Infinera's ICE6 Turbo enables 4 x 400 GbE long-haul services

Infinera is rolling out a performance-optimized configuration of its 1.6T (2 x 800G) ICE6 coherent optical engine.

Infinera's ICE6 Turbo, which is produced in Infinera’s in-house, U.S.-based fabrication center, is the industry’s first coherent optical solution that can operate above 100 Gbaud.  This enables network operators to support 4 x 400 GbE services using a single optical engine across long-haul distances and 3 x 400 GbE services across ultra-long-haul distances, driving down the cost per bit of delivering high-speed optical services. ICE6 Turbo will be available in both C- and L-band variants.

Infinera said its ICE6 Turbo solution leverages the capabilities of the company’s unique monolithic indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology. The new benchmark for optical performance set by ICE6 Turbo is enabled by the holistic co-design of the various optical engine components and pioneering optical networking features including second-generation Nyquist subcarriers, long-codeword probabilistic constellation shaping (LC-PCS), dynamic bandwidth allocation, and soft-decision forward error correction (SD-FEC) gain sharing.

“ICE6 Turbo builds on Infinera’s heritage of delivering innovative optical solutions that provide meaningful value for our customers,” said Ron Johnson, General Manager of Infinera’s Optical Systems & Network Solutions Group. “ICE6 Turbo further pushes the boundaries of optical performance, enabling our customers to rapidly scale their networks with industry-leading economics.”

https://www.infinera.com/press-release/infinera-ice6-gets-a-turbo-charge

Fastweb carries 600 Gbps wavelength across 1,372km with Infinera

Tuesday, December 21, 2021  FastWeb, Infinera, Italy  

Fastweb, one of the main telecom providers in Italy, completed a single-wavelength service connectivity speed trial of 600 Gb/s across its network, including the Milan-Bari optical route spanning 1,372 kilometers. The trial used Infinera’s fifth-generation ICE6 800G technology on the GX Series Compact Modular Platform. Infinera said its ICE6 solution enabled Fastweb to increase network capacity by up to two times. The ICE6 solution features...

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Telia Carrier picks Infinera’s ICE6 800G solution for global network

Thursday, December 16, 2021  Infinera, Telia Carrier  

Telia Carrier has selected Infinera’s ICE6 800G solution for Telia Carrier’s global network after completing a successful trial of the technology on Telia Carrier’s live number-one-ranked global network, AS1299. The decision to deploy Infinera’s ICE6 comes after a field validation trial on the 2,396-km link in the U.S. between Denver and Chicago. The trial was performed using Infinera’s innovative ICE6 technology over an existing third-party...

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Open Eye Consortium releases 400Gbps and 800Gbps LR and SR spec

The Open Eye Consortium (Open Eye MSA) released two specifications:

• 100 Gbps per lane, long reach, single-mode specification -  targeted for 4x100 Gbps WDM modules for three kilometers reach applications (400G-FR4-3). The specification enables the use of analog-based and DSP technologies to deliver lower cost, lower power and lower latency optical modules to address growing hyperscale data centers and AI-clusters requirements.
• 100 Gbps per lane, short reach, multi-mode specification -  targeted for 400 Gbps SR4-Lite and 800 Gbps SR8-Lite applications. Optimized for lower power and lower cost solutions for high volume hyperscale data centers, the new specification defines 50 meter reach at 850 nm VCSEL wavelength over OM4 fiber, as well as 30 meter reach at 940 nm VCSEL wavelength over OM4 and OM5 fiber.

The specifications are optimized for low-power, low-cost solutions enabling hyper scale 400 Gbps and 800 Gbps data center connectivity. These new specifications complement the Open Eye MSA’s previously released single and multi-mode specifications.

In addition to these released specifications, the MSA has commenced work on multilane, 100 Gbps per lane, three-kilometer parallel single mode (PSM) fiber specifications optimized for hyperscale cloud data center connectivity. The MSA welcomes input from the end user community on these new specifications.

http://www.openeye-msa.org

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MEF opens LSO Marketplace

MEF announced the launch of the LSO Marketplace, a set of resources designed to accelerate the evaluation and implementation of MEF Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) APIs for automating service provider and enterprise business transactions. 

