ADVA brings post-quantum cryptography to optical transport

ADVA announced post-quantum cryptography (PQC) capabilities for its optical transport solution.

The FSP 3000 ConnectGuard optical encryption solution relies on a hybrid key exchange system, combining PQC algorithms with classical encryption methods. It utilizes the traditional Diffie-Hellman protocol and combines it with a newly developed algorithm based on the quantum-safe McEliece cryptosystem. This enables it to produce encryption keys that even quantum computers will be unable to crack. As well as delivering data integrity with quantum-safe Layer 1 AES-256 protection, the ADVA FSP 3000 ConnectGuard™ encryption solution ensures minimal impact on latency, throughput and performance.

ADVA said its post-quantum cryptography is deployable over long-haul and multi-operator links.

“Our market-first FSP 3000 quantum-safe ConnectGuard™ encryption technology answers the urgent threat posed by quantum computers and gives organizations a way to safeguard their networks before the danger materializes. Our customers’ data will be fully protected even from cybercriminals’ intent on harvesting information so that they can store it today and exploit it tomorrow,” said Christoph Glingener, CTO, ADVA. “We’re providing long-term security for data in motion. What’s more, our solution is ready to be upgraded later to comply with emerging specifications, including the NIST’s PQC standardization competition.”

“Organizations everywhere have woken up to the security threat that quantum computing represents. With many experts anticipating powerful commercially available quantum computers in the next decade, it’s now widely understood that the danger is very real and the stakes are enormously high. That’s why we’ve invested so much time and energy into developing the world’s first transport solution ready for the challenges ahead,” commented Jörg-Peter Elbers, SVP, advanced technology, ADVA. “By integrating PQC security into our FSP 3000 ConnectGuard™ optical encryption solution, we’re empowering our customers to protect their networks today against tomorrow’s threats. Our solution is easily deployable and only requires end-point access. What’s more, it works over any distance and in any optical transport network.”

https://www.adva.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/20210708-adva-launches-worlds-first-optical-transport-solution-with-post-quantum-cryptography

Colt tests quantum-based super-encryption with ADVA

Tuesday, February 16, 2021  ADVA, Quantum  

Colt Technology Services has successfully conducted a field trial of quantum-secured transport using ADVA's FSP 3000 platform with ConnectGuard Layer 1 encryption technology. The trial, which was conducted over Colt’s deployed metro network in Frankfurt, utilized quantum key distribution (QKD) to super-encrypt live data traffic. ADVA’s partner ID Quantique also played a key role in the trial. Colt harnessed the ADVA FSP 3000, which receives...

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Lumen enters edge partnership with Microsoft Azure

 Lumen Technologies announced a strategic relationship with Microsoft Azure focused on the next generation of enterprise application delivery at the network edge. 

The companies cited several go-to-market efforts to support mutual customers worldwide:

• A certified Azure deployment which will be able to run in Lumen Edge Computing nodes worldwide, unlocking more low latency and high bandwidth use cases for customers of Azure service platform.
• Communication sector solutions based around Private 5G networks that would leverage the cloud-native software capabilities of Microsoft and the Lumen fiber network and Edge Computing capabilities. These solutions would allow customers to optimize their wireless networks and push workloads even closer to digital interactions.
• Enterprise sector managed solutions for a wide range of Microsoft software and cloud services to help optimize performance of business workloads and support a customer's entire workforce, wherever they may reside.

"By making Microsoft Azure technology available on the Lumen platform we are giving enterprises access to an environment where they can get the low-latency performance they need for critical applications, with the familiarity of Microsoft services and tools," said Yousef Khalidi, corporate vice president, Azure for Operators at Microsoft. "With this collaboration we are expanding the ways in which businesses can connect Azure to their enterprise networks and are excited about having Lumen as a collaboration partner to expand the number of use cases we can achieve at the edge of the network."

