Broadband Forum and ONF align work on Automated and Open Virtualized Access Networks

The Broadband Forum (BBF) and the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) announced an agreement that sets forth how operators seeking to effectively use virtualization and open source to increase agility can leverage open source and standardization projects side-by-side to ease their migrations to automated access networks and enable seamless co-existence.

Specifically, the agreement sees an alignment between the BBF's Open Broadband-Broadband Access Abstraction and ONF's SDN Enabled Broadband Access (SEBA) platform.

Open Broadband-Broadband Access Abstraction (OB-BAA) is a BBF open source project that enables SDN-based management and control of multi-vendor, multi-technology access networks via a standard abstraction northbound interface. It facilitates co-existence and seamless migration, bringing the agility to adapt to a wide variety of software defined access models. This abstraction simplifies and reduces development upstream in management and control software for Physical and Virtual Network Functions (PNFs and VNFs). Inherent in the OB-BAA project is the ability to pull differing access device types, including legacy implementations, together under a single standardized network and service management & control umbrella to be exposed to management elements such as the SDN Management and Control and Element Management Systems.

ONF’s SDN Enabled Broadband Access (SEBA) platform takes a disaggregated white-box approach to building next generation access networks leveraging open source. Functionality traditionally run on chassis-based Optical Line Terminals (OLTs) and on Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) routers is run in the cloud, and the hardware is minimized to a collection of simple white-box OLTs, switches and servers. SEBA wraps together this collection of open source hardware and software into a comprehensive platform that exposes northbound FCAPS interfaces, making it straight forward to integrate a SEBA POD with an operator’s OSS/BSS system.

ONF’s Virtual OLT Hardware Abstraction (VOLTHA) open source software project abstracts a PON network to make it manageable as if it were a standard OpenFlow switch. Functionality like DHCP and user authentication is run as open source in the cloud, giving operators control over functions that have traditionally been embedded in vendor tightly integrated chassis solutions. VOLTHA is used as a component of the SEBA platform and can also be used standalone by operators wanting to leverage just the specific capabilities of access network abstraction and SDN control.

Broadband Forum and ONF said they believe that many types of carrier deployments would benefit from the capabilities offered by OB-BAA and SEBA/VOLTHA. The cooperation between the two organizations takes their work to the next level, providing an effective and efficient path for operators to leverage the innovations and benefits of both initiatives while ensuring interoperability, high performance, scalability and maximum reliability. A whitepaper providing more detail on the relationship between OB-BAA and SEBA/VOLTHA open source projects can be found here.
https://www.broadband-forum.org/

AT&T sees progress with ONF's SEBA, Trellis and other projects

Wednesday, September 11, 2019    

Projects like Trellis, SEBA, OMEC, Stratum, and P4 are redefining what a modern network looks like, said Andre Fuetsch, President, AT&T Labs and Chief Technology Officer, speaking at the Open Networking Foundation’s Connect 2019 conference in Silicon Valley/

AT&T is currently using SEBA (Software-Enabled Broadband Access) to deliver gigabit-plus, low-latency home internet access via white box hardware to 500 homes in the U.S. The carrier plans to scale up in 2020 and beyond.

SEBA (SDN Enabled Broadband Access) is a lightweight virtualized broadband platform originally based on a variant of ONF’s R-CORD. It supports multiple virtualized access technologies at the edge of the carrier network (e.g. PON, G.Fast, DOCSIS), allowing each access technology to be controlled by OpenFlow. Furthermore, mediation software is provided to help operationalize the access devices and connect the SEBA implementation to OSS/BSS systems. SEBA supports both residential access and wireless backhaul and is optimized such that traffic can run ‘fastpath’ straight through to the backbone without requiring VNF processing.


Fuetsch also talked about progress with Trellis, which is seeing very deployment as well.

Trellis defines a solution for an open multi-purpose L2/L3 spine-leaf Ethernet switch fabric for edge data centers and for interconnecting multiple sites. It supports Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) running on servers, network functions implemented directly within the switch fabric itself, and the interconnection of local and remote resources all in a single solution. Trellis builds a non-blocking fabric using OpenFlow controlled white box switching hardware and open source software. The Trellis fabric does not run any embedded control protocols on the switches (e.g. BGP, OSPF or RSTP). Instead, intelligence is moved into applications running on a clustered ONOS controller.

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ONUG demos multi-domain data virtualization framework

ONUG will demonstrate a multi-domain data virtualization framework at its conference later this week in New York City.

The framework, which was developed by ONUG's AIOps for Hybrid Multi-Cloud Working Group, addresses the fundamental challenge of gathering disparate state data spread across multiple domains and providing unified access to normalized data by machine learning and AI tools.

The idea is to apply AI to automate performance monitoring to aggregate, normalize and enrich select state data that is sourced from many points across multiple independent domains.