MEF also announced availability of the Celine LSO API Framework release, which adds a new service provisioning developer guide and features such as incident management and security profiles.

The LSO Marketplace includes:

• LSO API Catalog – Includes API definitions, release information, developer guides, and test requirements
• LSO Payloads – Schemas for MEF standardized products and services that can be managed with the APIs
• Evaluation resources – Tools to help evaluate MEF APIs and build a business case for implementation
• Implementation support – Tools, programs, groups, and resources to help accelerate API implementation

MEF also announced Celine, the third in the series of LSO API Framework releases. Celine provides new trouble ticketing uses cases and adds service provisioning and API security profiles. MEF also released new developer guides, including the LSO API Security Profile, LSO Payload Handbook, and an example implementation of dynamic binding.

“Leading global service providers are implementing MEF LSO APIs because they offer an automated, standardized way for service providers to buy and sell services while maximizing return on their investment in interface development,” said Daniel Bar-Lev, Vice President Strategic Programs, MEF. “With the availability of the LSO Marketplace, along with ongoing enhancements to MEF’s LSO SDKs, implementation is simplified and deployment is accelerated. Service providers can connect with partners faster to quickly bring new services to market that offer competitive differentiation to customers, and ultimately lead to faster time to revenue.”

https://www.mef.net/news/mef-lso-marketplace-accelerates-service-provider-automation/

https://youtu.be/eohjDDL0Roc

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Dell advances its open telecom solutions

Dell Technologies is introducing new telecommunications solutions and services to bolster the open telecom ecosystem and help communications service providers (CSPs) migrate to open, cloud-native networks. The announcement centers on its Dell Telecom Cloud Foundation, Dell Open RAN Accelerator and new telecom solutions and lab capabilities.

• Dell Telecom Multi-Cloud Foundation is a turnkey, end-to-end network infrastructure solution that includes Dell hardware, Dell Bare Metal Orchestrator management software and choice of integrated telecom cloud software platforms, including Red Hat, VMware and Wind River. Dell is adding new Dell Bare Metal Orchestrator Modules to its software, giving CSPs the ability to deploy and lifecycle manage the entire cloud foundation stack. This provides a scalable cloud foundation spanning core, edge and RAN for their open hardware and software environment.
• Dell Open RAN Accelerator Card  - this solution, which was developed in partnership with Marvell, is a new in-line 5G Layer 1 processing card for vRAN and Open RAN solutions. Designed for Dell PowerEdge and other x86-based servers, the PCIe accelerator card brings the same Marvell OCTEON Fusion technology and performance of today’s leading 5G radio networks to the Open RAN ecosystem. 

“Marvell is delighted to partner with Dell Technologies to enable an open, virtualized 5G RAN architecture that delivers advanced features and performance built on our proven OCTEON® Fusion platform,” said Raj Singh, executive vice president, Processors Business Unit at Marvell. “The new Dell Open RAN Accelerator Card is an innovative no-compromise, cloud-native, inline, Open RAN Layer 1 acceleration solution that addresses the shortcomings of existing vRAN alternatives.”

Dell also highlighted new telecom solutions for edge and core.

• Dell Validated Design for Services Edge 1.2 brings together edge compute resources with private wireless connectivity, enabling the ease of deployment, scalable operations and security capabilities required for large numbers of edge locations. The open standards-based design now supports Airspan 5G RAN for a fast deployment of enterprise private 5G networks.
• Dell Validated Design for the 5G Core with Oracle and VMware gives CSPs the choice to build a robust, scalable 5G core on industry standard infrastructure, in a more secure and reliable way. The solution can help reduce the time needed to design, test and integrate network components from multiple partners.
• Dell ProDeploy for NFVI - a service that combines Dell factory integration and field deployment options to flexibly build the optimal NFV infrastructure specific to each customer’s network. The service integrates compute, networking and telecom cloud software platforms, helping CSPs deploy workloads faster and at scale, saving them time and cost. 

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Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson demo 5G network slicing + SD-WAN

Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson demonstrated 5G end-to-end network slicing for latency-critical enterprise applications with guaranteed Quality of Service. 

