FCC opens 5.9 GHz band for Wi-Fi and C-V2X

The FCC adopted new rules for the 5.9 GHz band (5.850-5.925 GHz) to make new spectrum available for unlicensed uses, such as Wi-Fi, and improve automotive safety.  Specifically, the new band plan designates the lower 45 megahertz (5.850-5.895 GHz) for unlicensed uses and the upper 30 megahertz (5.895-5.925 GHz) for enhanced automobile safety using Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) technology.

The FCC said the spectrum’s impact will be further amplified by the fact that it is adjacent to an existing Wi-Fi band which, when combined with the 45 megahertz made available today, will support cutting-edge broadband applications.  These high-throughput channels—up to 160 megahertz wide—will enable gigabit Wi-Fi connectivity for schools, hospitals, small businesses, and other consumers.  The Report and Order adopts technical rules to enable full-power indoor unlicensed operations in the lower 45 megahertz portion of the band immediately, as well as opportunities for outdoor unlicensed use on a coordinated basis under certain circumstances.  Under the new rules, ITS services will be required to vacate the lower 45 megahertz of the band within one year.  

The new rules also will improve automotive safety by reserving the upper 30 megahertz of the band for Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) services and designating C-V2X as the technology standard for safety-related transportation and vehicular communications.  C-V2X uses cellular protocols to provide direct communications between vehicles and obstacles like other vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians, and road workers, and to receive safety information from roadside transmitters.  

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-modernizes-59-ghz-band-improve-wi-fi-and-automotive-safety

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NVIDIA intros Mellanox 400G InfiniBand - the 7th generation

NVIDIA introduced the seventh generation of Mellanox InfiniBand delivering ultra-low latency and double data throughput with NDR 400Gb/s, as well as new NVIDIA In-Network Computing engines to provide additional acceleration.

NVIDIA Mellanox 400G InfiniBand offers 3x the switch port density and boosts AI acceleration power by 32x. In addition, it surges switch system aggregated bi-directional throughput 5x, to 1.64 petabits per second, enabling users to run larger workloads with fewer constraints.

Edge switches, based on the Mellanox InfiniBand architecture, carry an aggregated bi-directional throughput of 51.2Tb/s, with a landmark capacity of more than 66.5 billion packets per second. The modular switches, based on Mellanox InfiniBand, will carry up to an aggregated bi-directional throughput of 1.64 petabits per second, 5x higher than the last generation.

NVIDIA said the world’s leading infrastructure manufacturers — including Atos, Dell Technologies, Fujitsu, GIGABYTE, Inspur, Lenovo and Supermicro — plan to integrate NVIDIA Mellanox 400G InfiniBand into their enterprise solutions and HPC offerings. These commitments are complemented by extensive support from leading storage infrastructure partners including DDN and IBM Storage, among others.

“The most important work of our customers is based on AI and increasingly complex applications that demand faster, smarter, more scalable networks,” said Gilad Shainer, senior vice president of networking at NVIDIA. “The NVIDIA Mellanox 400G InfiniBand’s massive throughput and smart acceleration engines let HPC, AI and hyperscale cloud infrastructures achieve unmatched performance with less cost and complexity.”

“Microsoft Azure’s partnership with NVIDIA Networking stems from our shared passion for helping scientists and researchers drive innovation and creativity through scalable HPC and AI. In HPC, Azure HBv2 VMs are the first to bring HDR InfiniBand to the cloud and achieve supercomputing scale and performance for MPI customer applications with demonstrated scaling to eclipse 80,000 cores for MPI HPC,” said Nidhi Chappell, head of product, Azure HPC and AI at Microsoft Corp. “In AI, to meet the high-ambition needs of AI innovation, the Azure NDv4 VMs also leverage HDR InfiniBand with 200Gb/s per GPU, a massive total of 1.6Tb/s of interconnect bandwidth per VM, and scale to thousands of GPUs under the same low-latency InfiniBand fabric to bring AI supercomputing to the masses. Microsoft applauds the continued innovation in NVIDIA’s Mellanox InfiniBand product line, and we look forward to continuing our strong partnership together.”

“High-performance interconnects are cornerstone technologies required for exascale and beyond. Los Alamos National Laboratory continues to be at the forefront of HPC networking technologies,” said Steve Poole, chief architect for next-generation platforms at Los Alamos National Laboratory. “The Lab will continue their relationship working with NVIDIA in evaluating and analyzing their latest 400Gb/s technology aimed at solving the diverse workload requirements at Los Alamos.”

