Amazon previews AWS Private 5G

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a new managed service that helps enterprises set up and scale private 5G mobile networks using license-free CBRS spectrum.

Customers of the forthcoming AWS Private 5G service will be able to use the AWS console to specify where they want to build a mobile network and the network capacity needed for their devices. AWS will then deliver and maintain the small cell radio units, servers, 5G core and radio access network (RAN) software, and subscriber identity modules (SIM cards) required to set up a private 5G network and connect devices. AWS Private 5G automates the setup and deployment of the network and scales capacity on demand to support additional devices and increased network traffic. Pricing is based on network capacity and throughput. There are no upfront fees or per-device costs. 

“Many of our customers want to leverage the power of 5G to establish their own private networks on premises, but they tell us that the current approaches make it time-consuming, difficult, and expensive to set up and deploy private networks,” said David Brown, Vice President, EC2 at AWS. “With AWS Private 5G, we’re extending hybrid infrastructure to customers’ 5G networks to make it simple, quick, and inexpensive to set up a private 5G network. Customers can start small and scale on-demand, pay as they go, and monitor and manage their network from the AWS console.”

“We deploy technology outside of Amazon Fulfillment Centers (FCs) to make moving tractor trailers around safer and more accurate and efficient. We have to provide network services for these systems across millions of square feet of outdoor space. Previously, to get proper Wi-Fi coverage in the parking lots around our FCs, we had to add light poles for the Wi-Fi equipment, modify our outdoor electrical systems and either trench fiber or support Mesh systems. This was expensive, disrupted productivity during installation, and had a high support burden,” said Jeff Armstrong, Director of Infrastructure Engineering at Amazon. “With AWS Private 5G, we can use two outdoor small cells mounted on the corners of our warehouses and achieve additional coverage in our parking lots, which was much quicker and cheaper to deploy. Just as important, we will be able to scale up our AWS Private 5G deployment as we expand our facilities.”

https://aws.amazon.com/private5g/?nc2=h_ql_re_nw

https://youtu.be/7RXZGn8F0Ts

Read More

Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with 10 Gbps modem

Qualcomm introduced its latest premium 5G mobile platform, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, for flagship Android phones from Black Shark, Honor, iQOO, Motorola, Nubia, OnePlus, OPPO, Realme, Redmi, SHARP, Sony Corporation, vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE. The first commercial devices based on the chip are expected by the end of 2021.

“As the world’s most advanced mobile platform, Snapdragon is synonymous with premium Android experiences and the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 sets the standard for the next generation of flagship mobile devices,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president and general manager of mobile, compute, and infrastructure, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “It delivers connectivity, photography, AI, gaming, sound, and security experiences never before available in a smartphone.”

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 key features include the 4th gen Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System, which is the first 5G modem-RF solution to reach 10 Gigabit download speeds. Snapdragon 8 also features the Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 Mobile Connectivity System supporting the fastest Wi-Fi speeds available—up to 3.6 Gbps—over Wi-Fi 6 and 6E to ensure games and apps perform smoothly, even with multiple devices on one network.

• Camera: Snapdragon Sight Technology includes the first commercial 18-bit mobile ISP, capturing over 4000x more camera data than its predecessor for extreme dynamic range, color, and sharpness at staggering speeds up to 3.2 gigapixels per second. This is also the first 8K HDR video capture in a mobile platform and it’s capable of capturing in the premium HDR10+ format that’s loaded with over a billion shades of color. 
• AI: The 7th Gen Qualcomm AI Engine is equipped with a Qualcomm Hexagon processor, featuring a 2x faster tensor accelerator and 2x larger shared memory than its predecessor.
• Gaming: the new Qualcomm Adreno GPU provides a 30% boost in graphics rendering capabilities and 25% improvement in power savings compared to the previous generation to unlock a new generation of mobile GPUs. 
• Sound: integrated Bluetooth 5.2 and Snapdragon Sound Technology, now featuring Qualcomm aptX Lossless Technology for CD-quality lossless wireless audio. 
• Security: this is the first Snapdragon platform to feature a dedicated Trust Management Engine to achieve heightened security and provide additional Root of Trust for apps and services. Snapdragon 8 is also the world’s first mobile platform to feature Android Ready SE—the new standard for digital car keys, drivers’ licenses, etc.

