Southern Cross NEXT cable enters service

The Southern Cross NEXT system, which boasts 72 Tbps of capacity between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, is now live. 

The Southern Cross NEXT system includes 12 cable stations and eight major datacenter hubs in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. The Southern Cross network spans six countries and eight time zones, connected by over 45,000 km (28,000 mile) of cable – greater than the Earth’s circumference.

The installation of the submarine cable system was performed by Alcatel Submarine Networks, who additionally designed and manufactured the cable, repeaters, and branching units. 

Pioneer Consulting oversaw and handled the dynamic elements of the project, including market and business case analysis, procurement and contracting, project implementation, quality assurance, and shipboard representation, ensuring the successful commissioning of the subsea system between each cable station.

Ciena to supply its GeoMesh Extreme for Southern Cross NEXT

Monday, February 08, 2021  Ciena, Subsea  

Southern Cross Cable Limited selected Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme submarine solution for its upcoming NEXT submarine cable across the Pacific.The NEXT system will leverage Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 Extreme to seamlessly mesh the new system into the current Southern Cross network fabric while supporting higher connectivity services and a fully integrated eco-system. “Today’s work from home mandates and the sudden dramatic influx of remote digital requirements...

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ONF releases VOLTHA v2.10 for fiber-to-the-building

ONF released VOLTHA v2.10 along with an updated ONOS release (v2.5.6). 

VOLTHA and ONOS are already deployed in production networks at Deutsche Telekom, Türk Telekom, and several other operators, as well as in trials at additional operators such as Telecom Italia. 

VOLTHA v2.10 focused on supporting Fiber to the Building (FTTB) workflow with management, ANCP and subscriber rules installation. Emphasis was also placed on scale, software upgrade, and COMBO PON. The collaboration with the Broadband Forum (BBF) yielded contributions to the BBF models to properly integrate VOLTHA with the BAA framework along with a first implementation of a combined solution. 

Additionally, a new white box OLT was certified for v2.10, the Zyxel SDA3016SS Combo OLT. A complete list of hardware certified under ONF's Continuous Certification Program is as follows: 

• Edgecore ASGVolt64 GPON OLT
• Edgecore ASXVolt16 XGSPON OLT
• Radisys 3200G GPON OLT
• Radisys 1600G GPON OLT
• Radisys 1600X GPON OLT
• ADTRAN 6320 Combo OLT
• Zyxel SDA3016SS Combo OLT
• Sercomm FG1000 GPON ONU
• Sercomm Glasfaser GPON ONU (based on FG1000)
• Edgecore 6712-32X Switch
• Edgecore 7712-32X Switch

https://opennetworking.org

Intel acquires the Open Networking Foundation's team

Monday, April 11, 2022  Intel, ONF, Silicon  

The Open Networking Foundation (ONF), which was established in 2011 with a mission of transforming networking by championing software-defined networking (SDN), disaggregation and open source, has released all of its projects to open source with permissive software licenses as it transitions away from code development by an internal team. To this end, ONF has open sourced the entirety of its portfolio of production-ready platforms, including solutions...

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POET samples 200G FR4 optical engines

POET Technologies has begun sampling its 200G FR4 Transmit (TX) and Receive (RX) Optical Engines through Super Photonics, its joint venture with Sanan IC. Commercial production is expected by the end of the year.

The Optical Engines are based on the POET Optical Interposer packaging platform. The 200G FR4 Transmit Optical Engine integrates four high-speed directly modulated lasers (DMLs) each operating at 50 Gbps with a low-loss AWG (Arrayed Waveguide Grating)-based multiplexer that is monolithically integrated on the Optical Interposer. Monitor photodiodes are built into the Optical Engine for active power monitoring.

The 200G FR4 Receive Optical Engine integrates four high-speed photodetectors each operating at 50 Gbps with a low-loss AWG (Arrayed Waveguide Grating)-based demultiplexer that is monolithically integrated on the Optical Interposer. A single mode optical fiber with LC connector is attached to the TX and RX Optical Engines for seamless integration in a 200GBASE-FR4 transceiver module.

Key features:

• Supports 200GBASE-FR4 (4x50Gbps) PAM-4 transmission
• Uncooled DFB lasers (CWDM wavelengths) and PIN photodetectors
• A low-loss AWG (Arrayed Waveguide Grating)-based quad-wavelength multiplexer and demultiplexer that are temperature independent and monolithically integrated into the optical waveguide layer of the Optical Interposer
• A small size form factor, which enables an 200GBASE-FR4 and 2x200GBASE-FR4 in a QSFP56 optical transceiver module
• LC connectorized single mode fiber attached to the engines

“We see significant customer interest in 200GBASE-FR4 transceivers and are excited to start sampling our Optical Engines for this application,” said Raju Kankipati, VP of Product Line Management (PLM) at POET Technologies. “Our highly integrated Optical Engines will enable customers to offer cost effective and scalable 200GBASE-FR4 and 2x200GBASE-FR4 transceivers to cloud data center end customers. We, through our joint venture, Super Photonics, have started sampling multiple lead customers, who we expect to work closely with through their transceiver design completion phase.”

http://www.poet-technologies.com

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AT&T expands FirstNet in Navajo Nation

AT&T announced an expansion of the FirstNet network in the Navajo Nation and a collaboration with Commnet Broadband, NTUA, NTUA Wireless, and the Navajo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Commission. The rollout includes additional Band 14 spectrum and AT&T commercial LTE spectrum bands across more than 100 sites across Navajo Nation’s 27,000 square miles.

