect and Cisco Stealthwatch solutions. 
• Cloud Security: Service providers can now deliver new revenue streams by offering their customers new managed security services from their own managed cloud, or Cisco-managed cloud environments.

In addition, the company is introducing ‘Cisco Umbrella for Service Providers’, a new cloud-delivered security platform.  Specifically, Cisco is introducing new integration of its Cisco Umbrella security service, with the Cisco Evolved Packet Core (EPC), available to run on the Cisco Ultra Services Platform or Cisco ASR 5500 Series routers to deliver a more secure Internet experience to any mobile device.

“Security is the business enabler for mobile service providers to confidently move forward with network transformation, virtualization and pave a path towards 5G,” said Gee Rittenhouse, senior vice president, Engineering, Security Business Group. “We are focused on helping our customers see more, protect better, and respond faster with robust security to fill in the gaps and appreciate all the new opportunities that come with network expansion, without the added risk.”

http://www.cisco.com

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ADVA Advances Facebook-Designed Open Optical Packet Transport

ADVA Optical Networking reports that it is now working with nine customers on trials of the Facebook-designed Voyager solution, including Tier 1 service providers and large enterprises.  The open optical packet transport system is being tested in a range of proof of concept (POC) installations.

ADVA said the over the last nine months, Voyager has matured rapidly from blueprint to physical product. The 1RU DWDM unit features 12 x 100Gbit/s QSFP 28 clients and 4 x 200Gbit/s 16QAM on the line side.

ADVA also announced integration of Voyager into its FSP Network Manager.

“The two founding principles of the Voyager and Open Optical Packet Transport projects are openness and innovation and it’s these principles that have guided everything that our team has developed here,” said Niall Robinson, VP, global business development, ADVA Optical Networking. “Now that the Voyager system is complete, we’re focusing much of our time on further developing our services to ensure that customers have a turn-key solution. That’s why these POCs are so important. We’re able to see firsthand what resonates. Which services do the customers like? Which services do they need to see more of? Which services are truly critical? And what’s fascinating here is the breadth of applications these POCs cover. The lessons learnt from the next few months will be key as we move from trials to commercialization.”

“We’re excited by the progress we’ve made with Voyager by working with partners like ADVA Optical Networking. What was only an idea less than a year ago is now almost commercially ready for deployment,” said Hans-Juergen Schmidtke, co-chair, Open Optical Packet Transport project group, TIP, and director, engineering, Facebook. “We’re looking forward to collaborating with our partners to build the open optical packet transport solutions with Voyager into a complete package that will enable service providers and enterprises to deploy an open networking solution that delivers rapid results and enables continuous innovation.”

http://www.advaoptical.com

Facebook to Contribute Open Packet DWDM to Telecom Infra Project

Tuesday, November 01, 2016  DWDM, Facebook, Open  No Comments

Facebook outlined its plan for Open Packet DWDM for metro and long-haul fiber optic transport networks.  The idea is to "enable a clean separation of software and hardware" based on open specifications.

Facebook had already developed a new "white box" transponder and routing platform called Voyager based on Open Packet DWDM, which it will contribute to the Telecom Infra Project.

Facebook said the Voyager open line system will include Yang software data models of each component in the system, and an open northbound software interface (NETCONF, Thrift, etc.) to the control plane software. This allows multiple applications to run on top of the open software layer, enabling software innovations in DWDM system control algorithms and network management systems.

The DWDM transponder hardware includes DSP ASICs and complex optoelectronic components, and thus accounts for much of the cost of the system. The hardware design leverages technologies implemented in Wedge 100, Facebook's top-of-rack switch, including the same Broadcom Tomahawk switching ASIC.  It also uses the DSP ASIC and optics module (AC400) from Acacia Communications for the DWDM line side with their open development environment.

Facebook worked with Lumentum to develop a terminal amplifier specification so that multiple applications can run on top of the open software layer to enable software innovations in DWDM system control algorithms and network management systems.

Some additional notes:

• Equinix has successfully tested the Voyager solution and Lumentum’s open line system over 140km of production fiber. MTN also shared the results of their successful test of Voyager over their production fiber network in South Africa. Facebook, Acacia Communications, Broadcom, Celestica, Lumentum, and Snaproute are delivering a complete disaggregated hardware and software optical networking platform that is expected to significantly advance the industry.
• ADVA Optical Networking is providing commercial support for Voyager, including all of the essential services and software support needed to make it a complete network solution that is ready for deployment.
• Coriant is extending its networking software to enable engineering support for Voyager, providing routing and switching as well as DWDM transmission capabilities. The combination of DWDM and packet switching/routing opens up the potential for more open and more programmable network architectures.
• The first TIP Ecosystem Acceleration Centers, sponsored by SK Telecom and Facebook, will open in Seoul in early 2017. Other TIP Ecosystem Acceleration Centers are being planned to encourage community participation. The latest companies to join TIP include Bell Canada, du (EITC), NBN, Orange, Telia, Telstra, Accenture, Amdocs, Canonical, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Toyota InfoTechnology Center.

https://code.facebook.com/posts/1977308282496021/an-open-approach-for-switching-routing-and-transport/

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Huawei and Softbank Complete 3.5 GHz Massive MIMO with CA Test

Huawei, in collaboration with SoftBank, completed a Massive MIMO verification test using the operator's 40 MHz spectrum on the 3.5 GHz band in Tokyo, Japan.

