Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Nokia launches its FP5 network processing silicon

Nokia unveiled its fifth-generation FP5 IP routing silicon capable of powering 800GE routing interfaces in service provider networks. Nokia promises a 75% reduction in power consumption and new embedded line rate, flow-based encryption capabilities.  FP5-based platforms will be available starting in the first half of 2022.

Nokia's FP5 is a fully programmable network processor (NPU) for Nokia’s IP service routing platforms. The company says the FP5 is the first ASIC on the market to deliver up to 48 ports of QSFP-DD 800 without further hardware or fabric upgrades. Some highlights:

Security: With the current generation FP4 silicon, Nokia transformed volumetric DDoS defense with router-based detection and mitigation. With FP5, Nokia brings an additional layer of network protection with the introduction of ‘ANYsec’ - a new line rate, flow-based encryption capability integrated directly into the chipset. ANYsec supports the delivery of secure IP services including MPLS and segment routing, on-demand and at scale without impacting performance or power efficiency. Service providers can now ensure the integrity and confidentiality of all data flowing through their networks.

Network Capacity. Nokia service router platforms are the first to support high-density 800GE and 1.6 Tbps clear channel routing interfaces for applications including mobile transport, IP core, peering, BNG and provider edge. New FP5-based line cards will support 14.4 Tbps (19.2 Tbps with Nokia’s intelligent aggregation capability.) A new series of fixed form factor 7750 Service Router-1 platforms enable the benefits of FP5 to also be realized in smaller network locations.

Energy Efficiency: Nokia’s FP5 network processors drive down power consumption per bit by 75%. As FP5 is backwards compatible with FP4 and fully integrated into the latest versions of Nokia’s Service Router Operating System (SR OS), all existing features are supported from day one on the new hardware. 

Some specs:

  • 4.8 Tbps
  • delivered with a 2.5D system-in-package (SiP) construct
  • First NPU to support 100G SERDES
  • Largest device in the industry using line rate memories everywhere, for both buffering and tables, in a completely deterministic configuration
  • First NPU with embedded line-rate network encryption for L2, L2.5 and L3
  • First to support multiple 1.6 Tbps clear channel flows
  • Support for 400G ZR/ZR+, 800G and 1.6 Tbps speeds
  • External MAC ASIC with QoS pre-processing, pre-classification, pre-buffering and first level DDoS protection and encryption

Federico Guillén, President of Network Infrastructure, Nokia, said: “Of all the things that are surprising about human beings, perhaps the most surprising is our ability to be surprised. Our customers require their networks to be robust, agile and adaptable enough to handle everything life throws at them – from disruptive security threats to a global pandemic. FP5 is a significant step forward in performance, security and efficiency and – in combination with our software excellence and investment in network automation and tools – it opens the next chapter in Nokia’s long-standing leadership in IP networking and IP silicon innovation.”

Neil McRae, Managing Director and Chief Architect, BT, said: “BT has a long-standing relationship with Nokia, and we are pleased to see that with FP5, Nokia continues to innovate to ensure IP networks have the scale, flexibility and features to help us stay ahead of escalating demand from our residential, mobile and business customers. In particular, we are very happy to see the focus on power optimization as we grow our network, with both BT and Nokia committing to significant reduction in carbon footprint. In the past 18 months, our lives have been turned upside down, and our reliance on networks has been dramatically increased and reliability for customers is crucially important. With security being ever more important for our customers, seeing Nokia’s approach to building more security features into the platform is fantastic.”

Nokia – IP networks re-imagined

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Nokia Unveils its Next Gen IP Routing Engine

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Researchers at University of Bath observe new physical effect of light

Researchers at the University of Bath have observed a new physical effect relating to the interactions between light and twisted (chiral) materials.

The university says the discovery is likely to have implications for emerging new nanotechnologies in communications, nanorobotics and ultra-thin optical components.

Professor Ventsislav Valev, who led the research, said: “The idea that the twist of nanoparticles or molecules could be revealed through even harmonics of light was first formulated over 42 years ago, by a young PhD student – David Andrews. David thought his theory was too elusive to ever be validated experimentally but, two years ago, we demonstrated this phenomenon. Now, we discovered that the twist of nanoparticles can be observed in the odd harmonics of light as well. It’s especially gratifying that the relevant theory was provided by none other than our co-author and nowadays well-established professor – David Andrews!

https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/the-nanophotonics-orchestra-presents-twisting-to-the-light-of-nanoparticles/

Are next-gen SmartNICs gaining traction with top cloud providers?

https://youtu.be/fEEFyIJYzXI

In this video, Prem Jain, co-founder and CEO of Pensando, discusses SmartNIC adoption trends by major cloud providers. Hot topics include bare-metal-as-a-service acceleration and virtualized storage. 