The 5G slicing trial includes SD-WAN and end-to-end service orchestration afor latency-critical applications in different countries. This approach will be especially beneficial for global enterprises who run latency-critical applications in different international subsidiaries. 

In this trial, the QoS connectivity was extended from Germany to Poland using a 5G slicing setup that is based on commercial grade Ericsson 5G Standalone (SA) radio and core network infrastructure and a Deutsche Telekom commercial SD-WAN solution. The home operator-controlled User Plane Function (UPF) is placed in Poland as the visited country and the entire setup is managed by an Ericsson orchestrator integrated with a Deutsche Telekom business support system via open TM Forum APIs. Combining 5G slicing and SD-WAN technology allows flexible connectivity establishment and control, while traffic breakout close to the application server in visited countries enables low latency.

Deutsche Telekom said the trial also verified the radio resource partitioning (RRP) for enhanced RAN slicing. The trial achieved an efficient isolation and sharing of radio resources among network slices by isolating the radio resources into partitions that can be associated per network slice in a dynamic way. Each network slice can rely on the availability of a certain minimum allocation of radio resources, while unused capacity is dynamically made available to other network slices, thus maximizing the overall capacity of the system. For an operator, this enables delivery of high-value services with SLA assurance, while at the same time using valuable spectrum efficiently.

Alex Choi, SVP Technology Strategy & Innovation, Deutsche Telekom, says: “Network slicing is a key 5G enabler to deliver tailored connectivity services to enterprise customers. By flexibly combining 5G slicing with SD-WAN in an international setup, we can address the emerging need among enterprises for uniform global connectivity with guaranteed quality of service.”

Erik Ekudden, Senior Vice President, CTO and Head of Group Function Technology, Ericsson says: “Combining different technologies in an intelligent and flexible way across borders to address the emerging needs of globally operating enterprises is another proof point of the promise that a global 5G ecosystem can offer.” 

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Vantage to build 16MW data center in Frankfurt

Vantage Data Centers disclosed plans to build the second of three facilities on its flagship 55MW EU campus (FRA1) located in Offenbach, Germany, just one kilometer from the main data centers and peering points in Frankfurt. This facility will include 16MW of critical IT capacity and 13,000 square meters (140,000 square feet) once fully developed and will open to customers in the first half of 2024.

In addition, Vantage has acquired full ownership of the first data center on this campus, buying out its joint venture partners Energieversorgung Offenbach (EVO) and DataCenter-Group (DCG). Vantage will continue in a new partnership with EVO as the energy provider and landowner of the campus. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

“Vantage continues to accelerate our growth in Frankfurt and Offenbach, the most sought-after data center markets in Europe, to meet demand from our hyperscale and cloud customers,” said Antoine Boniface, president of EMEA for Vantage Data Centers. “Our partnership with EVO and DCG was instrumental in opening this 

Furthering its commitment to be a responsible corporate citizen, Vantage, alongside EVO, will repurpose the waste heat from the new data center and make it available to the local community for heating purposes. This unique initiative supports Vantage’s sustainable construction goals and enables the company to make a positive impact in the region.

Vantage recently announced that it has also begun construction on a second campus in Frankfurt to meet increased customer demand. The two campuses combined will have 95MW of critical IT capacity in the Frankfurt region once fully developed. 

https://vantage-dc.com/data-center-locations/emea

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KDDI implements Wind River Studio for O-RAN virtualized base station

KDDI implemented Wind River Studio for its O-RAN–compliant 5G stand-alone virtualized base station technology, which has recently launched on its commercial network.

Wind River Studio provides a cloud-native platform for the development, deployment, operations, and servicing of mission-critical intelligent systems. Its cloud infrastructure capabilities include a fully cloud-native, Kubernetes- and container-based architecture, based on the StarlingX open source project, for distributed edge networks at scale. Addressing the complexities of deploying and managing cloud-native vRAN infrastructure, Studio delivers a foundation for a geographically distributed, managed solution able to simplify Day 1 and Day 2 operations by providing single-pane-of-glass, zero touch automated management of thousands of nodes, no matter their physical location.