The test of Massive MIMO and multi-carrier technologies achieved a peak downlink rate of 1.4 Gbps.

Huawei said the 3.5 GHz band, with its abundant bandwidth resources, offers a great opportunity for the global development of LTE TDD, and has grown increasingly important as a 5G catalyst to assume the spotlight position of the global mobile industry.

Massive MIMO, featuring the incorporation of massive antennas and 3D beamforming, enhances spectrum multiplexing among multiple UEs to significantly improve spectral efficiency without additionally increasing site density or bandwidth. The 3.5 GHz Massive MIMO test further explores the latent potential of 3.5 GHz spectrum, and is expected to open up a new commercial era of LTE-Advanced.

http://www.huawei.com/en/events/mwc/2017

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CORD and xRAN Consortium Partner in Software-based Extensible RAN

CORD and xRAN consortium partner to develop carrier grade software-based, extensible RAN February 23rd The CORD Project, an open source project seeking reinvent network access via enabling data centre economics and cloud agility in the central office, announces an agreement to partner with xRAN Foundation to collaborate on standardising and promoting a software-based, extensible RAN (xRAN) architecture.

The partnership is intended to deliver a carrier grade, open reference implementation of xRAN specifications within M-CORD for a next generation RAN architecture. Designed to address the challenges associated with closed, proprietary RAN systems and the future demands of 5G, the CORD Project and xRAN are combining two ecosystems of service providers, vendor and open source communities.

Through the initiative, the xRAN consortium will focus on developing software-defined standards for the architecture and interface definitions for next-generation RAN; the CORD community will focus on implementing xRAN standard APIs, a RAN controller based on ONOS and example RAN control applications for the M-CORD platform leveraging both open and closed hardware from multiple vendors.

As part of the partnership, ON.Lab has announced the appointment of Dr. Sachin Katti, Professor of EE and CS at Stanford University, as chief scientist for mobility to guide the integration of xRAN with M-CORD.

The collaboration is expected to establish a symbiotic relationship between standards and API specifications and reference implementations, and thereby allow the use of specifications to help improve the reference implementation, while experience with the reference implementation can help improve specifications. In addition, extended engagement with the open networking ecosystem will help to create software- defined standards and a reference implementation, and help speed the adoption of software defined RANs.

Founded in October 2016, the xRAN consortium has developed standardised RAN control interfaces that allow carrier applications to programmatically control multi-vendor RAN infrastructure and have been adopted by carriers. xRAN aims to decouple the RAN control plane from the user plane, build a modular eNB software stack that operates on COTS hardware and release open north- and south-bound interfaces.

Members of the xRAN consortium include AT&T, Deutsche Telekom and SK Telecom, plus Intel, Texas Instruments, Aricent, Radisys and Stanford University.

Regarding the partnership, Andre Fuetsch, president of AT&T Labs and CTO, commented, "AT&T has been a founding member and active supporter of both xRAN and CORD, and the time is right for xRAN and M-CORD to come together… the xRAN and M-CORD partnership will allow the building of mobile access networks with the ability to customise and optimise the RAN and to more quickly create new services…".

https://www.linuxfoundation.org/announcements/cord-project-and-xran-consortium-align-to-build-carrier-grade-software-for-next

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ZTE Shows its 5G Pre-commercial Base Stations

At Mobile World Congress, ZTE is showcasing a range of 5G mmWave and Sub6GHz pre-commercial base stations.  The equipment will support 3GPP's 5G new radio (NR) new air interfaces and mainstream 5G frequency bands. The base stations use massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO), Beam Tracking, beamforming and other key 5G technologies.

The company is demonstrating a 5G mmWave base station with a 50 Gbps peak rate.  ZTE completed its first 5G mmWave field trials last year.

Zhang Jianguo , SVP of ZTE, said: "ZTE will continue its innovation in the 5G field to meet the product and service needs of customers. ZTE will occupy a place in the world's first 5G commercial market and lay a solid foundation for the future Internet of Things (IoT)."

http://www.zte.com.cn

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Source Photonics ramps 100G QSFP28 LR4 transceiver capacity

 Source Photonics, a supplier of optical transceivers for data centre and broadband access connectivity, announced that in December 2016 it reached an operational milestone when it expanded capacity to over 10,000 units per month for 100 Gbit/s QSFP28 LR4 transceivers.

Source Photonics noted that it began shipping its 100 Gbit/s QSFP28 LR4 product in March 2015 following completion of a targeted sampling and qualification program. Subsequent investments of over $30 million in captive InP chip fab expansion and a captive optical subassembly (OSA) facility featuring high precision die attach and alignment capabilities have enabled monthly production capacity to be ramped from 1,000 modules to over 10,000 modules within 12 months.
  Source Photonics, a supplier of optical transceivers for data centre and broadband access connectivity, announced that in December 2016 it reached an operational milestone when it expanded capacity to over 10,000 units per month for 100 Gbit/s QSFP28 LR4 transceivers.

Source Photonics noted that it began shipping its 100 Gbit/s QSFP28 LR4 product in March 2015 following completion of a targeted sampling and qualification program. Subsequent investments of over $30 million in captive InP chip fab expansion and a captive optical subassembly (OSA) facility featuring high precision die attach and alignment capabilities have enabled monthly production capacity to be ramped from 1,000 modules to over 10,000 modules within 12 months.

