Cisco launches 400G data center switches

Cisco launched its portfolio of Nexus 400 Gigabit Ethernet (400G) switches for large cloud data centers. Field testing is expected in December and general availabity is targeted for the first half of 2019.

Beyond bringing just a new level of speed to the network, Cisco said its Nexus 400G platforms deliver:

• Superfast policy, segmentation and whitelisting;
• Real-time visibility into packets, flows and events – beyond just data sampling and system telemetry;
• Smart buffering for big data or storage and machine learning workloads with dynamic packet prioritization; and
• Lowest latency, with an ability to prioritize critical traffic on demand.

Cisco is supporting QSFP-DD (Quad Small Form Factor – Double Density) modules as "the ideal 400G connectivity option: for all next-generation cloud and other hyperscaledata centers.

Cisco said it is also working to take BiDirectional (BiDi) Optical Networking to the 400 Gigabit Ethernet realm, enabling re-use of existing fiber cabling infrastructure when upgrading to higher speed interfaces.

Several models are initially offered.

Cisco Nexus 3400-S -- a 400G programmable switch with 50 Gbps PAM4 Serial-Deserializers (SerDes). It leverages a 12.8-Tbps ASIC for 32 ports of 400G using Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable – Double Density (QSFP-DD) modules that are backward-compatible with QSFP+, QSFP28, and QSFP56. The Cisco Nexus 3432D-S supports break out for 2x200/50G, 4x100/50G/25G, and 8x50G, supporting up to 128 ports of 100G or up to 168 ports of 50G. At 400G, the Cisco Nexus 3400-S claims the lowest latency in the industry, of 370ns at high-power efficiency.

Cisco Nexus 3408-S is powered by a 12.8-Tbps ASIC with 50 Gbps PAM4 SerDes. It has the following hardware configuration: 4RU, 8-slot chassis; 16 ports of Quad-Small-Form-Factor 28

(QSFP28); 4 ports of Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable – Double Density (QSFP-DD);

Cisco Nexus 9300-GX switches, also part of the fixed Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches series, offers 16 x 400/100-Gbps QSFP-DD ports or 28 x 100/40-Gbps Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable (QSFP28) and 8 x 400/100-Gbps QSFP-DD ports. The platform introduces a fully backward-compatible 400G optical interface Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable – Double Density (QSFP-DD) to transparently migrate existing data center fabrics from 40-Gbps and 100-Gbps speeds to 400 Gbps. The platform provides investment protection for customers, delivering highly flexible layer 2 and layer 3 scalability, and performance to meet the changing needs of virtualized data centers and automated cloud environments. Cisco provides two modes of operation for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches. Organizations can deploy Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (Cisco ACI) or Cisco Nexus switch environments (Cisco NX-OS mode).

"Our 400G switches do more than just bring a new level of speed to customers. They support the delivery of the signature capabilities that customers expect for their modern data-driven workloads and cloud environments,” said Roland Acra, SVP, General Manager Data Center Business Group. “Superfast policy, segmentation and whitelisting. Real-time visibility into packets, flows and events. Smart buffering for big data and machine learning workloads. The ability to prioritize critical traffic on-demand. These are the things that Cisco has delivered to our customers across multiple generations of Nexus switches. And we are doing so again with our new 400G portfolio.”

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Progress at MEF: the Chairman's Perspective

The MEF18 event in Los Angeles revealed the progress of the industry in implementing the MEF 3.0 global services framework, which was launched a year ago, says Mike Strople, Managing Director at Zayo and Chairman of MEF.

In particular, it is exciting to see the LSO Sonata APIs and SDK, as well as progress with SD-WAN.

https://youtu.be/VOs8it36tv0

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Netronome proposes open "chiplets" for domain specific workloads

Netronome unveiled its open architecture for domain-specific accelerators .

Netronome is collaborating with six leading silicon companies, Achronix, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Kandou, NXP, Sarcina and SiFive, to develop this open architecture and related specifications for developing chiplets that promise to reduce silicon development and manufacturing costs.

