Keysight, Amphenol and Cisco validate 800G in QSFP-DD

Keysight Technologies, Amphenol and Cisco recently demonstrated a physical design validation solution featuring high speed Ethernet partners in the quad small form factor pluggable double density (QSFP-DD800) ecosystem.

The QSFP-DD Multisource Agreement (MSA) group recently announced a hardware revision 6.0 to introduce the QSFP-DD800 specification and Common Management interface Specification (CMIS) 5.0 in May 2021.

The multi-company demonstration is first to showcase this form factor running full line rate, Ethernet speeds based on the IEEE 802.3ck 100G Pulse Amplitude Modulation 4-level (PAM4) electrical lanes. Along with Keysight, the demonstration includes partners in the DD800 ecosystem including host board connectors from Amphenol and link partner from system company Cisco. These leading companies are active contributing members of the QSFP-DD MSA.

“The QSFP-DD form factor continues to evolve to support next generation data centers supporting signal integrity, thermal performance, and port density,” said Scott Sommers, co-chairman of the QSFP-DD MSA and Molex director of Industry Standards. “Keysight’s new G800 builds on the industry momentum supporting QSFP-DD infrastructure.”

“We are pleased to see the QSFP-DD800 ecosystem expanding with test solutions such as the G800 from Keysight,” said Mark Nowell, Cisco Fellow. “This capability is critical to Cisco when developing products with 800G QSFP-DD800 ports.”

Keysight said its new G800 advanced bit error ratio test (BERT) and forward error correction (FEC) error density and performance analysis system is the first test solution designed specifically for testing all Ethernet speeds based on 112G electrical lanes, including Ethernet Technology Consortium 800GE and IEEE 802.3 400GE, 200GE and 100GE. The G800 integrates with the Keysight M8040A bit error ratio tester (BERT) and the Keysight UXR-Series oscilloscope to provide insights into FEC constraints for physical design validation and compliance.

https://www.keysight.com/us/en/events/america/tradeshows/ofc/g800.html

Keysight’s latest test solution enables NEMs and hyperscale data center providers to evaluate interoperability and FEC performance with error analysis such as patented BERT inferred FEC. It features an easy-to-see system overview of FEC performance across all Ethernet speeds in real-time, in 112Gb/s electrical lanes.

“Higher-speed Ethernet is a complex multiple channel environment. NEMs need visibility into all Ethernet lanes to detect and correlate meaningful errors to achieve the best performance,” said Jerry Pepper, Keysight Fellow. “Keysight is first to deliver these test capabilities, integrated with our BERT and UXR real-time oscilloscope. Together, they enable NEMs to gain unprecedented insights into their higher data rate implementation challenges for the hyperscale data centers of the future.”

https://www.keysight.com/us/en/events/america/tradeshows/ofc/g800.html

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Intel rolls FPGA-based Infrastructure Processing Unit (IPU)

Intel outlined its vision for the infrastructure processing unit (IPU), a programmable network device that intelligently manages system-level infrastructure resources by securely accelerating those functions in a data center.

In a video, Guido Appenzeller, chief technology officer with Intel's Data Platforms Group says the idea is to cleanly separate the processing of client workloads from workloads of the cloud service provider.

Intel cites several advantages for an IPU architecture. First, cloud service providers will be able to process their workloads very efficiently on silicon designed for the tasks. The cloud service provider will be able to rent out 100% of available CPU resources to the clients. The clients are now able to fully control the CPUs including with their own hypervisors. In addition, local disk storage can be enhanced or replaced with virtual storage connected to the network. 

The first instances of Intel's FPGA-based IPU platforms are already shipping. Intel will be rolling out additional FPGA-based IPUs and integrated ASICs as well. "As a result of Intel’s collaboration with a majority of hyperscalers, Intel is already the volume leader in the IPU market with our Xeon-D, FPGA and Ethernet components,” said Patty Kummrow, vice president in the Data Platforms Group and general manager of Ethernet Products Group at Intel. “The first of Intel’s FPGA-based IPU platforms are deployed at multiple cloud service providers and our first ASIC IPU is under test.”

https://youtu.be/ahChxDyl8t4

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/newsroom/news/infrastructure-processing-unit-data-center.html

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FCC seeks to extend ban on equipment from Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision

 The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules that would prohibit all future authorizations for communications equipment deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to national security.  Specifically, the FCC is would prohibit the authorization of equipment through either the FCC’s Certification or Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity equipment authorization processes.  The proposal also seeks comment on whether to revise rules concerning equipment currently exempted from the equipment authorization requirements to no longer permit this exemption for equipment on the Covered List.

The rule would include communications equipment and services from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua.  

In addition, the FCC seeks comment on possible changes to the competitive bidding rules for auctions to protect national security.

"By reducing our dependence on network components developed by untrusted vendors, we send a strong signal that the United States is committed to developing a market for secure 5G equipment alternatives.  To this end, our ongoing work to foster the development of open radio access networks is important.  Because if we do this right we will have a renewed opportunity for American technology leadership, more competition, better economic security, more resiliency in our supply chains, and improved ability to protect the privacy and data of citizens," stated FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessical Rosenworcel.

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-proposes-ban-devices-deemed-threat-national-security

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EXFO will not pursue Viavi's acquisition bid

The Board of Directors of EXFO issued a statement confirming that, after careful consideration, it has decided not to pursue the unsolicited non-binding proposal made by Viavi Solutions Inc. as it is not capable of being completed.