“Just like a great wine starts with great grapes, great AIOps starts with great data,” says Nick Lippis, ONUG Co-Chair and Co-Founder. “The ONUG AIOps Working Group is addressing the fundamental challenge of gathering disparate state data spread across multiple domains and providing unified access to normalized data by machine learning and AI tools.”

“The growing adoption of Agile & DevOps is putting pressure on IT operations teams to quickly sort through the critical metrics, logs and traces generated by multiple monitoring systems that are tracking the performance of different applications, services, systems and networks on premises and in the cloud,” said Tsvi Gal, ONUG Board Member and Managing Director of Enterprise Infrastructure for Morgan Stanley. “Collecting all the raw telemetry data and storing it in a massive data lake without filtering and analytics is costly, slow and inefficient. ONUG’s AIOps initiative is a promising approach to selectively preparing and providing access and synthesis of the right datasets for automated AI-driven analysis and operations tools.”

The ONUG AIOps Working Group will discuss and demonstrate the progress of the framework on Thursday, October 17, 9:40am at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City.

https://www.onug.net/

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Broadcom packs up to sixteen 10G PON interfaces on a single device

Broadcom began sampling a new family of optical line termination (OLT) PON MAC devices with up to sixteen XGS-PON, NGPON-2, or 10GEPON interfaces.

Broadcom said its BCM68650 is the first commercially available merchant silicon solution optimized for the highest density 10G PON OLTs.

Also shipping with the BCM68650 is Broadcom’s latest OLT line card development suite, the Broadband Adaptation Layer (BAL).

BCM68650 Product Highlights

• Up to 16 ports of XGS-PON, NG-PON2 or 10G EPON interfaces
• Extensive support for multi-PON co-existence allowing operators to seamlessly introduce 10G PON on top of their existing PON services
• Comprehensive line card software development environment via the Broadband Adaptation Layer, speeding time to market with a ready-built OLT management interface

https://www.broadcom.com/products/broadband/xpon/bcm68650

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NXP debuts programmable baseband chips for 5G Access Edge

NXP Semiconductors unveiled a new series of Layerscape Access processors, compliant with O-RAN Alliance specifications abd designed for 5G Access Edge applications, such as Central Units/Distributed Units (CU/DU), Radio Units (RUs), along with Integrated Small Cells and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) systems.

NXP said its Layerscape Access processors deliver unprecedented control over 5G-NR software architecture to support different network options. A primary challenge in 5G development is how to build-out the network infrastructure where there are a variety of architectures, spectrum, and evolving standards. With these new programmable, open-architecture, and scalable-Layerscape Access products, NXP helps deliver on the 5G promise.

The new Layerscape Access Families include:

• LA1200 family – software-defined baseband processors for mmWave or sub-6GHz: RUs, Integrated Small Cells, and CPEs. These teraflop-class devices, with integrated forward error correction, are also ideal for DU offload applications.
• LA9350 family – a cost-effective programmable baseband processor. This family addresses lower transceiver density 5G sub-6GHz and millimeter-wave markets such as RUs or enterprise and industrial applications.
• LA9310 family – NXP’s most power-efficient software-defined baseband processors designed for 5G timing detection, aerospace, and defense applications

The new Layerscape Access processors are scheduled to sample in Q1 2020. Proof of concept development platforms are available today.

“NXP’s compelling end-to-end portfolio builds on NXP’s history of wireless solutions and industry leadership,” said Tareq Bustami, senior vice president and general manager of NXP’s Digital Networking Solutions. “We believe the uniquely programmable Layerscape Access baseband and integrated data converters offer the performance and flexibility required to enable rapid 5G deployments.”

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KKR acquires majority stake in Hyperoptic, a broadband provider in UK

KKR, a leading global investment firm, has acquired a majority stake in Hyperoptic Ltd, a residential gigabit broadband provider in the UK, from funds managed by Newlight Partners LP (“Newlight”) and Mubadala Investment Company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Hyperoptic was founded in 2011. Its fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) passes 400,000 homes and businesses. It delivers the nation’s fastest broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps (1,000 megabits per second), which is over 18x faster than the UK average.

Hyperoptic will continue to be led by Chief Executive Officer Dana Tobak, CBE and Executive Chairman Boris Ivanovic.

Dana Tobak stated, “We are incredibly grateful to Newlight and Mubadala for their unwavering support and significant contributions to the success of Hyperoptic. Currently, only 8% of the UK has access to full fibre and less than half of that to symmetrical gigabit services.

Vincent Policard, Member, and Cristina Gonzalez, Director in European Infrastructure at KKR, said, “Hyperoptic has a market-leading position and superior consumer product. The business is strongly positioned to meet the growing demand for full-fibre services in the UK through further investment and national roll-out, supporting housing development and renovation. Our investment in Hyperoptic builds on KKR’s strong track record in telecommunications infrastructure in Europe, investing in and deploying next-generation digital connectivity.”

