HiWire aims for standard Active Electrical Cables at 400G and up

A new HiWire Consortium has been established to pursue the standardization and certification of a new category of Active Electrical Cables (AEC). The group is dedicated to the establishment and ongoing development of an AEC standard that defines a specific implementation of the many industry MSAs and a formal certification process. This will enable an ecosystem of trusted Plug and Play AECs, available from multiple sources, for the hyperscale data center, telecom and enterprise markets.

HiWire AECs provide a full solution for layer 1 and 2 interconnect to deliver persistent and deterministic connectivity necessary for the next generation of data centers as the industry moves to 400G and beyond.

The founding companies of the HiWire Consortium are: Accton Technology, Alpha Networks, Arrcus, Bizlink, Cameo Communications, Zhejiang Canaan Technology, Centec Networks, Chelsio Communications, Credo, Dell EMC, Delta Electronics, Edom Technology, Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co.(Foxlink), Innovium, Barefoot Networks (an Intel Company), Inventec, Juniper Networks, Keysight Technologies, Quanta, Senao, Spirent Communications, Steligent Information Technologies Co., Wistron, Wistron NeWeb, and Wywinn Corporation.

“We are delighted and humbled by the widespread support for Credo and the HiWire Consortium,” said Bill Brennan, CEO of Credo. “The founding members all share a desire for thinner, longer and more reliable interconnect solutions. The consortium provides the framework to deliver a robust supply of interoperable solutions for 400G and beyond.”

“As new high-performance software workloads hit the network, the availability of reliable, low cost 400G interconnect is crucial,” said Ed Doe, vice president in Intel’s Connectivity Group and General Manager of the Barefoot Division. “The HiWire Consortium will go a step beyond MSAs and deliver to the datacenter what they have demanded from the start – truly interoperable interconnect solutions from a broad vendor base which will accelerate the adoption of our 12.8 Tbps P4-programmable Barefoot Ethernet switch series.”

“400G Ethernet represents a very challenging transition for the networking industry,” said Bob Wheeler, Principal Analyst at The Linley Group. “Creating a specific implementation and formal certification program around the many industry MSAs and standards is key to enabling trusted cables from multiple sources.”

https://hiwire.org

Read More

Open Eye Consortium completes 53 Gbps single-mode spec

The Open Eye Consortium (Open Eye MSA) released its 53Gbps single-mode specification to its members, which defines the requirements for fully analog PAM-4 solutions for 50G SFP, 100G DSFP, 100G SFP-DD, 200G QSFP, and 400G QSFP-DD and OSFP single-mode modules.

The Open Eye MSA aims to accelerate the adoption of PAM-4 optical interconnects scaling to 50Gbps, 100Gbps, 200Gbps, and 400Gbps by expanding upon existing standards to enable optical module implementations using less complex, lower cost, lower power, and optimized analog clock and data recovery (CDR) based architectures in addition to existing digital signal processing (DSP) architectures.

Multi-vendor interoperability demonstrations of products based on the new specification will be showcased at CIOE 2019 in Shenzhen, China and ECOC 2019 in Dublin, Ireland in September. Further, the Open Eye MSA has already begun work on defining the multi-mode specification which is targeted for release in Spring 2020.

The Open Eye MSA extends membership to Anritsu, Dust Photonics, Fujitsu Optical Components, HG, Inopticals, Marvell, MultiLane, SAMTEC, and Tektronix.

MACOM and Semtech Corporation initiated the formation of the Open Eye MSA with 28 current members in Promoter and Contributing membership classes.

Promoters include: Applied Optoelectronics Inc., Cambridge Industries Group (CIG), Juniper Networks, Luxshare-ICT, MACOM, Mellanox, Molex, and Semtech Corporation.

Contributors include: Anritsu, Accelink, Cloud Light Technology, ColorChip, Dust Photonics, Fujitsu Optical Components, HG, InnoLight, Inopticals, Keysight Technologies, Marvell, Maxim Integrated, MultiLane, O-Net, Optomind, SAMTEC, Source Photonics, Sumitomo Electric and Tektronix.

http://www.openeye-msa.org

Read More

USB4 delivers 40Gbps bi-directionally

The new USB4 spec was officially published by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF).

The USB4 architecture is based on the Thunderbolt protocol specification recently contributed by Intel Corporation to the USB Promoter Group. It doubles the maximum aggregate bandwidth of USB and enables multiple simultaneous data and display protocols. It also maintains compatibility with existing USB 3.2, USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt 3 hosts and devices is supported; the resulting connection scales to the best mutual capability of the devices being connected.

Key characteristics of the USB4 solution include:

• Two-lane operation using existing USB Type-C cables and up to 40Gbps operation over 40Gbps certified cables
• Multiple data and display protocols that efficiently share the maximum aggregate bandwidth
• Backward compatibility with USB 3.2, USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt 3

Over 50 companies are actively participating in the final stages of review of the draft specification.

http://www.usb.org

Read More

AT&T and American Tower enter long-term agreement

AT&T and American Tower Corporation signed a new long-term agreement that streamlines wireless network deployments on American Tower’s U.S. sites, enhancing AT&T’s deployment of 5G and other next-generation technology across the U.S., including FirstNet, public safety’s dedicated, nationwide communications platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.