The expansion of Source Photonics' 100 Gbit/s production line follows the earlier ramp of its 40 Gbit/s QSFP+ LR4 single mode platform to support the increasing demand for 40 Gbit/s connectivity in both North American and Asian cloud data centre markets.

The company noted that while North American demand is quickly transitioning from 10 and 40 Gbit/s to 100 Gbit/s, cloud operators and service providers in Asia are continuing to leverage the economies of scale at 40 Gbit/s, resulting in high demand for 40 Gbit/s transceivers. Source Photonics believes it will be able to increase its market share by exploiting a captive InP laser chip fab and shared OSA manufacturing assets with the 100 Gbit/s line to expand 40 Gbit/s production.

Source Photonics stated that leveraging its operationally integrated business model and LEAN manufacturing facilities for both InP chip and OSA production, it plans to further ramp production capacity to meet the connectivity demands of cloud-scale data centre operators. Specifically, it is aiming to increase capacity to 20,000 100 Gbit/s QSFP28 modules per month based on committed investments for 2017.

In January, Source Photonics announced it would increase investment in its 10 Gbit/s PON OLT and ONU product lines to address the fixed access network upgrade cycle from EPON and GPON to 10G EPON and XGS-PON. The company noted that investment throughout the manufacturing chain, including in laser chips and advanced optical modules, was intended to strengthen its position as the highest volume vertically integrated optical module supplier present in the market.

Earlier in February, the company launched what it claimed was the first XGS-PON N2 OLT optical transceiver module, designed to offer a universal solution for the upgrade of existing GPON to next generation XGS-PON networks able to support multi-gigabit services.

The expansion of Source Photonics' 100 Gbit/s production line follows the earlier ramp of its 40 Gbit/s QSFP+ LR4 single mode platform to support the increasing demand for 40 Gbit/s connectivity in both North American and Asian cloud data centre markets.

The company noted that while North American demand is quickly transitioning from 10 and 40 Gbit/s to 100 Gbit/s, cloud operators and service providers in Asia are continuing to leverage the economies of scale at 40 Gbit/s, resulting in high demand for 40 Gbit/s transceivers. Source Photonics believes it will be able to increase its market share by exploiting a captive InP laser chip fab and shared OSA manufacturing assets with the 100 Gbit/s line to expand 40 Gbit/s production.

Source Photonics stated that leveraging its operationally integrated business model and LEAN manufacturing facilities for both InP chip and OSA production, it plans to further ramp production capacity to meet the connectivity demands of cloud-scale data centre operators. Specifically, it is aiming to increase capacity to 20,000 100 Gbit/s QSFP28 modules per month based on committed investments for 2017.

In January, Source Photonics announced it would increase investment in its 10 Gbit/s PON OLT and ONU product lines to address the fixed access network upgrade cycle from EPON and GPON to 10G EPON and XGS-PON. The company noted that investment throughout the manufacturing chain, including in laser chips and advanced optical modules, was intended to strengthen its position as the highest volume vertically integrated optical module supplier present in the market.

Earlier in February, the company launched what it claimed was the first XGS-PON N2 OLT optical transceiver module, designed to offer a universal solution for the upgrade of existing GPON to next generation XGS-PON networks able to support multi-gigabit services.

http://www.sourcephotonics.com

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Baicells Debuts its "Neutral Host" Small Cells

Baicells Technologies introduced its "NeutralCell", which provides a shared infrastructure that can be leveraged by multiple operators and neutral host service providers.

Baicell said its NeutralCell allows neutral host service providers to deliver a shared infrastructure solution – a single small cell that can be used by multiple operators. The NeutralCell units support the frequency band and transmitted power requirements of multiple operators, enables new business opportunities.

http://www.Baicells.com

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Qualcomm Adds Support for Android Things OS on 4G LTE Processors

Qualcomm plans to add support for the Android Things operating system (OS) on its Snapdragon 210 processors with X5 LTE modems.

The Android Things OS is a new vertical of Android designed for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and Snapdragon processors are expected to be the world’s first commercial System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions to offer integrated 4G LTE support for this OS.

This combination is designed to support a new class of IoT applications requiring robust, security-focused and managed connectivity including electronic signage, remote video monitoring, asset tracking, payment and vending machines and manufacturing, as well as consumer devices such as smart assistants and home appliances.

Snapdragon 210 processors running Android Things OS will also allow manufactures and developers to harness the power of the Google Cloud Platform and Google services over 4G LTE in their IoT solutions. Additionally, support for Google

http://www.qualcomm.com

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Accelerated Push for 5G New Radio (NR) standardization

Major mobile network operators and vendors issued a call to accelerate the 5G New Radio (NR) standardization schedule to enable large-scale trials and deployments as early as 2019, a year earlier than the previous expected timeline.

The first 3GPP 5G NR specification will be part of Release 15 - the global 5G standard that will make use of both sub-6 GHz and mmWave spectrum bands.

