AT&T Accelerates LTE-M Rollout

AT&T expects to have its LTE-M network for IoT deployed nationwide ahead of schedule in second quarter of 2017. AT&T's LTE-M service will be available in Mexico by the end of the year.

AT&T has been testing LTE-M Low-Power Wide-Area network at AT&T Labs in San Ramon, California since last October. A second LTE-M pilot location is underway in Columbus, Ohio. The company cited several advantages for LTE-M over traditional IoT connectivity options:

• Lower device costs
• Longer battery life (expected up to 10 years)
• Better coverage underground and deep inside buildings
• Module size (as small as 1/6 the size of current modules).

“Thanks to the success of our pilot, we’re on track to support LTE-M devices across our commercial network in the U.S. and Mexico ahead of schedule,” said Chris Penrose, President, Internet of Things Solutions, AT&T. “We’re seeing real momentum for LTE-M that will let us connect more end points than ever before.  And we can do it at a lower cost with superior performance and carrier-grade security.”

“We fully expect to have nationwide availability of LTE-M technology in Mexico by the end of 2017. This is huge for our enterprise customers. It’s an important step to help accelerate the speed of business,” said Kelly King, CEO, AT&T Mexico.

http://about.att.com/story/att_accelerates_deployment_of_lte_m_network.html

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Video: What is LTE-M?

What is LTE-M?  Chris Pemrose, President of IoT Solutions at AT&T, introduces LTE-M and its key benefits, such as long-battery life, better coverage underground and deep inside buildings, and small module size.

AT&T is rolling out LTE-M nationwide in Q2 and will extend coverage to Mexico during 2017.

See video: https://youtu.be/L-ctKakpNds

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AT&T and Broadcom Enter Innovation Pact

AT&T's John Donovan and Broadcom's CEO, Hock Tan, agreed to work together to build a strategic program focused on driving innovation of network hardware, such as switching, routing, broadband access and customer premises equipment.

“By collaborating directly with Broadcom, AT&T is driving a roadmap that will help enable innovation,” said John Donovan, chief strategy officer and group president, Technology and Operations. “We continue to form relationships with disruptive suppliers as we build a software-centric network and drive the industry to software-defined networking (SDN).”

“This represents a significant milestone toward accelerating innovation in the industry,” said Hock Tan, president and CEO, Broadcom. “Both companies are committed to sustained collaboration on product and chipset roadmaps, engineering services and advanced functionality.”

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http://www.broadcom.com

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AT&T Opens Unlimited Mobile Data Plan

AT&T will begin offering a post-paid, unlimited mobile plan to consumers and business customers without requiring a DirecTV subscription.

The move follows recent unlimited mobile plan announcements from Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.

The new AT&T Unlimited Plan will include unlimited talk, text and data on 4 lines for $180.

“We’re offering unlimited entertainment on the nation’s best data network where and when you want to enjoy more of what you love,” said David Christopher, Chief Marketing Officer of the AT&T Entertainment Group.

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Arista Posts Q4 Sales of $328 Million, up 34%

Arista Networks reported Q4 2016 revenue of $328.0 million, an increase of 33.6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2015, and an increase of 13.0% from the third quarter of 2016. GAAP gross margin was 64.1%, compared to GAAP gross margin of 63.6% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 64.2% in the third quarter of 2016. GAAP net income was $58.8 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $43.9 million, or $0.60 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2015.

"2016 was indeed a historic year for Arista, as we exceeded one billion dollars in annual sales within two years of becoming a public company,” stated Jayshree Ullal, Arista President and CEO. “Our customers are adopting cloud networking at an unprecedented pace.”

Full Year Financial Highlights

• Revenue of $1.1 billion, an increase of 34.8% compared to fiscal year 2015.
• GAAP gross margin of 64.0%, compared to GAAP gross margin of 64.9% in fiscal year 2015.
• Non-GAAP gross margin of 64.4%, compared to non-GAAP gross margin of 65.3% in fiscal year 2015.
• GAAP net income of $184.2 million, or $2.50 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $121.1 million, or $1.67 per diluted share, in fiscal year 2015.
• Non-GAAP net income of $241.4 million or $3.30 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $174.2 million, or $2.44 per diluted share, in fiscal year 2015.

https://www.arista.com/en/

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Colt Deploys Ciena's 6500

Ciena announced that Colt Technology Services is deploying its packet-optical technology to support growth across a number of key European markets including London, Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam as well as improving intercontinental connections into Asia including Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Colt provides high-bandwidth network and communications services for enterprises and wholesale businesses across Europe, Asia and North America. It delivers a range of data connectivity products, voice solutions and secure network services for global financial markets, and enables connectivity to over 700 data centres around the globe with more than 24,500 on-net buildings and growing.

