2020 CLEO Technical Conference, 11 – 15 May

Silicon photonics, the next generation of optical quantum information processing, the adoption of flexible technology and optical frequency comb technology are the main topics of plenary talks at the all-virtual 2020 CLEO Technical Conference, 11 – 15 May. The online event highlights the latest research, applications and market-ready technologies in all areas of lasers and photonics. In addition to the plenary sessions, the conference features comprehensive peer-reviewed presentations in three topic areas: Applications & Technology, Fundamental Science and Science & Innovations.

Technical sessions will be presented live from the Pacific Daylight Time Zone (PDT) with a recorded archive available later for on-demand viewing. Authors will pay a US$ 100 publishing fee; all others can access the conference at no cost.

The plenaries scheduled for Tuesday, 12 May and Wednesday, 13 May will be presented live with a recorded archive available later for on-demand viewing. The conference, originally planned as an in-person event, has been transitioned to an all-virtual format to ensure registrants have access to the high-quality, peer-reviewed technical program. Technical sessions will be presented live from the Pacific Daylight Time Zone (PDT).

In his talk titled “Silicon Photonics,” plenary speaker John Bowers, director of the Institute for Energy Efficiency and professor, University of California Santa Barbara, USA, will provide an overview of recent research and prospects for future results. Silicon photonics has become a mainstream technology for high-volume, low-cost manufacturing of photonic devices and integrated circuits for a wide variety of applications.

Plenary speaker Paul Kwiat, professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Director of Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center (IQUIST), USA will discuss near-term prospects for multi-photon quantum processing in his talk titled “Advanced Resources for Optical Quantum Information Processing – the Next Generation.” Recent advances in sources, detectors and memories hold promise for a new generation of QIP, with enhanced rates and complexity orders of magnitude beyond current capabilities.

Plenary speaker Bill Liu, Chairman and CEO, Royole Corporation, China and USA will talk about “The Future of Flexible Electronics” particularly fully flexible displays, flexible sensors and their fast-growing applications. The next generation of human-machine interactions or HMI pivots on the wide adoption of flexible technology.

In the plenary talk titled “Intelligent Optical Synthesizer: Versatile Control of Optical Waves with Frequency Combs Towards Innovative Applications,” Kaoru Minoshima, professor, The University of Electro-Communications, Japan, will discuss how full use of comb properties has opened up broad applications such as direct study of full properties of materials, adaptive sensing and rapid 3D imaging.

Conference registration is free for all participants and currently open.

https://www.cleoconference.org/home/registration/

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Arista adds support for SONiC on its switching platforms

Arista Networks introduced a Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) option that enables its customers to deploy SONiC software on Arista switching platforms.

Arista switches Powered by SONiC (Software for Open Networking in the Cloud) combines the open source software first introduced by Microsoft with Arista's EOS platform.

Arista’s SAI layer allows SONiC to run on Arista switches, leveraging Arista’s advanced hardware design and platform drivers. SONiC is an open source network operating system that runs on multiple hardware platforms and was developed initially by Microsoft for the Azure cloud platform.

Arista says the solution delivers robust software, modern streaming telemetry, verbose troubleshooting tools and diverse platform support. In addition, Arista provides integrated software and hardware support through its engineering and customer support organizations.

“This latest initiative is another proof point of the continued long-term partnership between Arista and Microsoft on our mutual cloud networking journey. This expansion of SONiC support allows customers to take advantage of Arista’s broad platform portfolio, high quality system design, as well as global support allowing for broader adoption of cloud networking,” said Dave Maltz, Distinguished Engineer, Microsoft.

“Arista has a long history of collaboration and support for open networking with major contributions to SONiC. Arista switches Powered by SONiC brings open software choices for on-premise enterprise datacenters. We are helping customers realize their cloud networking transformation around resilience, automation and modern analytics backed by world class engineering and support,” said Anshul Sadana, Chief Operating Officer, Arista Networks.