The idea is fo chiplet-based silicon to be composed using best-of-breed components such as processors, accelerators, and memory and I/O peripherals using optimal process nodes. The open architecture will provide a complete stack of components (known good die, packaging, interconnect network, software integration stack) that lowers the hardware and software costs of developing and deploying domain-specific accelerator solutions. Implementing open specifications contributed by participating companies, any vendor’s silicon die can become a building block that can be utilized in a chiplet-based SoC design.

“The end of Moore’s Law will increase the use of domain-specific accelerators to meet power-performance requirements in cloud infrastructure, network infrastructure and IoT/wireless edge applications,” said Bob Wheeler, principal analyst, The Linley Group. “With its modular approach, the open domain-specific accelerator architecture could change the chiplet paradigm from single-vendor solutions to a world of choice, thereby enabling OEMs and operators to develop and deploy advanced SoC solutions.”

“Netronome’s domain-specific architecture as used in its Network Flow Processor (NFP) products has been designed from the ground up keeping modularity, and economies of silicon development and manufacturing costs as top of mind,” said Niel Viljoen, founder and CEO at Netronome. “We are extremely excited to collaborate with industry leaders and contribute significant intellectual property and related open specifications derived from the proven NFP products and apply that effectively to the open and composable chiplet-based architecture being developed in the ODSA Workgroup.”

https://www.netronome.com/

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Wave Computing outlines its AI-enabled MIPS strategy for network edge

Wave Computing outlined its strategy for an AI-enabled MIPS offering and ecosystem. The company announced a new AI-enabled licensing roadmap and a broader 3rd party ecosystem.

The company said it will pursue a multi-pronged strategy to enable new use cases for AI based on MIPS architecture.

“Wave Computing’s MIPS technology is a key component of the Data Processing Unit we are developing as a fundamental new building block of next-generation data centers. We expect Fungible’s solution to be pivotal in powering modern data-centric applications such as AI and analytics” says, Pradeep Sindhu, CEO of Fungible, Inc.

“We are well underway in executing on our strategy to bring AI to All. This means delivering AI computing systems for datacenter and customer premise applications, licensable solutions for next-generation SoCs and AI application software for end customers in multiple markets. Since acquiring MIPS in June, we have been blown away by the overwhelmingly positive responses by customers and partners. This underscores the tremendous market opportunity for a common, AI-based development environment and associated suite of solutions. We’ve never been more optimistic on the value MIPS offers, and look forward to extending the market share of MIPS-based designs by enabling native AI performance for edge SoCs,” said Derek Meyer, CEO of Wave Computing.

Under the plan, the company is expanding its IP team globally, including hardware, software, marketing and sales staff.  It continues to invest in its 64-bit, scalable multi-threaded MIPS technology roadmap for embedded applications.

Wave Computing will offer new solutions ranging from CPU cores for edge applications to more robust implementations for emerging AI training and inferencing applications. Wave is also addressing the future of functional safety in autonomous vehicles by building on its ISO26262 certification and introducing advanced lock-step functionality for its MIPS cores.

• In August, Wave Computing announced a strategic partnership with Broadcom to bring its dataflow processing unit (DPU) to market at the leading-edge 7nm process node. Specifically, Wave will leverage Broadcom’s design platform, productization skills, and 7nm 56Gbps and 112Gbps SerDes. The device will be fabbed using TSMC's 7nm process.
• 
  
In June, Wave Computingacquired MIPS Tech, Inc. (formerly MIPS Technologies), a global leader in RISC processor Intellectual Property (IP) and licensable CPU cores.

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Caltech research investigates metasurface optics for bending light

Researchers at Caltech are experimenting with metasurface optics to bend and focus light in a finely controllable way by using carefully designed microscopic structures on an otherwise flat surface.

In a paper published by Nature Communications on October 10, the researchers describe a technology called "folded metasurface optics," which is a way of printing multiple types of metasurfaces onto either side of a substrate, like glass.

http://www.caltech.edu/news/folded-optical-devices-manipulate-light-new-way-84235

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Sprint expands SD-WAN worldwide

Sprint announed the worldwide expansion of its Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) services worldwide.