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Broadcom intros 3x3 Wi-Fi 6 chip

Broadcom began sampling a 3x3 Wi-Fi 6 chip designed for WLAN applications including Wi-Fi routers, residential gateways, wireless range extenders, and set-top boxes. The device is the first 3x3 Wi-Fi 6 solution supporting three transmit and three receive streams in 2.4-GHz, 5-GHz and future 6-GHz bands. With the 6-GHz Wi-Fi capability, the chip paves the way for high-bandwidth, low-latency applications, such as 4K UHD video streaming, real-time immersive gaming, and augmented reality (AR).

BCM6710 Product Highlights

• Full compliance to IEEE and WFA 802.11ax specifications
• 3 Tx and 3 Rx chains
• Selective 2.4-GHz, 5-GHz, or 6-GHz band operation
• 1024 QAM modulation
• Uplink & downlink OFDMA
• MU-MIMO

“A year ago Broadcom announced the production launch of BCM43684 – its flagship 4x4 Wi-Fi 6 radio for residential gateways and access points. Following that Broadcom has announced and delivered multiple SoCs with one or two 2x2 Wi-Fi 6 radios integrated,” said Greg Fischer, senior vice president and general manager of the Broadband Carrier Access Products Division at Broadcom. “With the addition of BCM6710 to the portfolio, Broadcom allows customers to build a diverse set of high-performance Wi-Fi 6 products, which are optimized for both cost and form factor.”

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Metanoia updates its Gfast chipset

Metanoia Communications, a subsidiary of Elan Microelectonics based in Taiwan and developer of high-speed xDSL and Gfast PHY chipsets for wireline broadband applications, introduced its latest family of chipsets that supports all the ITU-T Gfast (212MHz profile) and VDSL2 (35MHz profile) standards and builds on Metanoia’s existing Gfast, VDSL2 and ADSL2/2+ technology. With its MT-x2331 product family, Metanoia will deliver the industry first next generation broadband access xDSL PHY chipset for multiple applications including home gateways, low density xDSL Central Office systems and standalone xDSL termination, such as SFP modules.

Metanoia MT-x2331 series is a chipset family that supports all existing ITU-T Gfast, VDSL2 and ADSL2/2+ standards. Each member of the family, namely, the MT-V2331 (VDSL2 only), the MT-G2331 (Gfast only) and the MT-C2331 (for both G.fast and VDSL2), comprises a DMT (Discrete Multi-Tone) chip and an AFE (Analog Front End) chip, each in a single small package, thereby greatly minimizing the board size to meet the requirements and form factors of a wide variety of different applications.

“Bringing this new programmable architecture to life enables us to deliver a unique low power and highly integrated xDSL PHY solution with future-proof capabilities for the Operators to upgrade their WAN solutions in the field as standards and requirements develop,” added Didier Boivin, executive vice president at Metanoia Communications. “Our combined product offering with NXP will enable customers to address all xDSL market segments, starting from a simple single-port PHY to a sophisticated high-end home gateway with WiFi capabilities, using the same core xDSL technology.”

http://www.metanoia-comm.com/

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CoreSite boosted its Power Utilization Effectiveness by ~7%

CoreSite improved its 2018 Power Utilization Effectiveness by about 7% on a same-store basis compared to 2017.

Some additional highlights from the newly-released Corporate Sustainability Report:

• completed a chiller project for more than 9,800 MW of energy savings achieved in 2018 at its LA2 data center and being awarded nearly $3 million by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for this project and its savings
• achieved “Seven 9s” of reliability across its platform of data center facilities, resulting in high customer satisfaction, and
• women represented 41% of CoreSite’s headquarters workforce and 20% of its Board of Directors
• minorities and veterans represented 42.3% and 14.5%, respectively, of its total workforce, and
• an average workforce tenure of 4.1 years.

“Customers, Colleagues, and Communities are three words to describe how our business strategy intertwines with our sustainability practices,” said Paul Szurek, CoreSite’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Since 2001, CoreSite has been committed to best-in-class customer experience and value, an engaging, attractive and diverse employment environment, and practices that help our customer communities thrive sustainably, In our second Corporate Sustainability Report, we summarize our ongoing journey of being a responsible steward of our business for all our stakeholders.”

In addition, CommScope noted the recently opening of its newest colocation facility VA3 in Reston, Virginia.

As of June 30, 2019, CoreSite’s Northern Virginia market was comprised of over 280 customers, which includes approximately 40 cloud providers, 170 enterprises, and 70 network providers. Additionally, the Fairfax County location allows CoreSite to serve the native base of enterprises, systems integrators, universities, and governmental agencies with the lowest latency to the largest public clouds.