Key benefits of Arista SAI include:

• Choice of high-performance platforms from Arista’s data center portfolio for leaf and spine networks
• Lower opex by leveraging DevOps tools for consistent automation for compute and networking deployments
• Native streaming of deep platform telemetry with OpenConfig APIs
• High scale and extensive debugging capabilities leveraging from cloud deployment experience
• 24x7 global customer support from Arista services organization for SAI and platform related issues for a positive end-user experience
• Distribution of Arista switches Powered by SONiC will be available as a network operating system in addition to Arista’s standard EOS offering. Customers have the option of choosing between Arista EOS and Arista SAI with SONiC software on these systems, and as an added benefit, Arista platforms running SAI can be easily migrated to EOS, providing a flexible path to the mainstream, feature-rich EOS software for broader network roles.

The open source SONiC operating system is already available and in production on Arista switching platforms for select customers. Arista SAI on a range of Arista 7050X and 7060X switching platforms will be available in the second half of 2020.

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Digital Realty hosts AI clusters powered by NVIDIA GPUs

Digital Realty announced a new solution to deliver AI-ready IT infrastructure powered by NVIDIA DGX systems. The solution enables the rapid deployment of artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads, and provides the components customers need to solve global coverage, capacity and network needs.

Powered by PlatformDIGITAL and NVIDIA DGX, the Data Hub solution accommodates typical enterprise deployments of AI infrastructure to address the placement, connectivity and hosting of critical data infrastructure in proximity to users, networks, clouds and things. It localizes data aggregation, staging, analytics, streaming and data management to optimize data exchange, empowering businesses to distribute intelligence across the enterprise to accelerate digital transformation initiatives.

NVIDIA DGX-1 delivers over 1 petaFLOPS of performance; NVIDIA DGX-2 delivers over 2 petaFLOPS.

https://www.digitalrealty.com/nvidia-digital-realty-partnership

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Finland's IT Center for Science tests 400G with ADVA FSP 3000 TeraFlex

CSC – IT Center for Science, which operates the Finnish University and Research Network (FUNET), has transported 400 Gbps over its existing long-haul network using the ADVA FSP 3000 TeraFlex.

The trials pave the way for ultra-fast access to Finland’s supercomputers and could offer a major boost to Europe’s research and education community.

ADVA's FSP 3000 TeraFlex enables channels of up to 1200 Gbps for 3x 400GbE services and a total capacity of 3.6 Tbps. Using network telemetry, software-defined fractional QAM modulation and adaptive baud rate capabilities, the solution is able to ensure maximum spectral efficiency at every point in the network. This enables operators to leverage previously unused optical spectrum so that deployed infrastructure can be made to transport far more data. As well as succeeding with 600 Gbps transport over 278km and with 400 Gbps over 2,844km, the trials showed the power of harnessing granular increments with speeds of 300 Gbps over 4,681km.

“These trials demonstrate how the ADVA FSP 3000 TeraFlex™ performs over long-haul distances, and the results were well above our expectations. It was the first time when we really needed a gridless line system to enable a full choice of line speeds and modulations. The powerful performance of TeraFlex™ and its flexibility to tune line speed and modulation, will allow us to optimize spectrum usage and minimize the cost of providing services to our users,” said Jani Myyry, FUNET network, CSC – IT Center for Science. “Our network provides essential connectivity for research and education institutes in Finland and throughout the Nordics. Initially we were aiming for transport based on 100Gbit/s and 200Gbit/s but are now seeing an increasing need for speeds above that, up to use cases requiring a bandwidth of multiple Tbit/s. TeraFlex and our ADVA open line system infrastructure enable us to efficiently scale our network with line speeds of 400Gbit/s and above. The trials show how TeraFlex™ dramatically increases flexibility and efficiency for 100GbE and 400GbE transport over long-haul distances.”

https://www.adva.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/20200505-funet-trials-adva-fsp-3000-teraflex-to-dramatically-expand-network-capacity

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Arista posts Q1 revenue of $523 million, down 12% YoY

Arista Networks reported Q1 2020 revenue of $523.0 million, a decrease of 5.3% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, and a decrease of 12.2% from the first quarter of 2019. GAAP gross margin was 64.7%. GAAP net income was $138.4 million, or $1.73 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income was $161.7 million, or $2.02 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $187.7 million, or $2.31 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2019.

"Arista delivered solid Q1 2020 financial results despite the global pandemic that we all are experiencing. We are committed to our employees’ safety while bringing value to our customers, shareholders and community in these unpredictable times and believe we will emerge stronger in the long term,” stated Jayshree Ullal, Arista’s President and CEO.