"With just one dedicated Sprint team and one simple portal in the cloud, an enterprise is now able to more intelligently manage all of its network resources across the globe with the geographic expansion of our SD-WAN services," said Mike Fitz, vice president of the Sprint Global Wireline Business Unit. "Intuitive cloud-based management allows thousands of applications to be easily managed across any network to any destination, all anchored by Sprint's worldwide, Tier 1 wireline network. The result is better network availability, unparalleled monitoring, superior converged application support, an improved user experience and overall reduced operational costs."

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Aerohive reports record EPS and subscription revenue

Aerohive Networks reported total revenue for the third quarter of fiscal year 2018 of $40.6 million, compared with $39.3 million for the third quarter of 2017. Subscription and support revenue was $11.7 million, or 29% of total revenue, for the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, compared with $10.1 million, or 26% of total revenue, for the third quarter of 2017.

On a GAAP basis, net loss was $2.4 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, compared with a net loss of $5.1 million for the third quarter of 2017. GAAP gross margin was 65.6% for the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, compared with 66.6% for the third quarter of 2017.

On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $1.5 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, compared with a net loss of $0.1 million for the third quarter of 2017. Non-GAAP gross margin was 66.1% for the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, compared with 67.5% for the third quarter of 2017.

“Today we reported financially strong third quarter results with record subscription and support revenue and gross margins, as well as record high EPS and deferred revenue,” stated David Flynn, President and Chief Executive Officer. “These results demonstrate our progress moving to a SaaS-like business model and underscore our focus on profitability. We are pleased to return to growth in the second half, and while we are not yet seeing the growth levels that we aspire to, we are encouraged that our improved product offerings are bringing us into more large opportunities, suggesting progress toward our long-term goals.”

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EKINOPS intros OneAccess 10G Ethernet Access Device

EKINOPS introduced its OneAccess 10G Ethernet Access Device (EAD) for high-speed Ethernet services to Enterprise and wholesale customers.

The OneAccess 1651 EAD, which will be commercially available in Q1 2019, will enable operators to monitor thousands of Ethernet links centrally and generate service activation birth certificates without the need for deploying test equipment at the customer site.

EKINOPS said its new OneAccess 1651 EAD also enhances the L2 aggregation capabilities in optical transport deployments. The new combined solution draws on Ethernet packet multiplexing and grooming, enabling operators to transport Ethernet connections in a more efficient and flexible way over the optical network. This innovative pairing is the first joint development project by Ekinops’ Access and Optical Transport business lines.

“EKINOPS presence at the MEF18 conference allies perfectly with the focus of the event: to enable orchestrated communication services for the digital economy,” comments Pravin Mirchandani, CMO, Ekinops, France. “Our new Ethernet product will lower the cost of Cloud-enabling businesses for operators and CSPs everywhere. We are delighted also to report on the first example of how our newly combined access and optical transport specialisms are innovating to respond to the needs of operators; this time by increasing capacity on the optical network. Our commitment to openness in virtualization solutions continues to chime with operators globally, and is enabling them to migrate to NFV flexibly and at a pace they define, free from vendor-lock in.”

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AT&T brings LTE to Mexico City’s Metro Line 2

AT&T has activated its LTE network in Line 2 of the Mexico City Metro, bringing connectivity to more than 800,000 daily users of this route. AT&T has also enabled free Wi-Fi in all 24 stations of the route. Line 2 is the 4th connected line by the company as part of the Mexico City Metro connectivity project to help reduce the digital gap in the country.

Line 2 is on average 6 meters deep. It runs from Cuatro Caminos to Tasqueña, and it has 24 stations; 14 of them are underground and 10 above ground. In addition, this line has some emblematic stations that go through Mexico City’s Historical Downtown, such as Hidalgo, Bellas Artes and Zócalo.

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