For more insights from industry thought leaders check out: https://nextgeninfra.io/

VMware's Project Monterey for SmartNICs - Pensando's perspective

Pensando Systems is working with VMware on Project Monterey to integrate the next generation of SmartNIC technology into fully virtualized enterprise networks.The project aims to rearchitect VMware Cloud Foundation to enable disaggregation of the server including extending support for bare metal servers, thereby allowing physical resources to be dynamically accessed by applications based on policy or via software API.In this video, Silvano Gai of...

Pensado emerges from stealth, led by "MPLS" team from Cisco

Pensando Systems, a start-up based in San Jose, California, emerged from stealth to unveil its first product -- a software-defined edge services platform that was developed in collaboration with the world’s largest cloud, enterprise, storage, and telecommunications companies. Pensando ("thinking" in Spanish) is led by Cisco’s legendary “MPLS” team — Mario Mazzola, Prem Jain, Luca Cafiero, Soni Jiandani and Randy Pond. Hewlett Packard Enterprise...










Spain's RedIRIS deploys ADVA in national research network

RedIRIS, the Spanish academic and research network that provides advanced communication services to the scientific community and national universities, is deploying ADVA’s FSP 3000 for its new long-haul backbone infrastructure connects universities and research facilities across Spain.

The network features ADVA’s flexgrid multi-degree ROADMs, enabling high-speed coherent and high-baud-rate transport. Through ADVA’s MicroMux technology, the new infrastructure also supports a seamless mix of 10 Gbps and 100 Gbps Ethernet client ports without any footprint increase. The network is monitored by the ADVA ALM fiber assurance solution.

“Our new transport system empowers Spain’s scientists and academics to work together on national and international projects under optimum conditions. With flexible coherent wavelengths up to 200Gbit/s, it provides secure, highly reliable access to everything from video conferencing tools to high-performance remote computing facilities,” said Esther Robles, head of communications networks, RedIRIS. “ADVA’s open FSP 3000 technology enabled a smooth and painless transition from our existing transport infrastructure. With its modular design, it also provides massive scale, giving us the freedom to easily expand and evolve our network to meet future needs.”

Connecting more than 80 points of presence and over 500 institutions, RedIRIS’s new backbone network includes long-haul single-span submarine links to Spain’s Balearic Islands and the city of Melilla, as well as connections to the Canary Islands, the Canarian Institute of Astrophysics and its observatories. 

https://www.adva.com/


Ericsson builds 12 kg Massive MIMO radio

Ericsson introduced its lightest and smallest Massive MIMO radio to date -- the 12 kg (26lb), 23 liters AIR 3268 radio. It offers 200W output power and features 32 transceivers and passive cooling. The radio weighs about 40 percent less than the earlier generation, making for easier installations on tower, rooftops, poles and walls.

Ericsson’s latest radio is 10 percent more energy-efficient than the earlier generation, lowering the total added power consumption when introducing 5G on mid-band. It also supports Ericsson’s unique Massive MIMO architecture and Uplink Booster capabilities that deliver leading network performance.

Ericsson has developed AIR 3268 in partnership with BT to address 5G challenges. Through the development process, the ultra-lightweight radio has been designed for 5G mid-band Massive MIMO performance to deliver the benefits of deployment simplicity and improved energy efficiency.

Greg McCall, Managing Director of Service Platforms, BT Group, says: “The 3.5 GHz band and Massive MIMO technology are important to our 5G network strategy to deliver the best customer experience in urban areas. We continue to add capacity within our market-leading 5G coverage, but to maximize our ability to deploy this technology, we need to minimize the burden on our site infrastructure."

David Hammarwall, Head of Product Line Radio, Ericsson, says: “We continue to revolutionize Massive MIMO with ultra-lightweight radios that allow easier site upgrades and more seamless 5G mid-band deployments. AIR 3268 widens the options for the radio site, allowing service providers to boost their networks and deliver faster 5G speeds and response times. It is also energy-efficient, which is important to us and our customers.”

https://www.ericsson.com/en/news/2021/9/ericsson-launches-ultra-lightweight-air-3268-radio

IBM and Airspan team on 5G-enabled Open RAN in Europe

IBM and Airspan Networks will collaborate on the launch of a 5G-enabled Open RAN testbed across the IBM Watson IoT Center in Munich, Germany and IBM’s Global Industry Solution Center (GISC) in Nice, France, to showcase long-distance control over 5G-enabled edge computing.


The Open RAN testbed is intended to advance the development of Open RAN software and hardware solutions, and end-to-end interoperability testing with private 5G stand-alone core networks. The two companies plan to provide partners and customers with the opportunity to collaborate, integrate and test features for next generation campus networks.

As part of the intended collaboration, Airspan Networks is providing its Open RAN AirVelocity 2700 indoor radio unit and virtualized Open RAN Centralized Unit (vCU) and Distributed Unit (vDU) OpenRANGE software to help customers test and validate 5G private network solutions using Open RAN. 