Companies backing this accelerated schedule for 5G include AT&T, NTT DOCOMO, SK Telecom, Vodafone, Ericsson, Qualcomm, British Telecom, Telstra, Korea Telecom, Intel, LG Uplus, KDDI, LG Electronics, Telia, Swisscom, TIM, Etisalat Group, Huawei, Sprint, Vivo, ZTE and Deutsche Telekom. A new workplan will be presented at the upcoming 3GPP RAN Plenary Meeting on March 6-9 in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

"We support both the Standalone and Non-Standalone configurations of 5G New Radio," said Tom Keathley, senior vice president- wireless network architecture and design, AT&T. "Our focus is on prioritizing important specifications in the standards to bring 5G to market as quickly as possible. In the process of defining any standard, it is normal to make some decisions earlier than others. These accelerated decisions on key components of 5G New Radio standards will allow an earlier start on the development of the infrastructure and devices of tomorrow's 5G deployments."

"The faster we commercialize 5G based on 3GPP specifications, the faster we will realize its benefits for the entire industry. We are thrilled to participate in this initiative to accelerate the 5G ecosystem and commercial deployment," stated Arun Bansal, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Unit Network Products, Ericsson.

See Qualcomm's "Making 5G a Reality" presentation
https://www.qualcomm.com/invention/technologies/5g-nr

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Telefónica Builds AI Virtual Assistant for Managing Services

At the kickoff to Mobile World Congress 2017, Telefónica’s introduced AURA, a virtual assistant that uses artificial intelligence and cognitive capabilities to allow its consumer customers to know, manage, and control their digital lives with the company.

Telefónica’s Chairman and CEO, José María Álvarez-Pallete said the new platform and voice application, which sounds like Apple's Siri, will transform the interaction between customers and service providers.

For example, customers will be able to ask questions about the products and services they use; create and track a claim; manage and unblock device access to the Wi-Fi router provided by Telefónica; get information about their favourite shows and program their recording; or be alerted when their data consumption is greater than usual. Each user will have a “personal data space”, the memory which will store the digital trace they leave when using Telefónica products and services, and which will allow the customers, if they so desire, to personalize their experience. AURA will also be able to make recommendations about offers of products and services that best adapt to the needs of the user, the contents that adapt to their preferences, the installation of security, or the detection of fraudulent apps.

“Cognitive intelligence will allow us to understand our customers better, so they can then relate to us in a more natural and easy way, and generate a new relationship of trust with them based on transparency and the control of their data”, stated Álvarez-Pallete, during the presentation event. “We are pioneers in this relationship model. Never before have the users of telecommunications services been able to talk with the networks in real time. We’re expanding the relationship with our customers, seeking to increase their satisfaction, and opening new possibilities for them so that they can enrich their digital lives with us”.

Facebook, Microsoft, and UNICEF also participated in the presentation.

http://www.telefonica.com

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Qualcomm Expands 5G Modem Family to Support 5G NR

Qualcomm Technologies is expanding its Snapdragon X50 5G modem family to include 5G New Radio (NR) multi-mode chipset solutions compliant with the 3GPP-based 5G NR global system, supporting operation in the sub-6 GHz and multi-band millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum.

Qualcomm said its new modems are designed to provide a unified 5G design for all major spectrum types and bands while addressing a wide range of use cases and deployment scenarios. The Snapdragon X50 5G modem family is engineered to provide wider bandwidths and extreme speeds for enhanced mobile broadband. This includes support of both Non-Standalone (NSA) operation (where control signaling is sent over LTE), and Standalone (SA) operation (where all control signaling and user data are sent over 5G NR), and are designed to enable the next generation of premium-tier mobile cellular devices, while also aiding operators to execute early 5G trials and deployments.

The first commercial products integrating 5G NR modems from the Snapdragon X50 family are expected to be available to support the first large-scale 5G NR trials and commercial network launches starting in 2019.

“Qualcomm Technologies’ 5G NR chipset solutions will enable operators and OEMs to accelerate the worldwide deployment of 5G NR, delivering multi-gigabit-per-second data rates at a significantly lower latency and a unified connectivity fabric to meet the increasing connectivity requirements for mission-critical services, enhanced mobile broadband, and the massive Internet of Things,” stated Cristiano Amon, executive vice president, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and president, QCT.
 
http://www.qualcomm.com

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Verizon Launches Exponent Services for Global Carriers

Verizon unveiled Exponent, its new business and technology venture offering a portfolio of software and internet platforms designed to enable carriers around the world to quickly deploy and launch next-generation solutions.

Exponent leverages Verizon's innovation and experience in building its own network to provide the same foundation for other carriers to fuel their digital transformation and expanding their Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), Media Services and Internet Services Delivery platforms.

"As carriers around the world seek to compete with new, emerging technology players and OTT service providers, Exponent provides a cost-effective way for them to leverage Verizon's investment and experience to diversify and help grow their revenue streams while relying on our tradition of innovation, reliability and excellence," said Guru Pai, Chief Product Officer at Verizon.