American Tower's portfolio extends to approximately 171,000 communications sites.

“This comprehensive agreement is expected to drive mutual value and growth through a simplified leasing process designed to drive efficiency and flexibility improvements directly benefitting our speed in deploying the latest technologies,” said JR Wilson, Vice President of Tower Strategy and Roaming, AT&T. “This is essential for executing on both our 5G and FirstNet network builds. It ultimately helps us better serve our customers and first responders nationwide.”

“We look forward to this new phase of our long-standing relationship with AT&T,” said Steve Vondran, President - U.S. Tower Division, American Tower Corporation. “This agreement provides for an extended mutually rewarding strategic relationship, and we’re excited to help AT&T deliver the next generation of wireless technology to consumers, businesses and first responders quickly and efficiently.”

https://www.americantower.com/investor-relations/investor-presentations/

Read More

Samsung intros 5G-integrated processor in 8nm

Samsung Electronics introduced its latest mobile processor, the Exynos 980, combining an integrated 5G modem and intelligent processing performance in a single chip. Mass production is expected by the end of this year.

Samsung describes its Exynos 980, which is based on 8-nanometer (nm) FinFET process technology, as artificial intelligence (AI) mobile processor with an integrated 5G modem.

The modem supports 5G to 2G networks, providing a fast gigabit downlink speed in 4G LTE and up to 2.55 Gbps in sub-6-gigahertz (GHz) 5G.  It also supports E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC), which combines 2CC LTE and 5G connectivity to maximize mobile downlink speed of up to 3.55Gbps. In addition, the processor supports Wi-Fi 6.

The chip packs two of the latest high-performance Cortex-A77 CPU cores and four efficient Cortex-A55 cores, enabling it to run multiple apps, intricate UX designs, and high-resolution graphic games.

The neural processing unit (NPU) features elevated performances of up to 2.7 times compared to its predecessor and is built into the Exynos 980 to provide new levels of on-device intelligence. With the NPU readily available on-chip, AI tasks are processed right from the device rather than off-loaded to a server, thereby providing better data privacy and security. The NPU adds enhancements to applications such as secure user authentication, content filtering, mixed reality, intelligent camera, and more.

For advanced photography, the Exynos 980 delivers compelling camera performances with resolution support for up to 108-megapixels (Mp). The advanced image signal processor (ISP) supports up to five individual sensors and is able to process three concurrently for richer multi-camera experiences.

In addition, the Exynos 980’s multi-format codec (MFC) supports encoding and decoding of 4K UHD video at 120 frames per second (fps). HDR10+ support with dynamic mapping also offers more detailed and illuminant colors in video content.

http://www.samsung.com/exynos

Read More

Semtech debuts XGSPON chipset

Semtech announced production availability of itsGN7153B combo chip and GN7055B multi-rate burst mode transimpedance amplifier (TIA) for XGSPON Optical Line Terminals (OLTs).

Semtech's GN7153B is a combo chip supporting OLT transmit and receive signals in a fully integrated solution.

On the receive side, the GN7153B supports both XGPON (2.5G) and XGSPON (2.5G/10G) signals, while the transmit data path features Semtech’s 10G EML driver with ClearEdge CDR technology to effectively reset the signal jitter budget. Transmit path optimization can be accomplished through an I2C programmable PLL loop bandwidth control and a variety of jitter filter modes. The EML driver includes eye-shaping features and an Automatic Power Control (APC) loop to deliver best-in-class transmit eye quality. The burst mode receive data path includes a multi-rate 2.5G/10G limiting amplifier with a fast burst mode signal detect function, integrated discharge circuit and reset for short settling time.

Semtech said its high sensitivity burst mode TIA (GN7055B) is designed for XGSPON OLT applications. Using an external reset signal, the burst mode TIA meets the convergence time and burst dynamic range requirements of XGSPON 2.5G and 10G.The device features a fast Automatic Gain Control (AGC) loop to enable high dynamic range in burst mode applications. The GN7055B is offered in die form, supports industrial temperature range and uses a single 3.3V power supply.

“XGSPON will bring a new generation of faster optical broadband services for home and business to the largest sector of the PON market,” said Dr. Timothy Vang, Vice President of Marketing and Applications for Semtech’s Signal Integrity Products Group. “Our chipset contributes to that growth by bringing high performance and low cost.”

http://www.semtech.com/optical

Read More

Dell'Oro: WiFi 6 Adoption Boosts Sales of Aruba, Extreme, and Huawei

Mixed results characterized the 2Q 2019 Wireless LAN market, according to a recently published report by Dell’Oro Group that questions whether 2Q19 is the pause before the storm.

