BT to test Nokia’s FP5 IP routing silicon and 800G interfaces

BT has agreed to test Nokia's next generation FP5 network processing silicon, including its 800G interfaces. 

FP5 is the new heart of Nokia’s IP service routing platforms capable of supporting high density 800G routing interfaces. FP5 will also enable flow-based encryption capabilities, while promising a 75% reduction in power consumption.

BT operates the largest IP network in the UK with peak rates above 25Tbps, powered by Nokia’s 77xx family of routers. With this trial, BT is the first in the UK to test the 800G interfaces on IP routers, helping to ensure the most cost-efficient scale and capacity where its future UK customer traffic demands.

Neil McRae, Managing Director and Chief Architect at BT, said: “With FP5, Nokia continues to innovate to ensure IP networks have the scale, flexibility and features to help us manage increasing demand from our residential, mobile and business customers. We’re eager to trial its capabilities as we grow our network capacity – part of our Best Network strategy for meeting our customers’ future needs.”

Rafa de Fermin, VP Network Infrastructure at Nokia, said: “This FP5 trial is an extension of the strong partnership and collaboration between BT and Nokia to build the multiservice network that runs the UK now and in the future. Key to this trial will be FP5’s capability to support high-density standards based QSFP-DD 800 ports, which are immediately available with the FP5 and a real differentiator for Nokia.”

https://www.nokia.com/networks/technologies/fp5/

Nokia launches its FP5 network processing silicon

Tuesday, September 21, 2021  Nokia, Silicon, Terabit  

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.”

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O-RAN adds certification and badging program

The O-RAN Alliance, which has just wrapped up its industry summit in Germany, has launched its Certification and Badging program in collaboration with Open Test and Integration Centres (OTIC).  O-RAN certificates state that an equipment or function is conformant to O-RAN specifications, whereas the O-RAN badges confirm interoperability or end-to-end functionality of an O-RAN solution. O-RAN certificates and badges will be issued by the Open Testing and Integration Centers, or OTICs.

The OTICs provide collaborative, open, and impartial working environment to ensure consistency and quality of testing of O-RAN products and solutions. O-RAN ALLIANCE has just approved the 7th OTIC and first one in Americas: Kyrio O-RAN Test and Integration Lab hosted by CableLabs.

Some other highlights from the summit:

• a next Generations Research Group (nGRG) has been formed to focus on open and intelligent RAN principles in 6G and future network standards. 
• Open RAN Summit @will be held on 25-26 October 2022 in Madrid. The event will be held in collaboration with Telecom Infra Project.
• The O-RAN Global PlugFest Spring 2022 concluded at 3 continents with 50 participants. Starting from this year, O-RAN ALLIANCE switches to hosting two global PlugFests per year, to accommodate for ever increasing interest of the diverse O-RAN community to efficiently test and integrate their O-RAN solutions.

https://www.o-ran.org/testing-integration#learn-otic

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NEC. to acquire Ireland's Aspire Tech. for O-RAN expertise

NEC agreed to acquire Aspire Technology Unlimited Company, a system integration company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company specializes in designing and integrating Open RAN solutions. It provides solutions and services across the full network lifecycle for legacy and open architectures, from 2G to 5G. Financial terms were not disclosed.

NEC is a global leader in Open RAN. NEC Open Networks is an industry-leading ecosystem consisting of an end-to-end suite of open products and solutions, including Open RAN components for disaggregated hardware and software, xHaul transport, converged core, automation/ orchestration software and SI services. 

 

Naohisa Matsuda, General Manager of NEC's 5G Strategy and Business said, "NEC has made a strong, public commitment to providing leadership in the rollout of Open RAN. Part of that commitment is building out our ability to serve as the prime system integrator for global operators as they adopt Open Networks at their own pace. The SI business is all about people and expertise. The strong capabilities and the deep pool of talented engineers at Aspire Technology, combined with their portfolio of technology solutions and applications, is a big step forward for our NEC Open Networks strategy. NEC is now better prepared than any supplier to integrate disaggregated network components into a well-tuned ecosystem."

