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Thursday, January 13, 2022
2022 Predictions from Thought Leaders
Comcast tests 10G modem based on full Duplex DOCSIS 4.0
Comcast achieved a top downlink performace of over 4 Gbps using a prototype 10G modem. The lab test used a full duplex DOCSIS 4.0 system-on-chip (SoC) from Broadcom.
The modem test utilized the DOCSIS 4.0 FDX SoC device, which Comcast demonstrated in April 2021, to pair with two cable modem chips. These were connected over a lab-based hybrid fiber-coaxial network to the vCMTS operating in DOCSIS 4.0 mode.
“With each new milestone, we get a clearer picture of how 10G technologies will unlock the next generation of speed and performance for millions of people worldwide,” said Elad Nafshi, Senior Vice President of Next Generation Access Networks at Comcast Cable.
http://www.comcast.com
- In October 2021, Comcast announced a successful test of a complete 10G connection using a virtualized cable modem termination system (vCMTS) powered by DOCSIS 4.0 technology.
- In April 2021, Comcast conducted the first live lab test of a 10G system-on-chip (SOC) and October 2020, of a trial delivering 1.25 Gbps upload and download speeds over a live production network using Network Function Virtualization (NFV) combined with the latest DOCSIS technology.
Samsung demos first MRAM based in-memory computing
Samsung Electronics Co. announced the first demonstration of in-memory computing based on MRAM (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory).
In memory computing differs from standard computer architecture in that both data storage and data computing is performed in a memory network. Since this scheme can process a large amount of data stored within the memory network itself without having to move the data, and also because the data processing in the memory network is executed in a highly parallel manner, power consumption is substantially reduced. In-memory computing has thus emerged as one of the promising technologies to realize next-generation low-power AI semiconductor chips.
The research was led by Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) in close collaboration with Samsung Electronics Foundry Business and Semiconductor R&D Center. The first author of the paper, Dr. Seungchul Jung, Staff Researcher at SAIT, and the co-corresponding authors Dr. Donhee Ham, Fellow of SAIT and Professor of Harvard University, and Dr. Sang Joon Kim, Vice President of Technology at SAIT, spearheaded the research.
The Samsung Electronics researchers have provided a solution to this issue by an architectural innovation. Concretely, they succeeded in developing an MRAM array chip that demonstrates in-memory computing, by replacing the standard, ‘current-sum’ in-memory computing architecture with a new, ‘resistance sum’ in-memory computing architecture, which addresses the problem of small resistances of individual MRAM devices.
Samsung’s research team subsequently tested the performance of this MRAM in-memory computing chip by running it to perform AI computing. The chip achieved an accuracy of 98% in classification of hand-written digits and a 93% accuracy in detecting faces from scenes.
"In-memory computing draws similarity to the brain in the sense that in the brain, computing also occurs within the network of biological memories, or synapses, the points where neurons touch one another,” said Dr. Seungchul Jung, the first author of the paper. “In fact, while the computing performed by our MRAM network for now has a different purpose from the computing performed by the brain, such solid-state memory network may in the future be used as a platform to mimic the brain by modelling the brain’s synapse connectivity."
https://research.samsung.com/news
IDC: Cloud infrastructure spending accelerates
Spending on compute and storage infrastructure products for cloud infrastructure, including dedicated and shared environments, increased 6.6% year over year in the third quarter of 2021 (3Q21) to $18.6 billion, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Infrastructure Tracker: Buyer and Cloud Deployment.
For the full year 2021, IDC forecasts cloud infrastructure spending to grow 8.3% compared to 2020 to $71.8 billion, while non-cloud infrastructure is expected to grow 1.9% to $58.4 billion after two years of declines. Shared cloud infrastructure is expected to grow by 7.2% year over year to $49.7 billion for the full year. Spending on dedicated cloud infrastructure is expected to grow 10.7% to $22.2 billion for the full year.
Some additional highlights from IDC:
- In 3Q21, service providers as a group spent $18.9 billion on compute and storage infrastructure, up 10.2% from 3Q20 and up 6.7% from 2Q21. This spending accounted for 57.1% of the total compute and storage infrastructure market. IDC expects compute and storage spending by service providers to reach $72.6 billion for 2021, growing 7.4% compared to 2020.
- The Asia/Pacific subregions, Canada, and the Europe subregions saw double-digit growth in spending, while Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and the United States saw more moderate single-digit increases in spending.
- The Asia/Pacific region (excluding Japan and China) showed the strongest year-over-year increase in cloud infrastructure spending in 3Q21 at 64.3% while the U.S. recorded the weakest growth at 1.1%.
- For the full year, spending on cloud infrastructure is expected to increase across all regions compared to 2020, particularly in Asia/Pacific regions (excluding Japan), Canada, and Central & Eastern Europe. The United States is expected to show only marginal year-over-year growth of 0.4%.
IDC expects to see continuously strong demand for shared cloud infrastructure with spending surpassing non-cloud infrastructure spending in 2022.
- Long term, IDC expects spending on compute and storage cloud infrastructure to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.4% over the 2020-2025 forecast period, reaching $118.8 billion in 2025 and accounting for 67.0% of total compute and storage infrastructure spend.
