Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Nokia expands fiber access portfolio with Lightspan MF-2 node

Nokia is expanding its fiber access portfolio with a new Lightspan MF access node designed for the 5G era, a new Beacon 6 in-home gateway that supports 5G mobile data offloading and several Nokia Bell Labs innovations that reduce latency.

Nokia’s new Lightspan MF-2 fiber access node is based on its Quillion chipset family. Some details:

  • High capacity, small form factor access node fit for distributed deployments
  • 10G PON today, and ready for evolution beyond
  • Supports Multi-PON
  • Optimized for low latency 5G Anyhaul

Nokia’s new Beacon 6 mesh WiFi solution supports Wi-Fi 6 and includes several core 5G technologies. Some details:

  • Support for Wi-Fi 6 which improves the overall speed, performance and latency needed for 5G mobile offload
  • Wi-Fi Certified EasyMesh and is fully interoperable with third-party Wi-Fi Certified EasyMesh products
  • Includes Nokia Bell Labs low-latency innovations – PI2 algorithm and L4S

Nokia Bell Labs’ PI2 active queue management algorithm reduces excessive delays in congested networks, while L4S technology provides an “express lane” for data in network equipment to further reduce latency needed in applications like gaming and virtual reality. Operators can then use Nokia’s Software Defined Access Network solution to create a high-priority slice in the fiber access network to ensure low latency is further guaranteed from the home to the core.

“Fixed networks will be the critical technology behind 5G’s success,” said Sandra Motley, President of Fixed Networks at Nokia. “By leveraging existing FTTH and in-home Wi-Fi networks, operators will be able to deploy 5G faster and ensure a seamless, powerful 5G end-user experience is achieved.”

“Low-latency innovations like PI2 and L4S demonstrate the many ways Nokia Bell Labs continues to push the boundaries of technology innovation,” said Marcus Weldon, Nokia Corporate CTO and President of Nokia Bell Labs. “These technologies will play a critical role in the network and how end users ultimately engage with low-latency applications like gaming and AR/VR experiences. We’re excited to be the first in the industry to bring these innovations into our WiFi portfolio and offer this to customers and end users alike.”


Nokia aims Quillion chipset at next gen access

Nokia outlined plans for a new family of chipsets to power next-generation massive scale access networks.

The forthcoming "Quillion" chipset will allow operators to introduce 10G PON in their fiber networks and to serve more users from G.fast access nodes. For next-generation fiber access networks, the Quillion chipset powers Nokia’s 16-port Multi-PON line card, which supports both GPON and NG-PON on each port. This allows operators with an existing GPON network to simply “switch on” NG-PON services on each port without recabling or disrupting the GPON service.

Nokia said Quillion is also optimized to allow for low-latency applications that are critical for 5G transport and has built-in programmability to support intents that pave the way toward automated workflows, such as network slicing for 5G transport.

In addition, the Quillion chipset supports copper infrastructure access, including the highest density G.fast and Vplus solutions on the market.

Sandra Motley, President of Fixed Networks at Nokia, said: “In a 5G world, consumers will expect a gigabit experience regardless if they are at home or on the go. Our Quillion chipset is designed to deliver gigabit broadband to every home, using  broadband technologies like fiber to complement 5G in massive scale access networks. This allows operators to efficiently connect more people with higher speeds, and positively impacts their business case.”