Mr. Germain Lamonde, who founded the company and who controls, directly or indirectly, 61.46% of the issued and outstanding shares of EXFO and 93.53% of the voting rights attached to all the issued and outstanding shares of EXFO, indicated to EXFO's Board of Directors that he would not consider any alternative change of control transaction.

In a press release, Germain Lamonde states: "This is the third time that Viavi has made an offer to acquire EXFO, after its first and second attempts in November 2020 at a price of US$4.75 and in May 2021 at a price of US$5.25, respectively. On both occasions, I have indicated clearly to the board of directors of EXFO that, as the controlling shareholder of EXFO, I would not consider any transaction with Viavi and the board consequently concluded that there was no merit in pursuing any discussions with Viavi and did reiterate today to the board that, for the third time, Viavi's non-binding proposal would not obtain my support as the controlling shareholder."

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DISH selects Dell for RAN and edge compute infrastructure

DISH Network has selected Dell Technologies to provide RAN and edge compute infrastructure for its cloud-native, open 5G network

Highlights:

• Dell and DISH are creating private 5G wireless network solutions, SD-WAN, and multi-access edge cloud platforms. 
• The companies will co-develop technology for Open RAN, SmartNICs, emerging micro-edge colocation, operational automation and other areas of R&D. Joint teams will pursue and create multi-access edge computing (MEC) solutions for enterprise and small business opportunities.
• Dell and DISH will enable advanced machine learning capabilities to monitor the health of the system and to help proactively predict the anomalies that may impact performance or services. 
• Dell and DISH will design the network infrastructure from cell sites to data centers to deliver better performance, power efficiency and automated operations.
• DISH will deploy Dell EMC PowerEdge servers at cell tower sites and in centralized RAN locations to tackle the growing demands of edge-based, data-intensive workloads.
• DISH will use Dell EMC PowerEdge XR11 ruggedized servers to support its private cloud and far edge applications. DISH will also use Dell EMC PowerEdge R740 and R750 servers to support virtualization and demanding cloud-native workloads. Dell platforms also futureproof DISH for next generation RAN compute requirements, allowing DISH to support additional accelerators cards.
• With Dell Technologies APEX Flex On Demand, DISH can scale its server usage up and down while only paying for what they use.

"By collaborating with Dell Technologies, we will have the hardware and software infrastructure needed to harness the power and potential of 5G. Dell's open ecosystem approach will help us scale our RAN network with agility, speed and consistency, bringing about new business opportunities for both enterprise customers and consumers, completing our cloud strategy," said Marc Rouanne, DISH chief network officer. "We chose to leverage Dell's technology because they have a demonstrated track record of transforming networks and a willingness to work with us on designing and implementing Infrastructure as Code (IaC). With their help, we're another step closer to deploying the United States' first cloud-native, Open RAN 5G network."

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Lightpath enters Boston market with acquisition of fiber routes

Lightpath, which operates over 18,000 route miles of fiber in the New York metropolitan region, announced its entrance into the Boston market via the acquisition of three fiber networks.

Cambridge Network Solutions (CNS), a second area connectivity provider, and the purchase of fiber network assets from Hub Fiber. The CNS and the second acquisitions have closed, while the Hub Fiber purchase is expected to close within 30 days. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Together, the three propertiews represent 80 route miles of in-place, high-count fiber network reaching over 100 locations, including 12 area data centers, throughout Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Waltham, Burlington, Billerica, Bedford, and Lowell. Additionally, Lightpath's network in the region will be connected to its New York Metro network, expanding on the company's existing 18,000 route miles of fiber serving over 12,000 locations.

"Greater Boston is a perfect expansion area for Lightpath, with its robust technology and biotech industries, financial services sector, world leading universities and research institutes, tech-savvy governments, and other enterprise businesses," stated Chris Morley, Lightpath's CEO. "This is the first step for Lightpath expanding beyond the NY Metro region after reliably serving thousands of customers there for over 30 years. We are excited to bring our network, connectivity solutions, and innovative customer service approach to more organizations. These acquisitions will help us hit the ground running, and we will be able to start serving new customers right away."

Altice USA owns a 50.01% controlling interest in Lightpath and Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP) owns 49.99% of the company.

https://lightpathfiber.com/

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IBM completes Turbonomic acquisition

IBM completed its previously announced acquisition of Turbonomic, an Application Resource Management (ARM) and Network Performance Management (NPM) software provider based in Boston.

IBM said the deal complements its recent acquisition of Instana for application performance monitoring (APM) and observability, and the launch of IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps to automate IT Operations using AI. IBM provides customers with AI-powered automation capabilities that span from AIOps (the use of AI to automate IT Operations) to application-centric performance and IT resources observability – all built on Red Hat OpenShift to run across any hybrid cloud environment.

"We believe that the move to AI-powered automation is essential to helping businesses succeed in a digital-first world," said Dinesh Nirmal, General Manager, IBM Automation. "IBM is already helping thousands of customers use automation to make IT and business processes more efficient and employees more effective. Now that Turbonomic is a part of our portfolio, IBM is the only company providing a one-stop shop of AI-powered automation capabilities, all built on Red Hat OpenShift to run anywhere."

"Today, applications run the business," said Ben Nye, CEO, Turbonomic. "Turbonomic's Application Resource Management assures application performance and governance so customers can focus on innovation. IBM's acquisition of Turbonomic now helps us reach and serve more customers globally – enabling successful application hosting operations across any cloud environment."

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