Architectural changes are needed in optical transport networks to accommodate 5G. In this video,
Operators will not tolerate Open RAN and closed transport.
https://youtu.be/b1NCCtWTrUw
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Video: 4 key things about open, disaggregated transport for 5G
Major European operators commit to Open RAN
Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone Group announced a joint commitment to the rollout of Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) as the technology of choice for future mobile networks. In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) the four operators expressed their individual commitment to the implementation and deployment of Open RAN solutions that take advantage of new open virtualized architectures, software and hardware to build more agile and flexible mobile networks in the 5G era.
The four operators will work together with existing and new ecosystem partners, industry bodies like the O-RAN ALLIANCE and the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), as well as European policy makers, to ensure Open RAN quickly reaches competitive parity with traditional RAN solutions. This initiative is an important milestone towards a diverse, reinvigorated supplier ecosystem and the availability of carrier-grade Open RAN technology for a timely commercial deployment in Europe.
Enrique Blanco, Chief Technology & Information Officer (CTIO) at Telefónica, said: “Open RAN is the natural evolution of radio access technologies and it will be key for 5G networks. This is an extraordinary opportunity for the European industry not only to promote the development of 5G but also to participate in its sustainable technological development.”
Michaël Trabbia, Chief Technology & Information Officer (CTIO) at Orange, said: "Open RAN is the next major evolution of 5G RAN. Orange believes it is a strong opportunity for existing and emerging European actors to develop O-RAN based products and services, starting with indoor and rural areas. This evolution should be supported by a large European ecosystem (academics and research, software and hardware developers, integrators, public funding for R&D) as it is a unique occasion to reinforce the European competitiveness and leadership in the global market.”
The four operators believe that the European Commission and the national governments have an important role to play to foster and develop the Open RAN ecosystem by funding early deployments, research and development, open test lab facilities and incentivizing supply chain diversity by lowering barriers to entry for small suppliers and startups who can avail of these labs to validate open and interoperable solutions.
O-RAN publishes 3rd software release - Cherry
The O-RAN Software Community (OSC) announced its 3rd open software release within 18 months, dubbed “Cherry”.
The main use cases delivered in Cherry include:
- Policy based Traffic Steering using the A1 and E2 interfaces
- Automated Monitoring and Health check of selected components using the O1 interface
- Configuration, Fault and Performance Management Services aligned with OAM models and specifications newly approved by O-RAN
- Life Cycle Management Framework of rApps and xApps using SMO
- O-DU Low and High pairwise testing in O-RAN Software Community lab
- Simulators for testing and integration, such as E2, A1, Open Test Framework, etc.
“It is gratifying to see the continued momentum of the OSC’s open-source O-RAN implementation,” said Jack Murray, co-chair of the OSC Technical Operating Committee (TOC) and Assistant Vice President of AT&T. “AT&T is proud to have continued its contributions to enable RAN AI/ML through the Near-Real Time RIC implementation, and to provide a platform for software testing and integration.”
“We are glad to see Cherry has made big progress by building on the base of Bronze,” said Chih-Lin I, the Co-Chair of O-RAN Technical Steering Committee. “It not only realizes more 3GPP-defined models, but also brings O-RAN defined interfaces including E2 and A1 closer to commercialization. More ML and AI technologies are implemented in the RIC, RICAPP and NRTRIC projects to push the traffic steering e2e use case forward, which makes it a more intelligent RAN. The newly created SMO project is also worth special mention for the quick momentum that it has gained in contributing to O-RAN automation and management within just 3 months.”
https://www.o-ran.org/software
DZS acquires Optelian for optical transport solutions
DZS, formerly DASAN Zhone Solutions, agreed to acquire Optelian, a leading optical networking solution provider based in Ottawa. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Optelian's solutions range from simple, easily deployed D/CWDM passive-optical devices to complex networks with multi-degree ROADMs. The Optelian solutions have completed the Telcordia OSMINE certification process required for deployment by Tier 1 service providers in North America The company was founded in 2002.
DZS said the Optelian portfolio will form a new DZS “O-series” product line that will enhance the DZS Mobile Transport portfolio with environmentally hardened optical transport products optimized for mobile backhaul. Optelian’s optical transport solutions will complement DZS’s market-leading 4G / 5G xHaul Mobile Transport portfolio that are currently deployed in five Tier 1 mobile networks. The new line-up of optical transport products will also add metro and regional aggregation and transport options for Broadband Access solutions. In addition to intellectual property and products, the transaction will bolster DZS R&D, operations, sales and corporate functions.
“After joining DZS in August of 2020, we established a playbook that began with the best talent, and quickly transitioned to technology, innovation and marquee customers around the world,” said Charlie Vogt, CEO of DZS. “The acquisition of Optelian will uniquely distinguish us from the traditional Edge Access Mobile and Broadband suppliers and accelerate our path forward with Tier 1 service providers in North America. I am pleased at the prospect of welcoming the Optelian employees to DZS, a team that will bring unique North America development and integration experience in the areas of ultra-high speed coherent optics and environmentally hardened transport solutions.”
"Optelian is thrilled by the prospect of becoming part of a global leader like DZS, and feel that our innovative products and employees will be a great complement to their winning culture and world-class solutions,” said David Weymouth, CEO of Optelian. ”Our customers will clearly benefit from the inclusion of our products in a much broader solutions portfolio that includes complementary Mobile Transport and Broadband Access technologies, as well as Customer Premises equipment. We believe that the vision and direction that Charlie and team have established for DZS is poised to make waves in the industry, and it will be exciting to now be a catalyst to that growth and transformation.”