“Overall Wireless LAN market sales were soft, but not unusual compared to prior years. However, what caught our eye was the slowdown in overall unit shipments,” said Tam Dell’Oro, Founder and CEO at Dell’Oro Group. “The slowdown came from midrange and high-end across many manufacturers. In contrast, sales were robust growing well into the double-digits Y/Y at the lower-end price sensitive segment. WiFi 6 is picking up momentum as several additional vendors began shipping products during the quarter such as Cisco, Extreme Networks, and Fortinet. Select vendors with WiFi 6 already shipping enjoyed a surge in sales such as Aruba Networks, and Huawei,” added Dell’Oro.

Additional highlights from the Wireless LAN 2Q 2019 Quarterly Report:

• Sales within China outpaced all other regions of the world.
• Sales to the lower-Education vertical industry bounced back after declining for several quarters, while notable strength was observed in the government and manufacturing sectors.
• NBASE-T ports rose sharply Q/Q, a trend we forecast to continue.

https://www.delloro.com/news/mixed-results-characterized-2q-2019-wireless-lan-market-a-pause-before-the-storm/

Read More

Mellanox intros Active DACs, QSA56 adapters and 400G DR4 transceivers

Mellanox Technologies announced new 400G DR4 500m transceivers and 400G DAC splitters and 100G SFP-DD DAC cables for server/storage interconnects.

The company is also introducing new 200G “active” DAC cables for HDR InfiniBand and 200GbE Ethernet to extend copper cable reach up to four meters.

Lastly, new QSA56 Port Adapters enable single-channel SFP cables and transceivers to be connected to 200G switch or network adapter ports. QSA56 supports cables and transceivers from 0.5m to 10km.

Mellanox is demonstrating these LinkX products as well as showcasing the full line of 100/200/400G cables and transceivers at the China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE) September 4th in Shenzhen, China and the European Convention for Optical Communications (ECOC) Sept 21st in Dublin, Ireland.

“We’ve had tremendous adoption of our full line of LinkX 25/50/100G cables and transceivers with web-scale, cloud computing, and OEM customers in China and worldwide,” said, Steen Gundersen, vice president LinkX interconnects, Mellanox Technologies. “We are just at the beginning of the transition to 200G and 400G will soon follow. Customers select Mellanox because of our expertise in high-speed interconnects, our capacity to ship in volume, and the high quality of our products.”

Read More

Verimatrix to sell Silicon IP business to Rambus

Verimatrix will sell its Silicon IP and Secure Protocols (SIP) business unit to Rambus for $65 million in cash.

The SIP business unit provides intellectual property components, software toolkits and provisioning solutions to enable semiconductor manufacturers and fabless companies, device manufacturers and security software integrators to meet the critical needs for secure communication and performance acceleration, information protection and user privacy for IoT and network security markets. The business generated $22 million annual revenue.

"We are pleased to announce this exclusivity agreement to sell our Silicon IP and Secure Protocols business unit to Rambus, a premier silicon IP and chip provider,” said Amedeo D'Angelo, Chairman and CEO of Verimatrix. "This transaction ideally fits with our strategy to focus our company as a pure player in software-based security solutions. After completion, we will have the agility to fully address promising growth markets such as Entertainment, Mobile Applications and the Internet of Things. Additionally, the transaction will significantly increase our financial flexibility to seize external growth opportunities and reinforce our commitment to bringing the best value proposition to our customers.”

“The embedded security team at Verimatrix has a well-recognized and long-standing history of providing security at the heart of SoCs,” said Luc Seraphin, president and CEO of Rambus. “Their combination of products and expertise is highly complementary to our existing business and will expand our global reach for our worldwide security customer base.”

Read More

AT&T appoints Stankey as president & COO,

AT&T appointed John Stankey as president and chief operating officer of AT&T Inc., reporting to Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. Stankey will also continue serving as CEO of WarnerMedia. Stankey, 56, joined AT&T in 1985 and has served in a variety of leadership roles, including corporate strategy and M&A; media and entertainment; operations, IT and technology; consumer mobility, broadband and TV; and enterprise business.

Jeff McElfresh was appointed CEO of AT&T Communications, the company's largest business unit serving 100 million mobile, broadband and pay-TV customers in the U.S. McElfresh, 48, has nearly 25 years of experience with AT&T in a variety of strategic, operational and technology leadership roles. Before being named to lead AT&T Communications, McElfresh was president of AT&T Communications’ Technology and Operations group where he was responsible for the company’s network, technology, cybersecurity, data and labs operations. Prior to that, he served as CEO of AT&T’s Vrio and its DIRECTV Latin America and SKY Brasil businesses; and President of AT&T Mexico and a member of the board of directors and executive committee of Telmex and América Móvil, overseeing AT&T’s since-divested minority interest in the two companies.He replaces John Donovan, who earlier announced his retirement.

“Now is the time to more tightly align our collection of world-class content, scaled consumer relationships, technical know-how and innovative advertising technology,” said Stephenson. “It’s the natural next step in bringing together the distinct and complimentary capabilities of AT&T Communications, WarnerMedia and Xandr to deliver for consumers the benefits of a modern media company. AT&T is alone in the industry in being able to bring together these three great businesses for the launch of innovative consumer offers, relevant advertising and new entertainment services like HBO Max."

Read More