"Working with Microsoft, Lumen will offer businesses and developers capabilities at the edge that are unique in the industry," said Shaun Andrews, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Lumen. "By deeply integrating more of our platform services with Microsoft Azure, we can help businesses quickly utilize their data for the insights they want and need, with the ability to support unique and customized use cases. We're excited about the innovations and amazing new digital experiences we can enable for our mutual customers by extending Azure to the edge of our global network."

Also under the alliance, Lumen has selected Azure as the preferred public cloud venue for workloads that serve its enterprise customers. Lumen will also leverage Azure, Microsoft Power Apps and Microsoft 365 E5 Security & Compliance for its internal digital transformation.   

Additionally, Microsoft has named Lumen as one of its preferred partners supporting Azure globally with Lumen networking, infrastructure, and managed services. 

https://www.lumen.com/en-us/solutions/edge-computing.html#edge-computing-map

• The Lumen network is comprised of approximately 450,000 global route miles of fiber and more than 180,000 on-net buildings, seamlessly connected to global edge nodes, 350 Lumen data centers globally, and 2,200 third-party data centers in North America, Europe & Middle East, Latin America, and Asia Pacific.

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NTT West to sell 71 mobile towers to JTower

NTT West agreed to sell 71 of its owned telecommunications towers to JTOWER. NTT West will then lease back the same facilities.

Under the deal, NTT Group will provide JTOWER and telecommunications companies attracted by JTOWER with optical fiber service required for 5G and NTT's telephone office building spaces required for the installation of telecommunications equipment. In addition, NTT Group will advise to support operations such as construction and maintenance, to contribute to the early development of 5G, and on the optimization of capital expenditures.

https://group.ntt/en/newsrelease/2021/07/08/210708a.html

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Quantifi Photonics raises $10M for optical test solutions

Quantifi Photonics, formerly known as Coherent Solutions, raised US$10 million in Series B funding for its photonics test and measurement solutions.

The company, which is based in Auckland, New Zealand, will use the new funds to expand its U.S.-based sales, marketing, and customer support teams from its office in Austin, Texas. It will also accelerate its product roadmap to target companies that are ramping up R&D and manufacturing of 400G optical transceivers.

Dan Henmi, Quantifi Photonics’ VP of Sales for North America says “It’s fantastic to receive strong support from technology-savvy investors who recognize the capability of our team and the opportunity for Quantifi Photonics to carve out a leadership position in the photonics test and measurement industry in the US. Photonics test, particularly for optical communications, evolves so rapidly that customers are often looking for solutions that don’t yet exist. Our understanding of current test challenges and our innovative technology platform means we can quickly develop solutions to keep up with customer needs."

The company is launching a PXI PAM4 BERT module that will enable 400G transceiver testing in Q3 2021, and intends to support manufacturers of pluggable coherent transceivers using its expertise and signal analysis software designed for coherent optical communications.

https://www.quantifiphotonics.com/

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KUKA to deploy private 5G in its robotics factory in Germany

KUKA, a leading manufacturer of industrial robots and automation solutions, will deploy Nokia 5G SA private wireless networking at KUKA’s Smart Production and Development Center in Augsburg, Germany.  As part of the multi-year subscription contract, Nokia will also support KUKA with network deployment, operation support services and training, enabling integration of new use cases that include new 5G-based interfaces and components for the KUKA solution portfolio.

KUKA is planning to deploy 5G technology in its intelligent robotics and automation solutions, and the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) campus networking and application platform will support product development with immediate effect.

Michael Wagner, Director R&D, Competence Center Control Technology, KUKA, said: “In coming years, KUKA will develop solutions that harness the potential of 5G’s fast, reliable and secure connectivity. By partnering with Nokia for private wireless networking, we have now established a long-term development roadmap that will allow us to capitalize on the new capabilities in future 5G releases for our automation solutions.”

Dirk Lewandowski, Vice President Central and East Europe, Nokia Enterprise, said: “5G is continuously evolving with new capabilities. Advanced automation manufacturers who leverage 5G for their own solutions need to take this into consideration. With KUKA preparing to use 5G in industrial applications, deployment of a Nokia DAC platform will enable it to accelerate development of smart automation solutions for its customers.”