https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2021/11/30/qualcomm-announces-worlds-most-advanced-mobile-platform-snapdragon-8-gen-1

Read More

European telcos issue seek policy support to promote digital leadership

 Leading European telecommunication companies published an open letter calling on EU policymakers to closely align Europe’s digital ambitions with a supportive policy and regulatory ecosystem. The imperative is for Europe to take a leadership role in technological innovation and inclusivity. Specifically, the CEOs of the top European carriers are calling for action in three areas: 

• A clear alignment between European digital leadership ambitions and competition policy. The positive signals on industry collaboration – ranging from network sharing to IPCEI projects[vi] and other forms of cooperation – are important steps forward and should be reinforced. Building scale in the telecoms sector remains a priority, inside markets as well as across markets: this is in the strategic interest of the EU and its citizens.
• Strong political buy in to ensure that regulatory action fosters investment in gigabit networks, which will require €300bn additional investment[vii]. Regulation must fully reflect market realities, now and in the future. Namely, that telecom operators compete face-to-face with services by big tech, in the context of vibrant markets. High spectrum prices and auctions that artificially force unsustainable entrants into the market must end. Recent ideas to alter a European Commission proposal by extending retail price regulation to international calls – a competitive market where many free alternatives exist – are at odds with the Digital Decade targets: we estimate that they would forcibly remove over €2bn revenues from the sector in a 4 year period, which is equivalent to 2.5% of the sector’s yearly investment capacity for mobile infrastructure[viii]. In addition, the on-going policy work on reducing the cost of roll-out is of essence and should proceed speedily.
• A renewed effort to rebalance the relationship between global technology giants and the European digital ecosystem. Horizontal measures such as the Digital Markets Act play a crucial role and, for this reason, we firmly support them. In addition, we must also consider important sector-specific issues. Large and increasing part of network traffic is generated and monetized by big tech platforms, but it requires continuous, intensive network investment and planning by the telecommunications sector. This model – which enables EU citizens to enjoy the fruits of the digital transformation – can only be sustainable if such big tech platforms also contribute fairly to network costs. Furthermore, we must ensure that new industrial strategies allow European players – including telcos – to compete successfully in global data spaces, so we can develop a European data economy that is built on true European values.

https://etno.eu/news/all-news/717:ceo-statement-2021.html

Read More

Dell'Oro: Sharp decline in China optical transport equipment market

The Optical Transport equipment market contracted 2 percent year-over-year in the first nine months of 2021 due to lower sales in China, according to a recently published report from Dell’Oro Group. Outside of China, however, the demand for optical equipment continued to increase, outpacing supply.

“Optical equipment revenue in China took a sharp turn for the worse in 3Q 2021,” said Jimmy Yu, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “As a result, optical revenue in China declined at a double-digit rate in the quarter, resulting in a 9 percent decline for the first nine months of 2021. At this rate, we are expecting a full year optical market contraction in the country. Something that has not occurred since 2012. Helping to offset some of this lower equipment revenue from China was the robust demand in North America, Europe, and Latin America.”

“We estimate that Optical Transport equipment revenue outside of China grew 6 percent year-over-year in the third quarter. However, we believe this growth rate could have been higher, closer to 10 percent, if it was not for component shortages and other supply issues plaguing the industry. So, fortunately while optical demand is hitting a rough patch in China, it seems to be accelerating in other parts of the world,” added Yu.

https://www.delloro.com/news/optical-transport-market-down-2-percent-in-first-nine-months-of-2021/

Read More

Axiado raises $25 million for AI-driven security processor

Axiado, a start-up based in San Jose, California, raised $25 million for its AI-driven security processor.

The round was led by a private investor and business tycoon Dennis Anthony H. Uy and Series A investor Orbit Venture Partners, and supplemented by a group of individual investors, including Dave Welch, Founder of Infinera, and Dick Kramlich, Chairman Emeritus of New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and General Partner of Green Bay Ventures.