Bill Walsh, Aspire Technology's Founder and CEO said, "We believe the combination of NEC and Aspire Technology will provide tremendous benefits to our customers, both legacy network-based and those evolving to the more Open environment, and also to the broader 5G and Open RAN marketplace, which is growing rapidly. We share a common vision of the 5G and Open RAN market, and a history of delivering complex integration projects with some of the largest carriers in the world. Together, we create a compelling and comprehensive 5G solutions portfolio."

 

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ADVA intros high-performance optical cesium clock

ADVA introduced an industry first optical cesium atomic clock that delivers a major leap in the accuracy and stability of network timing while providing a substantially longer lifetime.

The ADVA coreSync OSA 3300-HP leverages optical-pumping techniques using laser diodes. This enables it to measure 100 times the number of atoms, making it radically more efficient compared to existing primary reference clock (PRC) technologies. Its product lifespan is 100% longer than competing high-performance magnetic cesium clocks; the OSA 3300-HP delivers optimum stability for over 10 years. What’s more, further to the launch of the OSA 3300-HP, ADVA is also announcing a dual-purpose enhancement of its OSA 3350 ePRC+. Now, as well as providing phase holdover as part of ePRTC systems, it can be utilized as a free-running frequency source with enhanced standard performance.

“What we’ve accomplished with our optical cesium atomic clock solutions is more than incremental innovation. Industrializing optical pumping techniques was widely considered to be impossible. But that’s what our team has achieved. Now, we’re taking precision timing to the next level, empowering networks with nanosecond accuracy and phenomenal stability,” commented Patrick Berthoud, time and frequency chief scientist at Oscilloquartz, ADVA. “As well as meeting new sync requirements, our OSA 3300-HP will help simplify operations with its easy-to-use GUI for intuitive configuration and operation. These devices will support advances in a host of different technology fields. Able to meet the most demanding applications in data centers, financial networks, smart grids, transportation, metrology, scientific research and more, they will also be a foundation for future innovation as we continue to expand the boundaries of possibility for accuracy and stability.”

“The launch of our coreSync OSA 3300-HP marks a key milestone in the design of atomic frequency and phase standards. After many years of extensive work in our Swiss laboratories supported by the European Space Agency, we now have a mature, state-of-the-art technology that enables a major leap in the accuracy and stability of network timing while providing a substantially longer lifetime,” said Gil Biran, GM of Oscilloquartz, ADVA. ”From 5G mobile services to mission-critical defense applications, our OSA 3300-HP will be a truly disruptive enhancement of our aPNT+™ technology. And what makes its arrival so significant is that it comes at a moment when existing synchronization solutions in fixed, wireless and cable networks are being stretched to the limit, while the threat of GNSS cyberattacks also continues to grow. Across a wide range of industries, our high-performance cesium atomic clock will meet new timing demands, create new value and open up new possibilities for PNT assurance in critical infrastructure.”

https://www.slideshare.net/ADVAOpticalNetworking/introducing-the-markets-first-high-performance-optical-cesium-clock

https://www.oscilloquartz.com

Japan's TOYO Corp to harness ADVA’s optical cesium atomic clock

Tuesday, April 12, 2022  ADVA  

TOYO Corporation has deployed ADVA's Oscilloquartz optical cesium atomic clock solution to enable R&D institutions to achieve new levels of accuracy in network synchronization. ADVA’s optical cesium atomic clock leverages advanced optical-pumping techniques. This enables the device to optimize both time delivery performance and product lifetime. ADVA says that by utilizing cesium atoms in a much more efficient way than legacy magnetic...