Exponent platforms provide a broad range of business and technical benefits to carriers including:

• Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Platform – designed to assist carriers to unlock and monetize their wealth of data through the application of advanced machine learning techniques, deep analytics, and artificial intelligence. This new groundbreaking platform enables service providers to utilize their unique data sets in the marketplace and open new business opportunities.
• IoT Platform – from silicon to vertical solutions, this platform eliminates many of the limitations carriers have traditionally faced in managing the known complexities of its IoT growth business. By integrating a wide set of capabilities, from managing all end user devices and connections to a developer and customer marketplace, carriers are empowered to accelerate their IoT use cases.
• Media Services Platform – through cross-platform video and advanced media services across multiple networks with different end point devices, this platform reduces complexity to a simple integrated end-to-end next-generation video technology, handling everything from content ingestion to the final user screen. These solutions allow carriers to easily process at scale any type of video content from linear TV feeds to live streaming, OTT and emerging formats such as 360 video and VR, at a very convenient cost structure, while delivering a rich and customizable user experience.
• Internet Services Delivery Platform – with the goal of managing the ever-increasing infrastructure demand, this platform provides a powerful and flexible real-time flow-based solution that helps operators launch revenue-generating internet services, create value-based pricing and consumer engagement plans, and deliver dynamic network optimization capabilities through a simple management interface.
• Cloud Computing and Storage Platform – designed and built with carrier-sized deployments in mind, this container-based architecture allows carriers to rapidly deploy new services with a focus on scale and security, all while optimizing for both performance and cost.

http://www.exponentplatforms.com
http://www.verizon.com

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Cisco to Automate NTT DOCOMO’s Network Device Provisioning

Cisco is supplying its Network Services Orchestrator to help NTT DOCOMO carry out network device provisioning and transform its service lifecycle.

Cisco noted that DOCOMO deployed a network functions virtualization (NFV) system last year, but due to the complexity and time-consuming operations with network device provisioning, it has taken the initiative to fully improve its business efficiency by applying “automation” to various operations.

The Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO) software platform will help DOCOMO realize a series of new benefits, including:

• Cut service activation times from days to hours
• Create, modify, and remove services in real time
• Automate its service lifecycle and reduce manual configuration steps by up to 90 percent
• Easily bundle multiple network services fast, and help ensure them in real time
• Manage network changes, modify services, and reconfigure devices while in live production

“By converting existing manual construction workflow into automated operation with the Cisco NSO implementation, we aim to lower our overall network device provisioning operations and time drastically, and achieve smooth transition to commercialized network operation by reducing configuration error,” said Dr. Atsushi Murase, director, executive general manager of Solution Service Division, DOCOMO Technology, Inc. “This will enable us to simplify network operations while gaining improved efficiency to respond to operational requirements to provide high quality and reliable services to our customers.”

http://www.cisco.com

Cisco ACI Anchors NTT Docomo's NFV Rollout

Sunday, March 13, 2016  ACI, Cisco, DOCOMO, Japan, NEC  No Comments

Cisco confirmed that its Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) is being used to support the NFV capabilities recently rolled out in  NTT DOCOMO commercial LTE network. DOCOMO serves over 70 million mobile customers in Japan. Financial terms were not disclosed. “DOCOMO is working to provide our customers with high-quality telecommunications services that address the increasing demands of data,” said Seizo Onoe, Executive Vice President and...

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Oracle and Tech Mahindra Partner on VoLTE as a Service Offering

Tech Mahindra, a leading system integrator for network infrastructure services, and Oracle Communications have partnered to deliver an end-to-end VoLTE-as-a-Managed-Service solution based on Oracle’s IMS Core and Signaling products.

The joint solution offers operators the ability to achieve a faster time to market with new VoLTE services, increased voice quality and greater network efficiency while significantly reducing cost and complexity.

Tech Mahindra’s VoLTE-as-a-Managed-Service solution, powered by Oracle Communications technology, simplifies the path to an all-IP network by offering a fully virtualized solution that runs on common off the shelf hardware rather than relying on proprietary networking equipment.

The companies said a typical service provider with an LTE data network can expect to service its first Oracle-enabled VoLTE call within 3-6 months of deploying the solution, often at significant cost savings compared to traditional vendors and in-house solutions.

“The need to drive increased network efficiency and coverage while offering enhanced voice quality necessitates the move to Voice-over-Packet technologies,” said Manish Vyas, CEO Tech Mahindra Network Services. “Leveraging Oracle technology, Tech Mahindra is enabling service providers to adopt VoLTE in a simpler and more cost-effective way, with a powerful end-to-end pre-integrated solution that is virtualized and offers industry leading capabilities at each function.”

http://www.techmahindra.com
http://www.oracle.com

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Xilinx Integrates RF analogue Tech into All Programmable MPSoCs

Xilinx has announced what it claims is a disruptive integration and architectural technique for 5G wireless with the addition of RF-class analogue technology into its 16 nm All Programmable MPSoC products.

Xilinx's new All Programmable RFSoCs eliminate the need for discrete data converters, providing a claimed 50-75% reduction in terms of power and footprint for 5G massive MIMO and millimetre-wave (mmWave) wireless backhaul applications.

The company noted that large scale 2D antenna arrays will be a key element for increasing spectral efficiency and network densification for 5G networks. The integration of ADCs and DACs into Xilinx's All Programmable SoC devices is designed to enable radio and wireless backhaul units to meet previously unattainable power and form factor demands, while also allowing higher channel density.

In addition, the new RFSoC devices can also help manufacturers streamline design and development cycles and meet 5G deployment timelines.

Xilinx's new All Programmable RFSoC devices offer features including:

1. Direct RF sampling to simplify analogue design and enhance accuracy and enable a smaller form factor and lower power consumption.

2. 12-bit ADCs supporting up to 4 GS/s, high channel count, with digital down-conversion.

3. 14-bit DACs supporting up to 6.4 GS/s, high channel count and digital up conversion.

