Monday, February 11, 2019

Ericsson and Intel to align 5G infrastructure development

Ericsson and Intel have launched a multi-year collaboration to align ongoing development efforts in software-defined infrastructure (SDI) and Intel Rack Scale Design.

The companies envision a next-generation infrastructure management platform capable of delivering a new level of cloudlike agility, transparency and efficiency required for Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), distributed cloud, and 5G. Specifically, this hardware management platform will extend the agility of the cloud to the hardware infrastructure layer.

As part of the multi-faceted agreement, the companies will align the development efforts of Ericsson SDI Manager software and Intel Rack Scale Design (Intel RSD) and extend these solutions with advanced management capabilities. These unified development efforts will allow operators to leverage multi-vendor hardware options, Ericsson’s end-to-end software solutions, and Intel’s latest architectural innovations.

In addition, the companies will converge Ericsson SDI Manager software and Intel RSD reference software while maintaining full backward compatibility for current customers. Jointly-developed software and hardware innovations resulting from the collaboration will be offered in subsequent Ericsson hardware platforms and may also be offered with Intel’s server products which are sold through other partners and in other industry segments.

Ericsson SDI system is based on Intel RSD and provides a common managed hardware pool for all workloads that dynamically scales and enables fast service rollout, performance optimization and efficient hardware utilization. Intel RSD is an industry-wide architecture for disaggregated, composable infrastructure that fundamentally changes the way a data center is built, managed, and expanded over time.

Lars MÃ¥rtensson, Head of Cloud & NFV infrastructure, Business Area Digital Services, Ericsson, says: “We have long history of successful collaboration with Intel. This new collaboration will focus on software in addition to hardware and we see it to be truly transformative for service providers’ ability to successfully deploy open cloud and NFV infrastructure, from centralized datacenters to the edge. Intel’s and Ericsson’s joint efforts significantly strengthens the competitiveness and roadmap of the Ericsson Software Defined Infrastructure offering.”

Sandra Rivera, Senior Vice President, Network Platform Group, Intel, says: “5G will be transformative, accelerating today’s applications and triggering a wave of new usages and edge-based innovation. Our infrastructure manageability collaboration with Ericsson will help communications service providers remove deployment barriers, reduce costs, and deliver new 5G and edge services with cloudlike speed on a flexible, programmable and intelligent network.”

Inphi intros 400Gbps Porrima Gen2 PAM4 platform

Inphi introduced and has begun sampling its "Porrima" Gen2 Single-Lambda Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM4) platform with integrated laser drivers for enabling sub-10 watt 400Gbps QSFP-DD optical transceiver modules for wired network infrastructure, including hyperscale cloud data center, service provider and enterprise networks. The new device, which is based on Inphi's first gen  Porrima chipset, enables client optics module deployment for both 400Gbps and 4x100Gbps applications with breakout mode support. Porrima Gen2 DSP also has an integrated laser driver with direct-drive capability, which reduces the total cost of ownership and module power consumption.

Inphi's Porrima Gen1 platform, which introduced at OFC 2018, includes PAM4 DSP, Linear TIA and Driver. Leveraging six generations of DSP development, Inphi has developed optical platform expertise and an API-based DSP software suite that achieves quick time-to-market with the right trade-offs in power and performance for data center optical interconnects.

"Inphi’s excited to launch the Porrima Gen2 platform with integrated complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) driver capability for hyperscale data center and cloud networks,” said Siddharth Sheth, SVP, Networking Interconnect at Inphi. “Absorbing driver functionality into the DSP saves our customers BOM cost and power for their 400G DR4 and FR4 solutions, as we prepare for the upcoming 12.8T ecosystem production ramp.”

Key attributes

  • Low power consumption for next-generation module applications, enabling <10w and="" dr4="" ieee="" li="" modules="" msa="" optical="" per="" standards="">
  • Integrated 56Gbaud laser driver with direct-drive capability
  • Enables DR1/FR1 optical modules for legacy 3.2/6.4T switches while offering an upgrade path for 12.8T switches
  • Field proven error-free interoperability on the host interface with merchant ASICs and ASSPs
  • Optimally designed DSP and TIA receive chain for power-performance trade-offs
  • Enables customers to develop a 400Gbps / 4x100Gbps optical interconnects in a compact form factor for applications with up to 10km
  • Supporting IN566x Linear TIA provides packaging flexibility for excellent linearity, high bandwidth, adjustable gain to optimize the PAM4 system performances and wide dynamic range to meet the different performance and link requirements for optical applications
  • Implemented in small form factor and power efficiency on proven, high-volume 16nm process technology node, ensuring fastest time to production


Porrima Gen2 product family:

Porrima PAM4 DSP IC provides a full bi-directional interface with host ASICs that have 28GBaud PAM4and NRZ electrical interfaces while bridging to 56GBaud optics with breakout support. The product family can support PAM4 or NRZ signaling, and both Retiming and Gearbox functionality with packaging specifically designed for the following optics modules:


  • Porrima 400G – 8x56Gbps PAM4 <-> 4x100Gbps PAM4 for QSFP-DD/oSFP
  • Porrima 100G – 4x25Gbps NRZ <-> 1x100Gbps PAM4 for QSFP
  • Porrima 100G – 2x50Gbps PAM4 <-> 1x100Gbps PAM4 for QSFP/uQSFP/SFP-DD

     


WiTricity acquires Qualcomm's Halo wireless charging assets

WiTricity, which specializes in wireless power transfer, has acquired Qualcomm's Halo assets, including over 1,500 patents and patent applications related to wireless charging. Under the deal, Qualcomm will become a minority WiTricity shareholder.