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FCC authorizes Ku-band service in motion for SpaceX and Kepler

The FCC issued blanket authorizations to SpaceX to operate consumer and enterprise Ku-band Earth Stations in Motion (ESIM) and to Kepler Communications to operate unlimited Ku-band Earth Stations on Vessels (ESVs) in the territorial waters of the United States and aboard US-registered vessels throughout international waters worldwide.

Both SpaceX and Kepler propose to use the 14.0-14.5 GHz band to transmit (Earth-to-space), and the 10.7-12.7 GHz band, including 12.2-12.7 GHz (generally known as the 12 GHz band), to receive (space-to-Earth). 

The grants are subject to a number of conditions, some of which are related to the ongoing 12 GHz rulemaking proceeding.

https://www.fcc.gov

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Dell'Oro: SASE’s Security Services Edge Market heats up

The Security Services Edge (SSE) market grew 40 percent year-over-year (Y/Y) and was over $800 M in 1Q 2022, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group. SSE is a new market that combines cloud-delivered Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Zero Trust Network Architecture (ZTNA), and Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS) technologies.

“We have identified SSE as an initial basket of four cloud-delivered security technologies that underpin security in SASE,” said Mauricio Sanchez, Research Director, Network Security, and SASE & SD-WAN at Dell’Oro Group. “In the age of distributed apps and hybrid work, enterprises increasingly prefer cloud-delivered security over traditional on-premises solutions,” added Sanchez.

Additional highlights from the inaugural 1Q 2022 SASE & SD-WAN Quarterly Report:

• Revenue associated with FWaaS and ZTNA cumulatively grew over 100 percent Y/Y.
• Revenue associated with SWG and CASB cumulatively grew nearly 30 percent Y/Y.
• Total SASE networking and security revenue approached $1.5 B and experienced over 30 percent Y/Y growth.
• SD-WAN revenue grew more than 20 percent Y/Y even as supply chain headwinds persist.
• Unified SASE–a subset of the total SASE market consisting of solutions that implement SASE networking and security as an integrated platform–achieved triple-digit Y/Y revenue growth.
• The SASE market has over 35 vendors, with the top 11 representing 80 percent of the market by revenue.

https://www.delloro.com/news/sases-security-services-edge-market-heats-up-40-percent-in-1q-2022/

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DISH Wireless employs Nokia 5G Standalone Core on AWS

Nokia confirmed that DISH Wireless is the Nokia 5G Standalone Core on Amazon Web Services (AWS) public cloud.

Nokia said its cloud-native software allows DISH to cost effectively manage its network and offer new enterprise and consumer 5G use cases in areas like Industry 4.0 and mission critical services quickly and securely, while fully adhering to Service Level Agreements.

Raghav Sahgal, President of Cloud and Network Services at Nokia, said: “This is a tremendous milestone after years of planning and perseverance, and we are pleased that Nokia’s leading 5G Core offering is serving as a backbone for delivering 5G services to DISH customers in the U.S.”

Nokia also notes that over 60 CSP customers around the world, including around 30 CSPs in Europe have committed to its 5G SA Core. In addition, 25 of the top 40 communication service providers globally by revenue rely on Nokia Core network products.

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2022/06/30/nokia-supports-dish-wireless-launch-of-worlds-first-telco-network-using-5g-standalone-core-on-aws-public-cloud/

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LightRiver appoints Scotty Benda as Chief Product Officer

LightRiver, an optical network integration solution provider, appointed Scotty Benda as Chief Product Officer. 

Benda previously has held senior systems, software and services leadership positions at Nortel, Lucent, ONI and Ciena where he successfully led innovative growth efforts and drove improvements in product, process and delivery performance within those companies.

“The shift to open optical networks represents an unprecedented opportunity for LightRiver with our comprehensive ‘design, deploy and automate’ approach to multivendor network solutions,” states Mike Jonas, President of Global Customer Operations for LightRiver. “I’m thrilled to welcome Scotty to our leadership team as we scale our platform, enhance our value proposition and accelerate toward the next phase of growth.”

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