“Amid the new age of exascale computing, researchers and scientists are pushing the limits of applying mathematical modeling to quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics and civil safety,” said Professor Thomas Lippert, head of the Jülich Supercomputing Centre. “We are committed to leveraging the next generation of Mellanox InfiniBand to further our track record of building Europe’s leading, next-generation supercomputers.”

https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-mellanox-infiniband-for-exascale-ai-supercomputing

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PacketLight debuts 4x400G transponder/muxponder

PacketLight Networks announced the release of its PL-4000T transponder/muxponder supporting any mix of 100GbE, OTU4 or 400GbE services over 400G wavelengths for high capacity DCI, metro, and long-haul applications.  for service providers, enterprise, campus, government, and cloud computing networks.

The PL-4000T modular, standards-based device can serve as either a 4x100GbE muxponder or 1x400GbE transponder per slice using pluggable optical modules. In addition, the PL-4000T strengthens data security by supporting Layer-1 encryption based on GCM-AES-256 standards and Diffie-Hellman (DH) Key Exchange.

The PL-4000T supports standard MSA pluggable modules QSFPDD, CPF2-DCO, and QSFPDD-DCO, and industry standard OFEC and CFEC. The modules reduce power consumption by more than 70 percent and improve port density per 1U compared with existing proprietary, bulky solutions on the market.

The solution integrates EDFA, mux/demux, and an optical switch for fiber protection, delivering the entire DWDM/OTN end-to-end infrastructure solution in a 1U form factor. The PL-4000T provides a full demarcation point between the 100GbE, OTU4, and 400GbE client service and the DWDM and is interoperable with any third-party vendors’ switches and routers.

“We are focused on our customers’ needs to expand their networks faster than ever by providing them with the benefits of our latest technology,” says Koby Reshef, CEO of PacketLight Networks. "Our solution enables migration to 400G networks with optimal cost and performance, while supporting the OIF ZR, OpenZR+, and Open ROADM standards.”

https://www.packetlight.com/about/press-releases/packetlight-400g-transponder-muxponder

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ProLabs launches 100G/200G CFP2-DCO transceivers

ProLabs launched its new 100G/200G CFP2-DCO coherent optical transceivers supporting long campus-to-campus ranges.

THE CFP2-DCO transceivers can transmit highly efficient DWDM signals at 100G (or 200G) data rates up to 80 kilometers without the need for amplification. Coherent optics enhance performance in edge and long haul/transport applications, such as edge-to-core or remote-to-metropolitan fiber runs.

"To achieve the data rates and reach needed to meet future data demands, core network infrastructure must evolve despite the cost," said Patrick Beard, Chief Technology Officer at ProLabs. "Migrating from current configurations to new coherent technologies not only provides immediate, cost-effective 100G relief for long haul bottlenecks, but also establishes a reliable foundation for scaling into 200G."

ProLabs says its coherent optical solutions are interoperable in environments with switches and routers from Cisco, Dell, and Edge-core.

https://www.prolabs.com/solutions/coherent-optics-open-the-door-to-100g-200g-over-long-distances

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NVIDIA posts record Q3 sales of $4.73, "firing on all cylinders"

NVIDIA reported record Q3 revenue of $4.73 billion, up 57 percent from $3.01 billion a year earlier, and up 22 percent from $3.87 billion in the previous quarter. GAAP earnings per diluted share for the quarter were $2.12, up 46 percent from $1.45 a year ago, and up 114 percent from $0.99 in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $2.91, up 63 percent from $1.78 a year earlier, and up 33 percent from $2.18 in the previous quarter.

“NVIDIA is firing on all cylinders, achieving record revenues in Gaming, Data Center and overall,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “The new NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU provides our largest-ever generational leap and demand is overwhelming. NVIDIA RTX has made ray tracing the new standard in gaming.

“We are continuing to raise the bar with NVIDIA AI. Our A100 compute platform is ramping fast, with the top cloud companies deploying it globally. We swept the industry AI inference benchmark, and our customers are moving some of the world’s most popular AI services into production, powered by NVIDIA technology.

“We announced the NVIDIA DPU programmable data center processor, and the planned acquisition of Arm, creator of the world’s most popular CPU. We are positioning NVIDIA for the age of AI, when computing will extend from the cloud to trillions of devices.”