The new RFSoC integrated subsystem specifically targets a range of applications including high bandwidth remote radio and backhaul systems for 5G deployments and remote node architectures (R-PHY) for DOCSIS 3.1 cable broadband systems.

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ZTE trials Combo PON solution supporting GPON + XG-GPON services with China Telecom

ZTE has announced the completion of commercial trials of its Combo PON solution in two local networks in Changzhou and Yancheng, in China's eastern Jiangsu province, conducted jointly with the China Telecom's Jiangsu branch and the China Telecom Beijing Research Institute.

ZTE stated that the commercial trial combined the in-service optical line terminations (OLTs) with its Combo PON cards to connect the legacy optical distribution network (ODN) and XG-GPON and GPON optical network units (ONUs) using the same Combo PON port.

The Combo PON solution is designed to utilise the system and flow of the carrier's existing element management system (EMS), OSS and resource management system, while implementing minor alterations to the attributes and performance statistics and alarms of the newly-added Combo PON cards. The solution leverages its advanced XG-PON smart gateway to provide a 1 Gbit/s connection supporting voice, 4K IPTV and smart home services for end-users.

ZTE noted that with the solution existing GPON FTTH ONUs are migrated under the Combo PON port, and inherit the existing integrated terminal management system (ITMS) flow to enable automated distribution and provision of FTTH services, thereby providing interoperability with GPON ONTs from multiple vendors.

The company observed that migration of 10 Gbit/s PON is necessary to enable 1 Gbit/s broadband in China, although lack of compatibility between 10 Gbit/s PON and existing EPON/GPON CO equipment and the ONUs in user premises needs to be addressed. The native ability to combine 1 and 10 Gbit/s EPON terminals under the PON port has led to 10G EPON being adopted in large-scale upgrades. However, as a 10 Gbit/s GPON port only supports 10 Gbit/s and not GPON ONUs, coexistence of 10 Gbit/s GPON and GPON requires wavelength combination.

ZTE stated that traditional external multiplexer solutions need to plan, construct and maintain both 10 and 1 Gbit/s GPON equipment and cards, resulting in more equipment and an additional 1.5 dB insertion loss, as well as requiring existing ODN to reserve redundant optical power of approximately 3 dB, which limits its applications. The Combo PON solution does not require additional space, does not incur insertion loss or require ODN transformation, and can support flexible access and compatibility for both 10 and 1 Gbit/s PON ONUs.

The company noted that the success of the recent commercial trial demonstrates that the Combo PON solution can transition from the lab research to the application stage, marking a significant step towards ZTE and China Telecom commercialising the Combo PON solution.

ZTE unveiled its Combo PON solution, based on the hybrid GPON and XG-PON optical transceiver module, in February last year; in June 2016 the Combo PON was first tested at the China Telecom Shanghai Research Institute.

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Ciena Launches Waveserver Ai for DCI

Ciena has introduced Waveserver Ai, designed to offer high capacity and power efficiency for data centre interconnect (DCI) applications together with the established server-like operational model delivered by the Waveserver portfolio.

The 'easy-to-automate' Waveserver packet-optical platform is designed to enable ultra-high capacity connections between data centre locations along with reduced network costs for enterprises and content providers. The new Waveserver Ai additionally enables the interconnection of multiple clouds for multi-tenant data centre and cloud providers to offer expanded support for high-speed, high-capacity services.

Ciena's Waveserver Ai solution allows increased capacity and service densities with minimal footprint in data centres where space may be limited. Leveraging the WaveLogic Ai coherent technology, the platform can scale to 2.4 Tbit/s in a single rack unit of space, representing a claimed 50–100% higher density compared to other compact DCI platforms. Additionally, with low power per bit performance, the solution can also help operators  reduce overall energy consumption.

Waveserver Ai can also help to simplify DCI planning and deployment leveraging a programmable coherent chipset that can be tuned from 100 up to 400 Gbit/s to optimise capacity over any distance, ranging from metro and regional to long-haul networks. As a result, with a single Waveserver Ai platform an operator can deliver single wavelength 400 Gbit/s capacity on short-haul links and 200 Gbit/s capacity for long-haul DCI applications.

Additionally, leveraging web-scale attributes the Waveserver Ai platform is designed to enable a simplified lifecycle, from planning and ordering to provisioning and maintenance, combined with a server-like deployment model. Via a suite of open APIs and management interfaces, the platform can be integrated into existing or new DCI networks and existing operational processes. Ciena noted that operators can also use its Emulation Cloud simulation environment to create, test and fine-tune customised applications.

Waveserver Ai is scheduled to be generally available in the second quarter of 2017.

http://www.ciena.com

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ECOMP and OPEN-O to Become ONAP

The open source ECOMP project, which AT&T recently turned over to the Linux Foundation, and Open Orchestrator Project (OPEN-O), which is also managed by the Linux Foundation, will be merged to create the new Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) Project.

ONAP will allow end users to automate, design, orchestrate, and manage services and virtual functions. Its goal is to provide a harmonized and comprehensive framework for real-time, policy-driven software automation of virtual network functions that will enable software, network, IT and cloud providers and developers to rapidly create new services.

The Linux Foundation said that by consolidating member resources, ONAP is well positioned to deliver a unified architecture and implementation, with an open standards upstream focus, faster than any one project could on its own.