The deployment includes Ciena’s 6500 platform for delivering ultra-high bandwidth services for enterprise and data centre interconnect (DCI) applications across Europe. Additionally, it supports new customer benefits for business continuity, digital transformation and wholesale terrestrial needs.

“Demand for high-bandwidth services is increasing daily, and service providers need flexible, scalable and programmable optical solutions to stay ahead of the curve and reach a broader base of customers. Ciena’s industry-leading packet optical solutions give operators like Colt a network that provides increased capacity for a range of needs including Ethernet, DCI and cloud computing services,” stated Joe Marsella, CTO, EMEA, Ciena.

http://www.ciena.com

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Microsemi Unveils low power FPGA with 12.7 Gbps SerDes

Microsemi, a provider of semiconductor solutions, has announced availability of its new cost-optimised PolarFire FPGA product family, which it claims offers the lowest power mid-range density solution with 12.7 Gbit/s SerDes transceivers for applications including wireline access networks and cellular infrastructure and for industry 4.0 markets, encompassing industrial automation and Internet of Things (IoT).

Microsemi's new PolarFire FPGAs are designed to support cost-effective bandwidth processing capabilities for converged 10 Gbit/s ports with low power usage. The new FPGA products are also designed to address increasing cyber security threats and reliability concerns that face deep submicron SRAM-based FPGAs as they relate to single event upsets (SEUs) in the configuration memory.

In the communications market, the new devices target applications including wireline access, network edge, metro (1 to 40 Gbit/s); wireless heterogeneous networks, wireless backhaul, smart optical modules and video broadcasting. The devices are also suitable for applications in the defence and aerospace market, secure wireless communications, radar and aircraft networking, actuation and control.

The devices' cost-optimised architecture uses 28 nm silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) non-volatile process technology on standard CMOS, while it incorporates hardened I/O gearing logic for DDR memory and low-voltage differential signalling (LVDS), high performance security IP and is claimed to be the only low cost device with clock and data recovery (CDR) capable 1.6 Gbit/s I/Os.

In addition, in collaboration with Silicon Creations Microsemi has developed a compact 12.7 Gbit/s transceiver offering total power consumption of less than 90 mWs at 10 Gbit/s. Featuring low device static power of 25 mW at 100K logic elements, zero inrush current and Flash*Freeze mode enabling standby power of 130 mWs at 25 degrees C, PolarFire devices are claimed to be up to 50% lower power than competing FPGAs for similar applications.

The FPGA family also provides high reliability via inherent immunity to configuration SEUs, along with built- in single error correction and double error detectin (SECDED), plus memory interleaving on large static random access memory (LSRAMs) and system controller suspend mode for safety critical designs.

PolarFire FPGAs additionally offer Cryptography Research Incorporated (CRI) patented differential power analysis (DPA) bitstream protection, integrated physically unclonable function (PUF), 56 Kbytes of secure embedded non-volatile memory (eNVM), tamper detectors and countermeasures, true random number generators, integrated Athena TeraFire EXP5200B Crypto Co-processors (Suite B capable) and a CRI DPA countermeasures pass-through license.

Microsemi's new PolarFire FPGA product family is currently shipping to early access customers and is scheduled to sample for general availability in the second quarter of 2017. Microsemi noted that with the device it is actively engaged with select customers through its early access program, while adoption of the products has already started.

Regarding the new products, Shakeel Peera, senior director, SoC product marketing at Microsemi, noted,

"Combining the availability of the cost-effective PolarFire FPGAs with Microsemi's portfolio of application-
specific standard products (ASSPs) enables end-to-end solutions in timing, voice processing, storage, OTN switching and transport, and power management across multiple market segments".

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