Commenting on the company's financial results, Ita Brennan, Arista’s CFO, said, “We are pleased with our business execution in the quarter, with the majority of our team effectively working from home, yet continuing to engage productively with our customers, supply chain and other partners.”

Some highlights from Q1:
Acquired Big Switch Networks, a network monitoring and SDN pioneer.
Announced an Optical Line System for 400G – The Arista OSFP-LS is a highly compact, low power solution for increasing bandwidth between data centers without the need for external optical line systems. This pluggable OSFP form factor simplifies DWDM network deployment and reduces valuable rack space, appealing in particular to Tier2 Cloud and Internet Service Providers.
Ciena and Arista completed interoperability testing of a dense and spectrally-efficient 400GbE transport solution with a native 400GbE router.

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Lumentum posts sales of $402.8 million, down 7% YoY

Lumentum reported net revenue for its fiscal third quarter of 2020, ended March 28, 2020, of $402.8 million, with GAAP net income of $43.4 million, or $0.56 per diluted share. Net revenue for the fiscal second quarter of 2020 was $457.8 million, with GAAP net income of $49.1 million, or $0.63 per diluted share. Net revenue for the fiscal third quarter of 2019 was $432.9 million, with GAAP net loss of $(74.3) million, or $(0.98) per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income for the fiscal third quarter of 2020 was $98.0 million, or $1.26 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income for the fiscal second quarter of 2020 was $119.4 million, or $1.53 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income for the fiscal third quarter of 2019 was $70.9 million, or $0.92 per diluted share.

COVID-19 revenue impact was more than $10 million higher than in prior guidance due to the spread beyond China late in the quarter.

"While the COVID-19 pandemic is currently impacting our ability to satisfy strong customer demand for our communications products, we believe the world's experience with COVID-19 will accelerate the shift to increasingly digital and virtual approaches to work, education, health care, entertainment, social interaction, and commerce, creating even more opportunity for Lumentum over the long-term", said Alan Lowe, President and CEO. "Our strategy of technology and product leadership in close alignment with market leading customers is even more apt in these times. The market and technology leadership positions and financial strength we have attained to date, with this strategy, position us well for the future."

https://www.lumentum.com/en/media-room/news-releases/lumentum-announces-fiscal-third-quarter-2020-financial-results

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Nutanix sees sales bump from remote work and VDI

Nutanix expects total revenue to be between $312 and $317 million for its fiscal third quarter ended April 30, 2020, up 8% to 10% year-over-year. Total revenue growth rate reflects the top line compression resulting from the company’s ongoing transition to a subscription business model and away from selling hardware. TCV revenue is expected to be between $307 and $312 million, up 16% to 17% year-over-year, in line with prior guidance of $300 to $320 million.

Nutanix has withdrawn its fiscal 2020 guidance and calendar 2021 business model targets due to market uncertainty.

Total Contract Value billings (software and support revenue) is expected to be between $371 and $376 million, up 14% to 16% year-over-year, in line with prior guidance of $365 to $385 million. The growth rates of TCV revenue and TCV billings reflect the top line compression resulting from the company’s ongoing transition to a subscription business model. These results are preliminary and unaudited, and are subject to adjustment during the company’s regular quarterly close process.

“Our business is taking important strides in digital prospecting, virtual selling, and remote work. A new company will emerge from this pandemic, and this quarter is just the beginning of that,” said Dheeraj Pandey, Chairman, Co-Founder and CEO of Nutanix. “The recessionary macro environment makes our subscription transformation and our delightful zero-touch products even more impactful, as we enable our customers to be resilient, prepared, and productive. For example, we’ve seen an emerging tailwind in VDI and DaaS this past quarter. With our FastTrack program, we are doubling down with our channel partners and global system integrators to redefine the future of work. Corporate initiatives around remote work, hands-free IT automation, disaster recovery, and lift-n-shift to public cloud datacenters will be some of the pillars of digital transformation, and we believe we will be at the center of these conversations.”