“Axiado’s Trusted Control/Compute Unit (TCU™) is a new category of processors dedicated for security, and a novel, silicon-based approach to manage critical boot- and run-time security across the entire connected infrastructure. This Series B funding reflects the support from our investors and customers, and it provides Axiado with the runway to launch the TCU™ in the market to address the growing problem of ransomware and cyberattacks,” said Dave Welch Axiado’s Chairman of the Board.

Axiado Corporation also announced today the appointment of Dennis Anthony H. Uy to its Board of Directors. Uy is the Founder and CEO of Converge ICT Solutions based in the Philippines. 

Axiado’s Chief Executive Officer Gopi Sirineni says that Series B funding marks also the success of company’s other strategic partnerships. “These partnerships are crucial in helping us to refine the product and to achieve a dynamic product-market fit in the cloud-first markets.”

"Axiado's attention to the control and management plane highlights the critical role it plays in a comprehensive cybersecurity architecture," says Dattatri Mattur, Head of Hardware Engineering of Cisco’s Cloud and Computing Group.

Derek Chamorro, Security Architect at Cloudflare elaborates, ”The cybersecurity industry needs an attestation solution that is server vendor-agnostic and works across the entire cloud infrastructure that is dispersed to multiple locations. Axiado is addressing both of these points."

"As a foundational technology and software security solutions provider who has worked closely with silicon companies in this space, we look forward to enabling the features Axiado is bringing to the market," Sanjoy Maity, Chief Executive Officer at AMI concludes.

https://axiado.com 

Read More

HPE cites record demand for its edge-to-cloud portfolio

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) reported revenue of $7.4 billion for its fourth quarter, ended October 31, 2021, up 7% sequentially and above normal sequential seasonality; up 2% from the prior-year period or flat when adjusted for currency. Non-GAAP diluted net EPS was $0.52, compared to $0.41 in the prior-year period and at the high end of the previously provided outlook of $0.44 to $0.52 per share. Fourth quarter non-GAAP diluted net EPS excludes after-tax adjustments of $1.39 per diluted share primarily related to the judgment in the Itanium litigation with Oracle partially offset by transformation costs, early debt redemption costs, stock-based compensation expense and the amortization of intangible assets.

“HPE ended fiscal year 2021 with record demand for our edge-to-cloud portfolio, and we are well positioned to capitalize on the significant opportunity in front of us,” said Antonio Neri, president and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “In 2021, we accelerated our pivot to as a service, strengthened our core capabilities, and invested in bold innovation in high-growth segments. As our customers continue to demand greater connectivity, access to solutions that allow them to extract value from their data no matter where it lives, and a cloud-everywhere experience, HPE is poised to accelerate our market leadership and provide strong shareholder returns.”

Segment Results

Intelligent Edge revenue was $815 million, up 4% from the prior-year period or 2% when adjusted for currency, with 10.7% operating profit margin, compared to 12.3% from the prior-year period. Aruba Services revenue was up high-single digits from the prior-year period when adjusted for currency and Intelligent Edge aaS ARR was up triple-digits from the prior-year period.

High Performance Computing & Artificial Intelligence (HPC & AI) revenue was $1.0 billion, up 1% from the prior-year period or flat when adjusted for currency, with 14.3% operating profit margin, compared to 13.0% from the prior-year period. We remain on track to achieve 8-12% CAGR outlook from FY20 to FY22.

Compute revenue was $3.2 billion, up 1% from the prior-year period or down 1% when adjusted for currency, with 9.4% operating profit margin, compared to 6.6% from the prior-year period. Revenue was up 4% from the prior-quarter period and 4% from the prior-quarter period when adjusted for currency, and above normal sequential seasonality.

Storage revenue was $1.3 billion, up 3% from the prior-year period or up 2% when adjusted for currency, with 13.8% operating profit margin, compared to 18.2% from the prior-year period. All flash Arrays grew 7% from the prior-year period led by Primera, up strong double-digits from the prior-year period. Notable strength in software-defined solutions, including Nimble, up 4% from the prior-year period with strong momentum in dHCI growing double-digits.