- Shared cloud infrastructure will account for 70.9% of this amount, growing at a 12.7% CAGR. Spending on dedicated cloud infrastructure will grow at a CAGR of 11.5%.
- Spending on non-cloud infrastructure will rebound in 2021 but will flatten out at a CAGR of 0.5%, reaching $58.6 billion in 2025. Spending by service providers on compute and storage infrastructure is expected to grow at a 1.3% CAGR, reaching $115.4 billion in 2025.
IDC: Edge computing forecast at $176 billion in 2022
IDC is forecasting worldwide spending on edge computing will reach $176 billion in 2022, an increase of 14.8% over 2021. Enterprise and service provider spending on hardware, software, and services for edge solutions is forecast to sustain this pace of growth through 2025 when spending will reach nearly $274 billion, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Edge Spending Guide.
IDC defines edge as the technology-related actions that are performed outside of the centralized datacenter, where edge is the intermediary between the connected endpoints and the core IT environment. Characteristically, edge is distributed, software defined, and flexible.
"Edge computing continues to gain momentum as digital-first organizations seek to innovate outside of the datacenter," said Dave McCarthy, research vice president, Cloud and Edge Infrastructure Services at IDC. "The diverse needs of edge deployments have created a tremendous market opportunity for technology suppliers as they bring new solutions to market, increasingly through partnerships and alliances."
"In the service provider segment, a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.6% reflects the edge infrastructure buildout underway to deliver edge cloud services. For enterprise edge technology buyers, growing at a 14.1% CAGR, provisioned services such as IaaS will grow significantly and capture an increasing share of total expenditures over the forecast period," said Marcus Torchia, research vice president, Customer Insights & Analysis group.
From a geographic perspective, the United States will be the largest investor in edge solutions with spending forecast to reach $76.5 billion in 2022. Western Europe and China will be the next largest regions with spending totals of $30.6 and $20.8 billion, respectively. China will see the fastest spending growth over the five-year forecast with a CAGR of 19.7%, followed by Latin America at 19.4%.
Equinix deploys ADVA’s encrypted transport for Dutch hospital
Equinix has deployed ADVA’s FSP 3000 open optical transport technology to provide Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, one of the Netherland’s leading hospitals, with encrypted dark fiber and fully managed services.
Equinix Managed Services is providing secure Ethernet services up to 40GbE and highly reliable, low-latency Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN) connectivity up to 32Gbit/s to connect the healthcare provider’s data centers and facilities. The infrastructure is secured at the physical layer by ADVA FSP 3000 ConnectGuard.ADVA’s partner TrueCom also played a key role in this project, providing installation and support, ensuring the new infrastructure met all the end customer’s requirements.
“We’re proud that our solution is now helping another major healthcare provider optimize its operations. Protecting the integrity and privacy of patients’ sensitive data couldn’t be more critical. That’s why our security technology is so important here. It ensures valuable data remains safe at every stage of its journey, while data-intensive applications continue to run,” commented Hartmut Müller-Leitloff, SVP of sales, EMEA at ADVA. “Approved by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), our FSP 3000 ConnectGuard™ optical encryption ensures that patient records are protected by the most robust security methods available while adding virtually no delay.”
IPS deploys Ribbon in South China Sea subsea system
IPS, which operates as a carrier-of-carriers in the Philippines, is leveraging Ribbon’s Apollo Optical Networking solution to power 100 Gigabit Ethernet services delivered over both terrestrial and undersea cables from Manilla to Hong Kong and Singapore. The solution deployed by IPS leverages Apollo’s high-performance programmable TM800 muxponder cards on Apollo 9600 series platforms.
“Our ability to seamlessly deliver connectivity services to our customers over long distances is key to the success of our business,” said Koji Miyashita, President and CEO, IPS. “Ribbon’s Optical transport technology allowed us to maximize our available capacity and transmit world-class communications applications via our submarine services under the South China Sea.”
“Submarine applications must deliver extensive capacity and carry the highest level of communications services on each channel in order to realize cost efficiencies,” said Mickey Wilf, General Manager APAC and MEA Regions for Ribbon. “Our Apollo solution enables IPS to maximize capacity by leveraging dual wavelengths with programmable baud rate and modulation, in conjunction with flexgrid technology.”
Vodafone Idea picks Ciena to upgrade Indian backbone
Vodafone Idea Limited has selected Ciena's 5th generation coherent optical solutions from Ciena to upgrade its backbone network in India to 300G/400G.
Vi has deployed Ciena’s 6500 packet-optical platform powered by WaveLogic 5 Extreme for high speed 300G/400G services, upgradable to 800G.
“Escalating demand for data requires a high-capacity and resilient network that can thrive not only today but for years to come,” said Jagbir Singh, Chief Technology Officer, Vodafone Idea Ltd. “Preparing a future-fit network, through our partnership with Ciena, will enable Vi subscribers to experience world-class highly available, scalable connectivity and realize the benefits of cloud, IoT, and 5G in future.”
“Today’s competitive environment requires operators like Vi to operate a higher performing network with maximum agility at a lower cost per bit,” said Ryan Perera, Vice President and General Manager, Ciena India. “With the network playing an increasingly important role to support digital applications today, Vi’s transformed network is ready for prime time.”