Highlights:

• Data Center - Third-quarter revenue was a record $1.90 billion, up 8 percent from the previous quarter and up 162 percent from a year earlier.
• Gaming - Third-quarter revenue was a record $2.27 billion, up 37 percent from the previous quarter and up 37 percent from a year earlier.
• Unveiled the GeForce RTX® 30 Series GPUs, powered by the NVIDIA Ampere architecture and the second generation of RTX, with up to 2x the performance of the previous Turing-based generation.
• Professional Visualization - Third-quarter revenue was $236 million, up 16 percent from the previous quarter and down 27 percent from a year earlier.
• Automotive - Third-quarter revenue was $125 million, up 13 percent from the previous quarter and down 23 percent from a year earlier.

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Nokia and Qualcomm hit record 8 Gbps on commercial 5G mmWave network

Nokia, Elisa and Qualcomm Technologies achieved a record 8 Gbps from a 5G base station over a commercial network. 

The fast speed, which was showcased at Elisa’s flagship store in Helsinki, Finland, delivered 8 Gbps to two 5G mmWave devices connected simultaneously.  

The milestone was achieved by utilizing Nokia’s 5G mmWave technology and Qualcomm Technologies’ 5G smartphone form factor test devices over Elisa’s commercial 5G network. The base station utilized two Nokia AirScale radios, each using 800 MHz of commercial millimeter wave 5G spectrum at 26 GHz. These provided connectivity to two 5G smartphone form factor test devices powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System featuring second-generation Qualcomm® QTM525 mmWave antenna modules, with each device reaching 4 Gbps peak speeds from the base station.

Sami Komulainen, executive vice president, production, Elisa, said, “This is an important development and another step in our efforts to bring the fastest speeds and best 5G experiences to our customers. Elisa was the first in Finland and amongst first in the world to deploy 5G. Reaching 8Gbps is a natural step in our 5G development and we want to explore the possibilities 5G offers and push the technology further to benefit our customers.”

Tommi Uitto, president, mobile networks, Nokia, commented, “We are proud to work with our partners on this important and significant achievement that will deliver incredible 5G experiences to people and businesses in Finland. This is another milestone in the development of 5G services and demonstrates the capacity of our commercially deployed 5G solutions.”  

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Sierra Wireless sells Shenzhen-based automotive embedded module line

Sierra Wireless completed the previously announced sale of its Shenzhen, China-based automotive embedded module product line to Rolling Wireless (H.K.) Limited (“Rolling Wireless”) for US$165 million in cash. The sale of the automotive product line includes approximately US$19 million of cash and is subject to normal working capital adjustments.

The automotive embedded modules were developed in China by Sierra Wireless and manufactured in China by outsourced contract manufacturers for sale to global electronics companies for integration into new vehicles assembled in China, Europe, and Mexico. Approximately 150 of the Company’s employees located in Mainland China, Europe and in the Asia Pacific region are becoming employees of Rolling Wireless upon the closing of the transaction.

“This divestiture of the Automotive product line enables Sierra Wireless to strengthen our focus and success in investment in our IoT Solutions that deliver high-value recurring revenue,” said Kent Thexton, President and CEO of Sierra Wireless. “Completing the transaction also gives us financial strength as we expand our position in the growing IoT solutions market as well as broaden our portfolio of new 5G modules and gateways for the Enterprise and Mobile Broadband markets.”

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Equinix announces $200M expansion at Ashburn campus

Equinix announced further expansion in the Washington, D.C. area with the opening of its 16th International Business Exchange data center, DC21, at its campus in Ashburn, Virginia.

Highlights

• DC21 is a two-story, state-of-the-art data center designed to deliver both small- and large-capacity deployments. The innovative, modular construction incorporates Equinix's Flexible Data Center (FDC) principles, which leverage common design elements for space, power and cooling to reduce capital costs while ensuring long-term maintenance predictability. 
• The $95 million first phase of DC21 will provide more than 41,000 square feet of colocation space, offering an initial capacity of 925 cabinets. 
• Upon completion of the planned future phases, DC21 is expected to provide total capacity of 3,100 cabinet equivalents and colocation space of more than 124,000 square feet.

With the addition of DC21, as well as the opening of the DC15 data center earlier this year, Equinix has invested more than $200 million in the Washington, D.C. area in 2020. The $111 million first phase of DC15 opened in Q2 2020 with an initial capacity of 1,600 cabinet equivalents and colocation space of approximately 23,000 square feet.

The Equinix Ashburn Campus provides a wide range of interconnection solutions, including Equinix Fabric — formerly Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric - an on-demand, SDN-enabled interconnection service.Through Equinix Fabric, customers in Ashburn can set up direct connectivity with international and local cloud service providers across the U.S., including Alibaba, AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud, SAP Cloud and SoftLayer, as well as major network service providers.

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