IBM is expected to provide its Global Business Services technology integration services, as well as IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation and IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps, to allow customers to more efficiently manage and orchestrate edge cloud implementation and applications. In addition, the IBM Global Business Services team is planning to implement a visual inspection application for customers to further extend Industry 4.0 5G edge computing use cases on Open RAN.

“Open approaches and standards-based technologies are vital to help unleash the full potential of 5G and edge computing. That’s why, in collaboration with Airspan, we hope to work to advance emerging use cases that harness Open RAN and bring new value to telecom clients. The planned expansion of the Open RAN testbed will allow us to demonstrate these capabilities as we accelerate 5G and edge computing innovation,” said Marisa Viveros, Vice President of Strategy and Offerings, Telecom, Media and Entertainment Industry at IBM.

“Through critical collaboration with leaders like IBM and testing in these labs, which could help accelerate the development of Open RAN and 5G solutions and the open architecture ecosystem, we believe Airspan can continue to be at the forefront of innovation and industry disruption through end-to-end Open RAN solutions,” said Airspan Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Henrik Smith-Petersen.

https://www.ibm.com/services

Credo tests DSPs with Teledyne LeCroy

Credo has selected Teledyne LeCroy's SierraNet M648 Network and Fabric test platform for testing their designs and validating their evolving Digital Signal Processing (DSP) devices for 50Gbps to 400Gbps Ethernet.

Key features of the SierraNet M648 test platform:

  • Full NRZ or PAM4 deep buffer line-rate capture for 10/25/50Gbps Ethernet traffic
  • Detailed Speed Negotiation and Transmitter Training analysis
  • Complete Forward Error Correction (FEC) observation
  • Comprehensive multi-state impairment capabilities for error recovery and validation testing

"Our evaluation of SierraNet platform was highly successful.  We immediately saw the value in accelerating our product development," said Phil Sun, Vice President of Architecture at Credo. "Testing with Teledyne LeCroy will help ensure first time right solutions and overall customer satisfaction." 

https://teledynelecroy.com/

VMware Cloud on AWS GovCloud achieves FedRAMP

VMware Cloud on AWS GovCloud (US) has achieved FedRAMP Agency Authority to Operate (ATO) at the High Impact Level. 

FedRAMP is a mandatory U.S. government-wide program that provides a standardized approach and baseline requirements for security assessment, authorization, and monitoring of cloud products. 


VMware Cloud on AWS GovCloud supports critical public sector use cases, including application and cloud migration and modernization, data center extension, disaster recovery as a service, and virtual desktop infrastructure. Agencies can deploy complete VMware Cloud environments of integrated compute, network, storage, and management running in AWS GovCloud in a matter of hours, and scale capacity on demand in minutes without the need to buy new hardware.

https://ir.vmware.com/

Ericsson to supply 5G to Bhutan Telecom

Bhutan Telecom is working with Ericsson to deploy 5G. 

Ericsson, which provided the previous generations of mobile solutions to Bhutan Telecom, said 5G services are expected to be rolled out in Bhutan in the last quarter of 2021.


Ericsson will work with Bhutan Telecom to explore related next-generation use cases tapping artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), automation and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Karma Jurme, CEO, Bhutan Telecom, says: “We appreciate the Government’s reliance on telecom infrastructure to boost the country’s digital infrastructure. The introduction of 5G will boost digital services in the country and enable Bhutan to become a ‘digital society’.”


 

Keysight teams with Orolia on 5G location-based services

Keysight Technologies is working with Orolia to advance 5G location-based services (LBS) based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) technologies.

Orolia specializes in Resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) solutions.

As a result of the collaboration, existing users of Keysight’s 5G device test solutions can easily address GNSS-related 3GPP protocol conformance and carrier acceptance test requirements by upgrading the software in Keysight’s E7515B UXM 5G Wireless Test Platform and combining it with Orolia’s GSG-8 simulator.


“Working with Orolia has enabled Keysight to deliver GNSS-based LBS test solutions for 5G protocol conformance and carrier acceptance validation,” said Muthu Kumaran, general manager of Keysight's device validation solutions business. “Keysight’s LBS solutions also support assisted global navigation satellite system (A-GNSS) test functionality, enabling users to comprehensively address 5G new radio (NR) conformance requirements mandated by both the Global Certification Forum (GCF) and PTCRB.”

“We are pleased to collaborate with Keysight on developing solutions that improve PNT testing for 5G communication networks and devices,” said Lisa Perdue, Orolia’s Simulation Product Line Director. “Our GSG-8 simulator, powered by Orolia’s Skydel Simulation Engine, offers ultra-high performance and unmatched flexibility. The easy-to-use software-defined platform also delivers superior jamming and spoofing options that can help ensure accurate, continuous operations for critical applications during interference or signal loss.”

http://www.orolia.com

http://www.keysight.com