“Thanks to the dedication, teamwork, and excellent customer service demonstrated by our employees and our partner community, we expect to meet our third quarter guidance for TCV billings and TCV revenue,” said Duston Williams, CFO of Nutanix. “While we have continued to see steady demand for our hybrid cloud solutions, there is a significant level of uncertainty regarding the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on our customers and end markets over the coming quarters. As we said we would in our last earnings call, we have been proactively and prudently managing expenses to help ensure the long-term health of our business during this pandemic. In addition, as a result of these uncertainties we are withdrawing our guidance for fiscal 2020, which we provided on February 26, 2020, as well as our business model targets for calendar 2021, which we discussed during our Investor Day in March 2019 and which included, among other things, a target for achieving $3 billion in TCV billings.”

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Boingo Wireless posts revenue of $59.9 million, down 10% YoY

Boingo Wireless reported Q1 2020 revenue of $59.9 million decreased 9.9% compared to $66.5 million in the first quarter of 2019. Net loss attributable to common stockholders was $(4.6) million, or $(0.10) per diluted share, compared to net loss of $(5.2) million, or $(0.12) per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2019.

“The last 90 days have been an extraordinary time in history and our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones or who have been infected by the coronavirus,” commented Mike Finley, Chief Executive Officer of Boingo Wireless. “Since Boingo has been deemed an essential business, we have been able to not only support our existing wireless networks, but continue to build out new neutral-host networks at a time when many other companies are not as fortunate. In addition, we were delighted to provide complimentary Wi-Fi service to more than 10,000 Air Force, Army and Marine beds set up for quarantine purposes around the country. I am incredibly proud of the Boingo team for going the extra mile to ensure our customers and our venue partners have the connectivity they need.”

Mr. Finley continued, “Boingo delivers a vital neutral solution in the essential space of connectivity, and is supported by a business model with approximately 95% contractual or recurring revenue. We have a strong balance sheet with ample liquidity and the ability to continue using our cash flow to fund our network builds where we have carrier commitments. Our focus on reducing expenses and increasing profitability at the end of 2019 has prepared us well to weather the recent events. While we cannot predict the nature, duration or scope of the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, we believe that Boingo will emerge from this period with velocity and continue to deliver a critical, and essential, service to our military men and women, our venues, our customers and our partners.”

Some highlights:

• Military/multifamily revenue of $22.7 million decreased 12.3% compared to $25.9 million in the first quarter of 2019.
• DAS revenue of $22.2 million decreased 7.9% compared to $24.1 million in the first quarter of 2019. DAS revenue for the quarter was comprised of $14.0 million of build-out project revenue and $8.2 million of access fee revenue. DAS access fee revenue increased 27.3% year-over-year.
• Wholesale Wi-Fi revenue of $9.7 million decreased 11.6% compared to $11.0 million in the first quarter of 2019.
• Retail revenue of $3.0 million decreased 24.6% compared to $3.9 million in the first quarter of 2019.
• Advertising and other revenue of $2.3 million increased 48.6% compared to $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2019.

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Keysight intros semiconductor design validation software

Keysight Technologies introduced PathWave Waveform Analytics, an edge-to-cloud computing application that improves anomaly detection and reduces data storage costs in pre-silicon validation using machine learning algorithms.

Keysight's PathWave Waveform Analytics software solution includes a new data compression technology that enables long-duration waveform compression, high resolution playback and analysis exceeding several terabytes of data. Built-in machine learning improves the discovery of voltage and current anomalies, as well as transient trends captured by the waveforms.

Highlights

• Shortens analysis time in pre-silicon validation with patented machine learning algorithms that identify anomalies and outliers
• Reduces overall project costs by debugging in pre-silicon, which saves time in the costly post-silicon validation phase
• Improves design reliability with pre-and post-processing algorithms that accurately detect voltage and current spikes on power and signal waveforms

"Highly power-efficient semiconductors require robust, reliable and secure analytics during design qualification," said Christopher Cain, vice president and general manager of Keysight's Electronic Industrial Products. "Keysight's innovative big-data waveform analytics solutions enable those semiconductor designers to automate design analysis, improving productivity of those tasks by up to 90 percent, thus accelerating their companies' time-to-market opportunity."

https://www.keysight.com/us/en/assets/3120-1144/data-sheets/KS6300A-PathWave-Waveform-Analytics-PWA.pdf

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