Founding Platinum members of ONAP include Amdocs, AT&T, Bell Canada, China Mobile, China Telecom, Cisco, Ericsson, GigaSpaces, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Nokia, Orange, Tech Mahindra, VMware and ZTE. Silver members of ONAP are ARM, BOCO Inter-Telecom, Canonical, China Unicom, Cloudbase Solutions, Metaswitch and Raisecom.

“By combining two of the largest open source networking initiatives, the community is able to take advantage of the best architectural components of both projects,” said Jim Zemlin, Executive Director of The Linux Foundation. “We’re excited to see the industry coalesce around ONAP with this unprecedented merger. Such a broad effort and investment will expedite our vision to deliver an open platform for network automation.”

The Linux Foundation will establish a governance and membership structure for ONAP to nurture a vibrant technical community.

“AT&T is excited to be working with a larger team on the future, open source network operating system for SDN automation. Creating a combined team of the initial open source ECOMP members with existing OPEN-O members bodes well for the project’s success. I want to thank the people at CMCC and Huawei, along with Jim Zemlin and Arpit Joshipura at The Linux Foundation who worked so hard with us to make this happen. We expect more consolidation in this space, and we expect many more service providers and other technology leaders to join us in this important work, which benefits the entire industry,” stated Chris Rice, SVP of Domain 2.0 Architecture and Design at AT&T.

“It is well accepted that SDN/NFV plays a key role to the carrier transformation, where automation of management and orchestration is one of the most critical enablers. Hence China Mobile has long been investing resources in the orchestrator development, and launched OPEN-O open source project with partners. In order to cohere efforts, to avoid fragmentation, and to accelerate the transformation of operators, China Mobile, AT&T and The Linux Foundation, finally reached consensus after several rounds of discussion. We are pleased to embrace the birth of the new project ONAP. It is our firm belief that, as the world's two largest telecom operators, the close collaboration in ONAP between China Mobile and AT&T, will accelerate the carrier network evolution with a strong impact on the industry globally. We sincerely hope that more industry partners would join hands with us in ONAP to promote industrial prosperity,” stated Madam Yang Zhiqiang, Deputy General Manager, China Mobile Research Institute.

http://www.linuxfoundation.org

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Previewing M-CORD Demo at #MWC2017

M-CORD is maturing very quickly and becoming the platform of choice for 5G research and trials, says Guru Parulkar, Executive Director of ON.Lab.

This video previews the upcoming M-CORD demos and announcements at Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona.

See the demos in Hall 5, Booth 5i61

https://youtu.be/eNjW58CosIU

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Telefonica to Divest up to 40% of Infrastructure Operations to KKR for Euro 1.275B

Telefónica announced it has reached an agreement with global investment firm KKR Group for the sale of up to a 40% stake of Telxius Telecom, its global telecommunications infrastructure
company, for a total of Euro 1,275 million, or Euro 12.75 per share.

Under the agreement, which is subject to regulatory approvals, Telefónica and KKR plan to partner to develop and expand the global telecom infrastructure operation, including through the development of new infrastructure projects.

Telefónica's infrastructure arm Telxius, established in February 2016, owns and operates a portfolio comprising nearly 16,000 telecom towers in five countries and manages an international network with around 65,000 km of submarine optical cable, including around 31,000 km owned by Telxius. The Telxius-owned network includes SAM-1 linking the U.S., Central and South America, PCCS (Pacific Caribbean Cable System) and Unisur, which connects Uruguay and Argentina.

In addition, it is currently deploying BRUSA, linking Brazil, Puerto Rico and the U.S., and MAREA linking the U.S. and Europe in partnership with Google and Facebook, with both cable systems due to be operational in 2018.

On completion of the proposed deal, Telefonica will remain the anchor client for Telxius' tower and cable businesses, and will retain a majority stake and operational control of the business and continue to consolidate it into its accounts. The sale is part of Telefonica's strategy designed to optimise its asset portfolio and allocation of capital, and complements its plan for organic debt reductions.

Telefónica noted that the proposed agreement with KKR implies an enterprise value of Euro 3,678 million for Telxius, or 11.4 times its 2017 EBITDA, and confirms the valuation indicated for Telxius in the offering memorandum for its attempted initial public offering as announced in September, but subsequently withdrawn in November. At that time, the indicative price range for the same stake was between Euro 12 and 15 per share. The proposed transaction with KKR values Telxius's equity at Euro 3,188 million (Euro 12.75 a share).

The agreement includes the initial acquisition by KKR of 62 million of shares (24.8% of the total shares) of Telxius for a total of Euro 790 million, with the option to acquire and sell an additional 38 million shares (15.2% of the total shares) for a minimum of Euro 485 million. Such options are related to a call option, exercisable by KKR and a put option, exercisable by Telefónica upon maturity of the call option.

Telefónica stated that the closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and that the window to exercise these options is in the fourth quarter of 2017, provided the required regulatory approvals have been received.

http://www.telefonica.es

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Radisys Delivers FlowEngine TDE-2000 for SDN + NFV

Radisys announced the delivery of its FlowEngine TDE-2000 carrier-grade open network switch for SDN and NFV.

Radisys said its new 1-RU FlowEngine TDE-2000 platform delivers robust Layer 2 through 5 traffic classification and distribution with very high throughput and low latency. The platform is the new flagship offering in Radisys’ FlowEngine TDE portfolio, leveraging programmable network processors which makes it easy to add new features moving forward. FlowEngine TDE-2000 is designed to open standards, and brings together switching, load balancing, security and routing functionality under open policy control. The FlowEngine TDE-2000 also enables Service Function Chaining (SFC) functionality for distribution of traffic flows through a programmable sequence of virtualized network functions (VNFs).