“5G opens up new opportunities, with greater intelligence and compute moving toward the edges of the network. Much of our future will be run on a virtualized, distributed cloud with low-latency, far edge cloud architecture to support new use cases in the new intelligent machine economy,” said Paul Miller, Chief Technology Officer, Wind River. “We are able to provide solutions to help prepare for a cloud-native future and deliver on high-reliability, ultra-low-latency, and highly efficient solutions for next-generation networks.”

http://www.windriver.com/studio

KDDI activates 5G Standalone Open RAN site powered by vRAN

Monday, February 21, 2022  KDDI, O-RAN  

KDDI activated the world's first commercial 5G Standalone Open Radio Access Network site powered by virtualized Radio Access Network in Kawasaki, Kanagawa and is now carrying live 5G traffic.KDDI is using Samsung's 5G virtualized CU (vCU) and virtualized DU (vDU) as well as Fujitsu's Massive MIMO radio units,Beginning with this site, in 2022, KDDI, along with Samsung and Fujitsu, will deploy this Open RAN in some parts of Japan and continue its deployment...

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Aptiv to acquire Windriver for $4.3 billion

Tuesday, January 11, 2022    

Aptiv, a leading supplier of automotive parts, agreed to acquire Wind River from TPG Capital, the private equity platform of global alternative asset management firm TPG, for $4.3 billion in cash.Wind River is a global leader in delivering software for the intelligent edge. Used on over two billion edge devices across more than 1,700 customers globally, Wind River’s software enables the secure development, deployment, operations and servicing of...

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O-RAN Global PlugFest 2021attracts 144 corporate participants

Wednesday, December 15, 2021  O-RAN  

The O-RAN ALLIANCE conducted its worldwide O-RAN Global PlugFest 2021 to demonstrate the functionality and multi-vendor interoperability of O-RAN based network equipment. The event was conducted in 7 global venues, with 94 participating companies. Many of the companies contributed to multiple venues, bringing PlugFest to a total of 144 active corporate participants compared to 70 at the 2020 PlugFest.“The expanded and diverse participation of...

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Vodafone and Mavenir complete first call over containerised Open RAN

Tuesday, December 14, 2021  Mavenir, Vodafone, VoLTE  

Voda

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Frontier offers 2 Gig Fiber Service to customers network-wide

Frontier, which operates in 25 states, is launching network-wide 2 Gig fiber internet service.

The residential offer includes symmetrical 2 Gig fiber speeds @ $149.99/mo + free next-gen total home Wi-Fi + free Amazon Fire TV + free webcam + free voice line + free activation + free premium tech support + free multi-device security.

The service is available across Frontier’s entire fiber footprint.

“We’re thrilled to become the first and only major ISP to deliver network-wide 2 Gig internet service, as we unleash the power of our fiber network,” said Nick Jeffery, President and CEO of Frontier. “Today is proof that Frontier is doing what customers want and cable can’t – bringing faster speeds and greater value to consumers as we Build Gigabit America.”

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Sierra Wireless hits Q4 revenue of $149.9 million, up 24%

Sierra Wireless reported Q4 2021 revenue was $149.9 million, an increase of 24.4% year-over-year. 

Sierra Wireless said the improved performance was due to (i) strong demand; (ii) realization of previous investments in inventory in a supply constrained environment; and (iii) improved manufacturing flexibility with multi-factory production.

• Gross margin was 32.5% as compared to 36.0% in the fourth quarter of 2020. The decrease was mainly driven by higher component costs as a result of the continued supply chain constraints as well as product mix. Operating expenses were $58.6 million, a decrease of 10.8% resulting from improved expense control measures.
• Connectivity, software, and services revenue was $36.3 million, an increase of 11.3%. Monthly recurring revenue was $11.6 million in December, a year-over-year increase of 10.5%.

“We worked closely with our customers, partners and suppliers to deliver strong sequential and year-over-year revenue growth in the Fourth Quarter,” said Phil Brace, President and CEO of Sierra Wireless. "We continue to see strong demand for our solutions and we are working hard in a challenging environment to secure raw materials and deliver to our customers."

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