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Keysight's O-RAN tests posted on AWS Outposts

Keysight Technologies' open radio access network (O-RAN) test solutions are now available on AWS Outposts.

AWS Outposts is a fully managed service that offers the same AWS infrastructure, AWS services, APIs and tools to virtually any datacenter, co-location space, or on-premises facility for a consistent hybrid experience. Vendors of radio units (O-RUs), distributed units (O-DUs), central units (O-CUs) and RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) need integrated, virtualized and cloud native solutions to validate performance, establish interoperability between network elements and ensure compliance to the latest O-RAN and 3GPP specifications.

Keysight’s open radio access network (RAN) architect (KORA) consists of multiple simulators working in unison to deliver a seamless solution to vendors, carriers and testers to verify the end-to-end O-RAN ecosystem infrastructure. 

The KORA suite that is now available via AWS Outposts brings together all the major elements for testing the evolving RAN ecosystem in one comprehensive family of test solutions, including RuSIM, DuSIM, CuSIM, RIC Test and LoadCore.

RuSIM provides fully scalable RU emulation on the fronthaul interface for O-DU functional, performance full-stack testing, protocol conformance testing and interoperability compliance testing. DuSIM validates open central unit (O-CU) performance in accordance with 3GPP standards and aligns with O-RAN C-plane and U-plane parameters of performance and interoperability with 5G and O-RAN network functions. Capable of generating hundreds of O-DU’s and thousands of UE’s, DuSIM provides optimal performance of the O-CU under heavy loaded conditions with realistic voice, video and data traffic. CuSIM helps infrastructure vendors, chipset providers and mobile operators validate the open distributed unit (O-DU) functionality by emulating traffic over the mid-haul interface.

In addition, RIC Test helps vendors and mobile operators validate RAN Intelligent Controllers (RIC) and RIC enabled artificial intelligence/machine learning xApps and rApps (intelligent applications hosted on the RIC platform that control resource allocation across the 5G networks) used to efficiently manage radio resources. This is a done by emulating traffic scenarios over distributed set of RAN elements (eNB, gNB, CU, DU) over the O-RAN Alliance’s E2 interface. LoadCore allows communication service providers (CSPs) to scale their network and edge capabilities beyond past on-premise presence, delivering flexible, rapid deployment and execution of their continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) pipeline.

“Keysight is extremely pleased with the opportunity to offer our key 5G testing solutions on AWS,” said Kalyan Sundhar, vice president and general manager, 5G Edge to Core Solutions at Keysight. “Embracing the future of dis-aggregated 5G RAN open interfaces allows legacy providers and emerging stakeholders’ new opportunities to explore advancing technologies in multiple diverse vertical segments such as autonomous vehicles, remote medicine and connected cities, that private networks will allow to become reality.”

https://www.keysight.com/us/en/about/newsroom/news-releases/2021/0708-nr21096-keysight-brings-keysight-open-ran-architect--kora--.html

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Cirrus Logic to acquire Lion Semiconductors for $335M

Cirrus Logic agreed to acquire Lion Semiconductor for $335 million in cash. 

Lion Semiconductor’s switched-capacitor architectures enable wired and wireless fast-charging user experiences and are used in numerous flagship and mid-tier smartphones. These solutions are integrated close to the battery and deliver higher efficiency and better heat dissipation for the rapidly developing fast-charging market. Lion, which was incorporated in 2012, has operations in San Francisco and Seoul.

“The acquisition of Lion Semiconductor adds further momentum to our strategy of applying our mixed-signal expertise to new markets and driving growth through innovation in areas such as power,” said Cirrus Logic President and Chief Executive Officer John Forsyth. “Lion’s proprietary fast-charging products and robust intellectual property portfolio are expected to contribute meaningfully to revenue growth in the coming years, strengthen the company’s position to pursue exciting new opportunities and significantly expand our addressable market.”

 

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