The combined assets will streamline technology development that enables automakers to deliver an EV charging experience that is seamless and efficient. The acquisition also will simplify ratification of a standard and help ensure interoperability across automakers.

With wireless charging, EV EV drivers will be able to recharge hands-free, without the need for any bulky cables, virtually eliminating the need to ever plug in. Additionally, electrified autonomous vehicle (AV) fleets will require wireless charging since there will be no human drivers present to plug in.

“WiTricity’s wireless charging technology is key to the future of mobility which is clearly electric, and increasingly shared and autonomous,” said Alex Gruzen, CEO of WiTricity. “EV drivers and fleets demand a simple, effortless charging experience. Bringing the Qualcomm Halo technology into the WiTricity portfolio will simplify global interoperability and significantly accelerate commercialization. This is an exciting day for WiTricity, for automakers, for prospective EV buyers, and ultimately for any company deploying fleets of autonomous vehicles.”

“With Qualcomm technology and expertise, we have been able to deliver innovative automotive solutions, like Qualcomm Halo wireless electric vehicle charging (WEVC), not only to support the shared vision of a more efficient, safer and cleaner urban mobility, but also to transform the automotive experience,” said Steve Pazol, advisor, and former vice president and GM, Wireless Charging, Qualcomm Incorporated. “Qualcomm is confident that combining WEVC under WiTricity’s leadership will create accessibility to and demand by customers for this exciting technology.”

WiTricity also noted that its recently signed several new licensing deals including Mahle in Germany and Anjie Wireless in China. Earlier this year, Honda and WiTricity demonstrated their wireless vehicle-to-grid charging model at CES in Las Vegas, leveraging WiTricity’s DRIVE 11 wireless charging system. 2018 also saw the introduction of the world’s first vehicle that is factory equipped with wireless charging, the BMW 530e iPerformance sedan.

WiTricity's global corporate investors now include Qualcomm, Toyota, Intel Capital, Delta Electronics Capital, Foxconn, Haier, and Schlumberger.

WiTricity is also collaborating directly with leading carmakers to drive global standards for wireless charging systems. Standards initiatives include the SAE International, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), STILLE, China Automotive Technology & Research Center (CATARC), China Electricity Council and the Chinese Electric Power Research Institute (CEPRI).

Amazon to acquire eero for home Wi-Fi

Amazon agreed to acquire eero, a start-up offering a home mesh WiFi system. Financial terms were not disclosed.

eero, which was founded in 2014 and is based in San Francisco, uses an access point with multiple beacon devices to fully cover a home with Wi-Fi.  eero has 4.6-star product rating on Amazon.com.

The main eero device employs tri-band WiFi radios, simultaneous 2.4GHz, 5.2GHz, and 5.8GHz wireless, 2x2 MU-MIMO, beamforming, and supports IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac. On board is a 700 MHz quad-core processor, 512MB RAM, and 4GB flash storage. The beacons use dual-band WiFi radios, simultaneous 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless, 2x2 MU-MIMO, beamforming, and also support IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac.

“We are incredibly impressed with the eero team and how quickly they invented a WiFi solution that makes connected devices just work,” said Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices and Services. “We have a shared vision that the smart home experience can get even easier, and we’re committed to continue innovating on behalf of customers.”

“From the beginning, eero’s mission has been to make the technology in homes just work,” said Nick Weaver, Co-Founder and CEO of eero. “We started with WiFi because it’s the foundation of the modern home. Every customer deserves reliable and secure WiFi in every room. By joining the Amazon family, we’re excited to learn from and work closely with a team that is defining the future of the home, accelerate our mission, and bring eero systems to more customers around the globe.”

eero was funded by funded by First Round Capital, Shasta Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and Playground Global.

STACK issues $850 million in bonds for its data center ambitions

STACK Infrastructure, the new data center company that combines facilities from Infomart Data Centers and IPI Partners,  announced the issuance of $850 million of securitized notes (rated investment grade at A- by Standard & Poor’s).

STACK said it is committed to being the data center industry leader in building and delivering flexible critical infrastructure solutions that meet and support the complex requirements of enterprise and hyperscale deployments.