“The CoreSite Reston campus provides customers cloud connectivity and delivers the highest security and performance, low latency, with the lowest cost of cloud service utilization,” said Juan Font, CoreSite’s Senior Vice President, General Management. “With over 100MW of expected capacity for the Reston Campus Expansion, and the multi-cloud capabilities of the CoreSite platform, we are in a position to deliver the maximum degree of scale, operational flexibility and performance throughout the entire lifecycle of customers’ digital transformation journey,” said Font.

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China Mobile's CEO announces resignation

Mr. Li Yue resigned from his positions as CEO and Executive Director of China Mobile, the world's largest mobile operator.

In a press statement, China Mobile said there "no disagreement with the Board and there is no matter
relating to his resignation that needs to be brought to the attention of the shareholders of the
Company."

A replacement has not yet been named.

China Mobile's customer growth rate slows to 3.2% as ARPU declines

Thursday, August 08, 2019    

China Mobile was serving 935 million mobile lines as of 30-June-2019, up 3.2% from 906 million a year earlier. Of these, 734 million lines were served on the 4G network, up 8.4% compared to mid-2018.

China Mobile reported a 10.1% decline in Mobile ARPU to RMB 52.2 (US$7.40) from RMB 58.1 (US$8.24) a year earlier.

In the first half of 2019, China Mobile recorded operating revenue of RMB 389.4 billion (US$55.24 billion), which represented a decrease of 0.6% compared with the same period last year. Of this, revenue from telecommunications services accounted for RMB351.4 billion, down by 1.3% year-on- year.

Nevertheless, China Mobile's EBITDA improved to RMB151.1 billion, up by 3.6% compared with the first half of 2018. This represents an EBITDA margin of 38.8%, or an increase of 1.6 percentage points year-on-year.

Capital expenditure for the first half of 2019 was RMB 85.2 billion (US$12.08 billion).

Mr. Yang Jie, Chairman of China Mobile, commented, "In the first half of 2019, we witnessed ever-intensifying competition within the telecommunications industry and from cross-sector players. When this is combined with the continued implementation of the national policy on "speed upgrade and tariff reduction", the operating environment has become more complex and is full of uncertainty. Faced with these challenges, we have introduced timely and measured adjustments to our operations. While adhering to the "Big Connectivity" strategy and advancing the integrated development of the "four growth engines" (personal mobile, household, corporate and emerging businesses), we have maintained a clear focus on high-quality development, supported by solid progress in our business transformation and upgrade. In addition, we have stepped up reforms and innovation, laid out plans for 5G development and introduced measures to further reduce costs and increase operating efficiency."

Additional notes:

In June 2019, China Mobile was granted a 5G commercial licence. The company says economic and social development in China is creating an immediate demand for 5G, "presenting opportunities for the transformation and development of the information and communications industry like never before. "

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Commscope to acquire base station antenna tech from Fractus

CommScope agreed to a technology transfer agreement as a result of a settlement with Fractus S.A., a Spanish company that developed key antenna technology for use in wireless base station antennas.

Fractus S.A., a leading developer of antenna technology, licenses its antenna and base station patents to some of the largest handset and base station antenna manufacturers in the world. The settlement includes a technology transfer of Fractus’s entire worldwide portfolio of base station antenna patents to CommScope, adding to an already impressive 15,000 patents worldwide, including more than 700 related to base station antenna technology. As a result of the technology transfer to CommScope, the pending dispute between the parties has been dismissed.

“We are excited about this agreement and believe that CommScope is a perfect partner to deploy our patented technology into its worldwide deployment of base station antennas,” said Ruben Bonet, president of Fractus.

“The addition of Fractus’s patents enhances the value of CommScope’s base station antenna portfolio and will enable us to offer new and innovative features that will provide significant value to our base station antenna customers,” commented Farid Firouzbakht, senior vice president, RF Products for CommScope’s Mobility Solutions.

http://www.commscope.com

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CommScope sues Rosenberger over base station technology

CommScope has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey against Rosenberger, several of Rosenberger’s legal entities and two former CommScope employees now employed by Rosenberger.

In its complaint, CommScope asserts, among other things, that Rosenberger misappropriated CommScope’s trade secrets related to base station antennas, including trade secrets related to CommScope’s proprietary software programs and CommScope’s base station antenna hardware. CommScope also asserts that the former CommScope employees breached their post-employment legal obligations owed to CommScope.

“CommScope innovates, designs, manufactures, and sells best-in-class telecommunications products and equipment around the world,” said Farid Firouzbakht, senior vice president of RF Products for CommScope. “CommScope has taken this action to protect the company’s significant investments in developing innovative products that provide superior value to our network infrastructure customers."

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