- DZS, which is headquartered in Plano, Texas, announced a major rebranding in August 2020. Additionally, the company outlined its going forward vision and strategy under the direction of newly appointed President and CEO Charlie Vogt, and unveiled a new DZS logo. The new DZS management team includes:
- Tom Cancro, Chief Financial Officer – former GE and Verizon
- Andrew Bender, Chief Technology Officer – former VMWare, Hewlett Packard, NEC
- Daniel Won, Chief Product Officer – former DASAN Networks, LG and Cisco
- Jay Hilbert, EVP, Americas, Europe, Middle East/Africa (AEMEA) Sales – former Nokia, Commscope, Cambium and Rignet
- Bill Ko, EVP, Asia Sales – former Active Video, ARRIS Group
- Geoff Burke, Chief Marketing Officer – former Calix, Motorola/Next Level and Broadband Forum
- Keith Nauman, SVP of Global Services – former AT&T
Optelian intros disaggregated optical transport platform
Optelian today introduced its DA (Deploy Anywhere) Series of multi-service, compact and hardened (OSP-compliant) platforms for multi-haul transport upgrades, remote business services access and fiber deep architectures.
Optelian’s first DA Series member, the TMX-4400, is a DWDM transport solution for anyhaul deployment of hardened 100/200/400 GbE or OTU services. It interfaces a 100G to 400G QSFP28/DD on the client side and a CFP2-DCO on the line side with software programmable DWDM modulation supporting operation from 100G to 400G, including openZR+, CableLabs® and openROADM standards.
Optelian said its hardened platform is capable of being deployed in harsh environments where a temperature controlled shelter or facility does not exist, while still providing next generation multi-service capability anywhere from 1G to 1.6T.
“Demand continues to grow for flexible, high-bit-rate, compact and disaggregated transport equipment. We are excited to roll out both the TMS-1190 platform and its family of OSP-capable 100G to 800G multi-rate transponders – each providing reliability, flexibility and extended operating temperature in a compact form factor,” said Scott Agnew, CTO, Optelian. “This platform promises to improve overall cost per bit in any deployment environment without sacrificing optical transport performance parameters.”
Arctic Connect cable to link Norway and Japan
A new Arctic Connect Submarine Cable (ACSC) project is being planned to connect Kirkenes, Norway and Tokyo, Japan, through the Arctic Ocean and Northern Pacific Ocean. The system will have its European cable landing stations in Northern Norway and Finland, with connections further southwards through Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark extending to the rest of Europe. The cable system has options for additional landings in Japan and in North America.
NORDUnet, on behalf of the five national research and education networks in the Nordic countries, have signed a Letter of Intent with Cinia, expressing interest in a dedicated fiber pair on ACSC for research and education. The Letter of Intent with NORDUnet for a dedicated fiber pair in the Arctic Connect Submarine Cable System was announced at the virtual global telecom conference PTC’21. Arctic Connect R&E will be among the first intercontinental fiber pairs in history owned and managed by the research and education communities.
“We are pleased to welcome the international research and education community, headed by NORDUnet, to leverage the benefits obtainable from the unique Arctic Connect opportunity. As an engine customer with a highly positive boost to the Arctic Connect project, the R&E networks are signaling the importance of global digital infrastructure enabling new routes, additional capacity and increased diversity” says Mr. Ari-Jussi Knaapila, the CEO of Cinia Oy.
“The Nordics are in a unique position to pioneer a fiber pair for Nordic and European Research and Education, on a completely new route. This project, once realized, will enhance the collaboration landscape between R&E partners in The Nordics, Europe, and Japan. In addition, it will boost Nordic development and significantly enhance European digital sovereignty,” says NORDUnet CEO René Buch.
https://www.cinia.fi/en/archive/arctic-gateway-for-research-education.html
Telefónica pitches 5G and edge computing to start-ups
Telefónica has launched a call for proposals for startups to develop solutions that take advantage of the possibilities offered by 5G and edge computing.
The initiative is part of the Wayra Activation Programme, which is promoted by Wayra, Telefónica's global open innovation hub, through which the company offers entrepreneurs free access to its technologies to test their solutions.
The call is addressed to startups that have at least one 5G and/or edge computing-based service, product or use case. The deadline for registration through the Wayra Activation Programme website is February 14th.
"We want to open innovation again to collaboration with startups and bring them closer to the real world of business. Now that Telefónica has made a major deployment of both 5G and edge computing, it is time to give them access to these new technologies with an enormous transformational potential. We want to discover these possibilities with them and develop innovative applications together to continue accompanying companies and society in general in their digitalisation", says Miguel Arias, Global Director of Entrepreneurship at Telefónica.
SpaceX nears 1,000 Starlink satellites in orbit
Following Wednesday's launch, the booster rocket successfully landed on a drone ship off the Florida coast. This launch was the eighth launch of this particular Falcon 9 booster.
MaxLinear joins the O-RAN ALLIANCE
MaxLinear, a provider of radio frequency (RF), analog, digital and mixed-signal integrated circuits, has joined the O-RAN ALLIANCE, a world-wide community of mobile network operators and technology suppliers whose mission is to re-shape the Radio Access Network (RAN) industry towards more intelligent, open, virtualized and fully interoperable mobile networks.
"Allowing broader participation through open architecture is a proven model in the technology sector,” said Brendan Walsh, Vice President of MaxLinear’s Wireless Infrastructure Group. “The O-RAN ALLIANCE is driving this innovation in mobile networks. We are excited to help realize this goal by contributing to the development of interoperable fronthaul interfaces and enabling the rapid deployment of next-generation O-RAN based 5G RUs using our industry-leading transceiver solutions and digital linearization technology.”