“This financing immediately positions STACK with the long-term capital structure to support the scaled critical infrastructure demands of our growing clients,” said Brian Cox, Chief Executive Officer. “We are pleased that the offering was well received by investors and believe their confidence highlights the strength of our team and the quality of the platform we’ve assembled. This is just the most recent success of many since STACK launched and there is much more to come."

http://www.stackinfra.com

STACK Infrastructure outlines U.S. data center strategy

STACK Infrastructure, the new data center company that combines facilities from Infomart Data Centers and IPI Partners, unveiled its newly established platform and strategy for rapidly scaling enterprises and hyperscale companies.

STACK, which is underwritten by IPI Partners, combines existing operating data centers in six U.S. markets with significant expansion and development capacity. The company’s offering includes hyperscale campuses and build-to-suit data centers, immediately available wholesale colocation and private data suites, and powered shell options.

The existing STACK operating assets, totaling over 100 megawatts of capacity and approximately 1.5 million square feet in aggregate, include:

Assets previously marketed under the Infomart Data Centers brand:

  • Ashburn, Virginia
  • Portland, Oregon
  • Silicon Valley, California

Other assets already owned by IPI Partners:
  • Atlanta, Georgia
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas (2)
STACK also owns development parcels in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Portland, and Silicon Valley available for additional future development, including data center campuses and build-to-suits. In addition, the Company will continue to expand in existing and new markets in the future to meet the growing demands of clients.

Open Mainframe Project releases Zowe 1.0

The Open Mainframe Project (OMP), which is hosted by The Linux Foundation, released Zowe 1.0, an open source software framework for the mainframe that strengthens integration with modern enterprise applications.

Zowe 1.0 is now production ready less than six months after the project was formed. It is based on z/OS and consists of core technologies enabling modern interfaces for web applications, a new command line interface and expansion of platform REST API capabilities. This makes the z/OS environment more "cloud-like" and aims to improve integration in hybrid cloud environments.

Key features of Zowe 1.0:

  • Functional extensions, integration between different 3rd party products and applications
  • Updated docs that define extension points and provide sample applications and tutorials on how to integrate with or extend the Zowe framework
  • New pre-install scripts that can help identify and verify the appropriate pre-reqs prior to beginning the Zowe installation process
  • A Zowe API Mediation Layer that provides the foundation for a single point of access for mainframe service REST APIs and an optional single sign-on experience that leverages an organization's existing System Authorization Facility, or SAF protocols, enabling programs and applications to use system authorization services to control access to different resources
  • Additionally, Zowe earned the Core Infrastructure Initiative (CII) Best Practice Badge, which means it is following best practices and conformance in driving secure software development and governance in open source. The Core Infrastructure Initiative is a collaborative, pre-emptive program and approach for strengthening cyber security that is widely supported by industry leaders like IBM, AWS, Google, VMWare and Cisco. The CII Best Practices Badge is a rigorous assessment of an open source project's processes and infrastructure; other open source projects that has achieved the badge include Linux, Kubernetes and Node to name a few.


"Mainframes are the foundation of businesses in every industry," said John Mertic, Director of Program Management for the Linux Foundation and Open Mainframe Project. "Zowe breathes new life into mainframes and offers innovative possibilities for next generation applications. With Zowe 1.0, we're developing secure, reliable and scalable computing that will ensure sustainability of mainframes for many years to come."

NetQuest announces FPGA-powered 100G packet processing platform

NetQuest, which specializes in optical network visibility solutions, announced the general availability of its OMX3200 packet processing platform.

The company said its new platform enables seamless migration to 100G network monitoring architectures to help SecOps and NetOps teams keep up with the dramatic growth in network traffic.  The OMX3200 provides a multi-terabit visibility solution with line-rate packet optimization and metadata generation enabling persistent monitoring of every IP packet traversing 100G+ networks.

The OMX3200 leverages FPGA technology to offload a wide array of critical visibility functions.  It can:

  • Optimize tool utilization by processing headers and tunneling protocols
  • Significantly reduce traffic forwarded to costly analysis tools while maintaining 100% visibility by generating rich flow-based metadata records
  • Enable access to IP traffic carried over WANs by removing optical transport protocols

“x86 and COTS switching-based monitoring solutions were initially effective at handling 100G network deployments and will remain viable moving forward for smaller tactical applications,” said Jesse Price, CEO and President of NetQuest Corporation. “The mass migration to 100G networks is accelerating and 200/400G upgrades are not far behind. The modular packet processing capacity of the OMX3200 provides a scalable approach for security and network operations teams to cost-effectively transition to 100G while leveraging their existing monitoring tool chain infrastructure.”

RingCentral signs contract with Columbia supporting 44,000 faculty/students

Columbia University awarded a contract to RingCentral to deliver cloud-based communications to its 44,000 faculty and students.

Columbia University is replacing its legacy on-premises communications systems to provide greater mobility and enhanced student to student and student to faculty collaboration. The University will deploy 14,000 seats of RingCentral Office to faculty, which includes voice, video, team messaging, online meetings, SMS, and fax, and will roll out team messaging to 30,000 students.