“As service providers migrate from legacy networks to new virtualized telco data centers, they require a programmable, flexible and scalable traffic distribution platform that meets price/performance targets,” said Bryan Sadowski, vice president, FlowEngine and DCEngine, Radisys. “Our FlowEngine TDE-2000 delivers the highest density in the market in a 1RU platform and is readily deployable in multiple architectures as a standalone switch, Leaf/ToR, or Spine/EOR switching fabrics. The FlowEngine TDE-2000 also can be deployed as an NFVI solution in our DCEngine platform. The powerful combination of the TDE-2000 pre-integrated with our updated FlowEngine software enables our customers to accelerate their SDN and NFV deployments.”

“When Radisys launched its FlowEngine TDE portfolio, we reviewed how the platform met 16 network virtualization requirements very well. The Radisys FlowEngine TDE platform rapidly classifies flows and forwards them based on intelligent policies applied by the SDN orchestration while load balancing packets for the specified applications and network services to mitigate network bottlenecks,” noted Sue Rudd, Director Service Provider Analysis, Strategy Analytics. See complimentary summary ‘Reduce NFV Risk - Pursue Network Virtualization.’ She continued “The new FlowEngine TDE-2000 gives communications service providers a new compact high performance network platform for distributing NFV, 5G and IoT traffic across their virtualized networks.”

Key product highlights include:

• OpenFlow interface for flexible integration with SDN orchestrators including OpenDaylight and ONOS controllers for support of multiple architectures
• Supports control planes and interfaces based on REST/NETCONF/YANG and is designed to support LinuxTC (Traffic Control)
• Delivers Layer 2-5 processing with up to 600 Gbps of advanced packet processing with configurations up to 20 x 100 Gbps ports.
• Incorporates programmable network processors, including multiple Mellanox NPS programmable network processors and Broadcom Tomahawk for up to 2 Tbps L2/L3 performance
• Provides open standard Service Function Chaining with Network Service Headers (NSH)
• Supports up to 50 million flow table entries including subscriber match tables and IP forwarding rules
• Network security with hardware-based encryption/decryption including VNFs with SFC
• Network Tap functionality including open standard IPFIX
• OpenDaylight controller support including Boron release
• ONOS controller support including GoldenEye and Hummingbird releases
• OCP ONIE support

http://www.radisys.com

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OpenStack's 15th Release - Ocata - Adds Core Infrastructure Services and Container Integration

The 15th version of OpenStack has officially hit the streets.

The OpenStack Ocata release focuses on stabilization, including scalability and performance of the core compute and networking services, and brings greater support for container-based application frameworks at the networking layer, as well as containerization of OpenStack services for easier deployment and upgrade management, treating OpenStack as a microservice application.

OpenStack.org noted growing support for container-based application frameworks and deployment tools, with Kolla (containerized OpenStack services), Kuryr (bridging container networking and storage with OpenStack) and Zun (container management) projects seeing the most contributor growth in the release cycle. Other container-related enhancements include:

• Magnum now supports Mesosphere DC/OS as a cluster type and Kubernetes support now includes the new SUSE distribution
• Kolla support for Kubernetes at the control plane
• Kuryr container networking service now supports Docker Swarm
• The new Fuxi (“FOO-si”) subproject of Kuryr connects Cinder and Manila storage to container environments

“A year ago, people thought contai

ners might be the death of OpenStack,” said Jonathan Bryce, executive director of the OpenStack Foundation, “but they were actually a new source of momentum for the cloud platform. Using container orchestration frameworks to run OpenStack like an application makes it easier to operate. That means it takes fewer people to run the cloud, making OpenStack a more accessible and practical option to those running at smaller scale.”

Other updates include:

• New Nova compute “placement” API that helps users intelligently allocate resources based on application needs. Cells v2 has also become default to increase scalability of Nova
• Horizon dashboard now supports keystone-to-keystone federation as new os-profiler UI, which gives operators the ability to detect performance issues across OpenStack services
• Auto-provisioning for Keystone federated identity dynamically creates a project and assigns a federated user a role upon successful authentication
• Ironic bare metal service becomes more robust with networking and driver enhancements
• Zaqar messaging service added Swift object storage as a backend to easily leverage an existing Swift cluster without deploying another MongoDB or Redis cluster
• Greatly improved performance and CPU usage for Telemetry projects: storing millions of metrics per second is now possible using Ceilometer with Gnocchi storage engine
• Active/Active HA in Cinder service can now be implemented by drivers
• Congress governance framework now has policy language enhancements to enable network address operations for better network and security governance
• A new “nova-status upgrade check” command line interface enables operators to test the readiness of their deployments to see if they can safely upgrade to Ocata or find out what needs to be addressed before upgrading to ensure stability and reliability. This is especially important as OpenStack’s adoption shows increasing maturity, with a 20 percent increase in production deployments year-over-year, reaching 71 percent in production or full operational use, according to the latest OpenStack User Survey.

https://www.openstack.org/news/view/302/openstack-ocata-strengthens-core-infrastructure-services-and-container-integration-with-15th-release-of-cloud-computing-software

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