Intel announces Cooper Lake with up to 56 cores

The next-generation Intel Xeon Scalable processor platform (codename Cooper Lake) promises twice the processor core count (up to 56 cores), higher memory bandwidth, and higher AI inference and training performance compared to the standard Intel Xeon Platinum 8200 platforms.

Intel says Cooper Lake, which will have platform compatibility with the upcoming 10nm Ice Lake processor, will be the first x86 processor to deliver built-in AI training acceleration through new bfloat16 support added to Intel Deep Learning Boost.

Availability is expected in the first half of 2020.

“We are excited about the early customer deployments of the Intel Xeon Platinum 9200 series that we introduced as part of our 2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processor family. Bringing a 56-core processor into our mainline Intel Xeon Scalable processor family in the next generation will further expand our ability to address customer needs for the highest levels of performance in artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and high-density infrastructure,” stated Lisa Spelman, vice president and general manager of Data Center Marketing, Intel.

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NTT cites rising data communication sales, lower mobile revenue

NTT Group reported lower mobile and regional communications revenues for the quarter ended 30-June-2019, offset by rising international and data communications sales. Overall revenue amounted to 2,915.4 billion yen, up 2.2% year over year. Operating income fell 6% to 505.2 billion yen.

Some of the major initiatives launched during the quarter at the company include:

Formed a capital and business partnership with JTower to share resources and accelerate the rollout of 5G.
Consolidated overseas businesses, including NTT Communications, Dimension Data, and NTT Security, under a new company to be called NTT Ltd. and based in London.
The acquisition of U.S.-based Symmetry, a SAP managed service provider.
The acquisition of U.S.-based Whitehat Security.
Adopted a group-wide talent management system serving 200,000 employees.
Established NTT Urban Solutions.
Established NTT Life Sciences.
Opened NTT Research Inc. in Silicon Valley.

https://www.ntt.co.jp/news2019/1908edqh/hdqs190806.html

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Itential introduces enterprise Automation Gateway application

Itential announced Automation Gateway, a purpose-built application for enterprise network automation and network programmability.

Itential said its Automation Gateway leverages existing investments in network configuration tools and network change scripts to propel network automation projects. Key capabilities include :

• Out of the box support for all types of scripts from Python, C, Bash, Perl, and Ansible Playbooks; providing an integrated and centralized view of all automation efforts for use within the Itential Automation Platform.
• Dynamic discovery of scripts, providing a centralized and globally available repository within the Itential Automation Platform for enabling script execution in automation workflows via defined group-based access controls for end-to-end network automation.
• The ability to ‘decorate’ or enhance scrips to enable and enforce consistent schema definitions and normalize scripts for standardized and repeatable API consumption, further driving network programmability.

Additionally, Itential’s latest release includes advanced event-driven automation capabilities for performing closed-loop activities. Itential’s event-driven automation capabilities can trigger automation task based upon notifications from several event systems such as Kafka or NETCONF, ensuring constant network configuration, assurance and compliance and automatically remediating known issues without the need for manual interaction. Itential’s closed-loop automation capabilities simplify network troubleshooting and eliminate common manual errors, further increasing network agility.

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Cisco to boost Webex with acquisition of Voicea for meeting transcriptions

Cisco agreed to acquire Voicea, a start-up offering an AI-powered meeting transcription service. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Voicea, which is based in Mountain View, California, is the creator of a real-time solution that provides meeting transcription, voice search, and meeting highlights/action items, with robust data privacy. 

Cisco said the Voicea technology will enhance its Webex portfolio of products. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2020, subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals.The Voicea team will join the Webex portfolio team, led by Sri Srinivasan, Senior Vice President and General Manager.

Cisco notes that more than 130 million people use Webex every month, and that more than 360 million meetings happen on Webex each year.

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Vodafone Germany activates 5G with Ericsson

Vodafone Germany activated a commercial 5G service using base stations with base stations from Ericsson.

A press event held last month in Düsseldorf. showcased a demonstration of >1Gbps speeds using Ericsson technology, complete with Ericsson Radio Dots and 5G Cloud Packet Core equipment. 

Ericsson has deployed Massive MIMO AIR 6488 commercial hardware and Baseband 6630 from its Ericsson Radio System portfolio, which is used in the Vodafone network. The 5G base stations are also connected to the Ericsson 5G Evolved Packet Core Network, enabling Vodafone leadership with 5G capabilities. 

Arun Bansal, President and Head of Europe & Latin America, Ericsson, says: “This 5G deployment marks yet another monumental launch for us, as the only vendor activating 5G at scale, globally. We’re looking forward to continuing our journey with our long-term partner Vodafone, as we connect the world with 5G. Our technology leadership allows us to use unique spectrum sharing abilities combined with Ericsson Cloud Packet Core, providing a powerful network platform that is capable of supporting service exposure and automation for service providers.”

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Sprint to Launch 5G Smartphone from OnePlus

Sprint confirmed plans to offer a 5G smartphone from OnePlus. This will be the fourth 5G device for sale by Sprint. Device specifications, pricing and exact timing will be announced soon.

"We value OnePlus' reputation for balancing high-end quality at a great value," said Dow Draper, Sprint chief commercial officer. "This new smartphone gives Sprint customers another exciting option for accessing their True Mobile 5G experience."

Sprint 5G is currently available in areas of Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Kansas City, and the company expects to launch service in areas of Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks. Sprint's True Mobile 5G network will cover approximately 2,100 square miles and 11 million people total across all nine market launch areas, giving Sprint the largest initial 5G coverage footprint in the U.S.

http://www.sprint.com/sprint5G

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Toshiba's PCIe 4.0 SSD boasts 6.4GB/s read time, up to 30TB capacity

At this week's Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, California, Toshiba Memory is showcasing the industry’s fastest-class PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs for enterprise applications.

The drives achieve a sequential read performance of over 6.4GB/s. The CM6 Series SSDs support dual-port PCIe Gen4 x4 lanes and are NVMe 1.4 compliant. The family of enterprise NVMe SSDs will be available in a 2.5-inch form factor with capacity points from 800GB to 30TB, and 1 or 3 drive writes per day endurance options.

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Arianespace successfully launches Intelsat 39

Arianespace successfully launched Intelsat 39 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the Arianespace launch base in Kourou, French Guiana.

Intelsat 39, which was built by Maxar Technologies, is equipped with both C-band and Ku-band transponders to provide video distribution and broadband connectivity services across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The satellite will maintain its position using all-electric propulsion. Intelsat 39 will replace Intelsat 902 at the 62ºE orbital location.

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