Financial Services revenue was $858 million, up 1% from the prior-year period or flat when adjusted for currency, with 14.1% operating profit margin, compared to 7.8% from the prior-year period. Net portfolio assets were flat from the prior-year period or down 1% when adjusted for currency. The business delivered return on equity of 23.8%, up 10.9 points from the prior-year period.

https://investors.hpe.com/news-and-events#hpe-reports-fiscal-2021-fourth-quarter-and-fullyear-results

https://investors.hpe.com/~/media/Files/H/HP-Enterprise-IR/documents/hpe-sam21-presentation.pdf

Read More

Victoria's VicTrack leverages ADVA to power Aussie Broadband

VicTrack, which owns rail transport land, assets and infrastructure in the Australian state of Victoria, is using ADVA FSP 3000 optical transport gear to provide Aussie Broadband with carrier-grade wholesale services. 

ADVA’s open optical transport system provides VicTrack’s customers with unregenerated optical services between the furthest parts of the state. The flexible and fully redundant ROADM network enables VicTrack to share capacity with its wholesale customers. 

VicTrack is providing access to its next-generation optical network as part of a fiber-sharing deal with Aussie Broadband. The ability to leverage VicTrack’s network enables Aussie Broadband to roll out new offerings to many more customers, including increasing its business fiber services in regional Victoria. The agreement will also help it save resources to use in other states. VicTrack’s TGSN is a 45-node meshed ROADM network built on ADVA’s FSP 3000 platform. Managed by the Ensemble Controller service management solution, it provides a flexible mix of 10Gbit/s and 100Gbit/s services as well as any-to-any connectivity for seamless, simple and secure communication.

“Enabling Aussie Broadband to connect with customers across Victoria demonstrates how we can leverage the excess capacity of our Transport and Government Secure Network (TGSN). As well as supporting mission-critical rail operations and delivering a high-performance communication network for our state, TGSN is also driving new revenue and bringing a host of new services to end users,” said Andrew Peel, group manager, commercial, telecommunications group, VicTrack. ”Our excess capacity is now enabling us to offer National Broadband Network services across the state. With its reliability, flexibility and speed, our network will be key to helping CSPs meet the challenge of rising data demand and deliver more value to households and businesses.”

“By utilizing our open optical networking technology, VicTrack has created a valuable regional resource. It now has a high-capacity transport system with a unique geographical footprint that can be easily shared with Australia’s communication service providers. That means a wealth of new wholesale opportunities for them and a major boost for enterprises and homes across Victoria,” commented Erik Lindberg, VP, sales, APAC, ADVA. “Our FSP 3000 technology delivers the highest levels of efficiency, ultimate flexibility and future-proof scale. It’s now enabling VicTrack to accommodate evolving network demands while also forging partnerships that will reap benefits throughout southern Australia.”

https://www.adva.com

Read More

Zayo expands fiber network in Seattle-Tacoma area

Zayo announced an expansion of its network infrastructure in the Seattle-Tacoma area of Washington.

As part of the expansion, 400G wavelength capacity will be available between Seattle and Spokane by the end of June 2022, adding crucial IT bandwidth to a key route between two major Washington cities.

Zayo is also rolling out a new product offer to new and existing customers in the greater Seattle-Tacoma area. The offer, called Shielded Internet Access, includes some of Zayo’s most popular services: Dedicated Internet Access, DDoS Protection and CloudLink, all within a single offer that will be competitively positioned against current market benchmarks.

“The Seattle-Tacoma region continues to grow as a leading U.S. tech market, driving increased demand for reliable connectivity,” said Dan Stoll, Managing Director, Head of Regional Network Sales at Zayo. “We are committed to continued investment in the region to support customers’ demand for diverse, high-capacity fiber connectivity. Zayo’s unmatched network combined with the Shielded Internet Access offer provides customers with the bandwidth that takes them anywhere they need to be in the most convenient, cost-effective way possible.”

https://go.zayo.com/seattle-tacoma-dedicated-network

Read More