“The expansion of FirstNet coverage equips Tribal first responders serving the Navajo Nation with secure and dedicated connectivity when they need it – both in their daily operations and when emergencies arise. Navajo Nation emergency personnel have harnessed FirstNet during their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as supporting their communication during planned events ranging from the Navajo Nation Fair to First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s visit last spring. The collaboration with small and rural telecom providers, including Commnet Wireless, has helped us further extend the reach of FirstNet in rural and tribal communities," states Angel Benally, Tribal Affairs Specialist, FirstNet Program at AT&T.

https://about.att.com/story/2022/firstnet-navajo-nation.html

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Portugal's REN upgrades optical backbone with Nokia

Redes Energeticas Nacionais (REN), the Portuguese Transmission System Operator (TSO), renewed its optical transport network using  Nokia packet DWDM/OTN technology. The contract covers DWDM/OTN switches, coherent line cards, operational software, and professional services.

REN’s optical transport layer connects more than 25 gas and electrical substations with 1,600 km of optical fiber around the entire country. Nokia’s DWDM/OTN solution supports network slicing to guarantee capacity and latency for operational communications services up to 100 Gigabit Ethernet speeds. The deal follows the successful 2018 implementation of the Nokia DWDM/OTN technology for datacentre interconnection.

Luis Bueno, Nokia head of Enterprise for Spain and Portugal, said: “Following the success of the 2018 project to connect REN’s datacentres, we are proud to build on their relationship and rollout this country-wide deployment with the support of our local partner Axians Portugal.”

Inês Lucas, IT Director, REN, said: “We have partened with Nokia and Axians to upgrade REN´s optical transmission network and provide maintenance support during its full lifecycle. It was a two year project and we were able to meet successfully our requirements and initial plan throughout a very constrained period with all the pandemic logostic and human restrictions.”

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2022/07/06/nokia-supports-ren-in-building-a-state-of-the-art-mission-critical-transmission-network-with-dwdmotn-technology/

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ADVA announces changes to its management board

ADVA Optical Networking announced that Brian Protiva is to step down as CEO. After a transition period of several weeks, Protiva will assume the role of vice chairman of Acorn HoldCo, Inc. (the holding company of Adtran and ADVA). During Protiva’s 25-year tenure as chief executive officer, he successfully steered the company from a small start-up to an industry leader in metro WDM and Ethernet access devices. 

Christoph Glingener will be appointed ADVA’s new CEO and will also continue as the company’s CTO. ADVA said Glingener will continue to support ADVA’s business combination with Adtran while maintaining his current work as CTO. 

“Working side-by-side with Brian for eight years, I was privileged to see one of the industry‘s true leaders develop a world-class company. During his 25 years as ADVA’s CEO, Brian helped define a whole new landscape of innovation and possibilities,” said Nikos Theodosopoulos, chairman of ADVA’s supervisory board. “From broadband connectivity to mobile communications to data security, Brian played an integral role in building the infrastructure that forms many of today’s foundational building blocks. And this commitment to the industry isn’t going to end here. As a board member of Adtran, he will continue to help steer the industry and drive a new wave of opportunities.”

https://www.adva.com/en/newsroom

ADTRAN + ADVA merger targets fiber broadband opportunities

Monday, August 30, 2021  ADTRAN, ADVA  

ADTRAN and ADVA announced a merger focused on end-to-end fiber networking solutions for communications service provider, enterprise and government customers. The deal combines ADTRAN’s market presence in fiber access, fiber extension and subscriber connectivity solutions with ADVA’s position in metro wavelength division multiplexing, data center interconnect, business ethernet and network synchronization solutions. The new company, which will...

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Swimlane raises $70 million for security automation

Swimlane, a start-up based near Boulder, Colorado, announced $70 million in new funding for its low-code security automation solutions.

Swimlane unifies security operations in-and-beyond the SOC into a single system of record that helps overcome process and data fatigue, chronic staffing shortages, and quantifying business value. The Swimlane Turbine platform combines human and machine data into actionable intelligence for security leaders.

The recent funding round led by Activate Capital and joined by existing investors Energy Impact Partners (EIP) and 3Lines Venture Capital .

“We are very proud of the global traction and results we have achieved,” said James Brear, CEO of Swimlane. “Besides our hyper revenue growth, we have achieved over 120% of net retention and product expansion. Our cloud product has seen a 5X increase in adoption over 2021 and our growth over the last four years is over 700%. This is a testament to our customer-first mindset and meeting all the use case requirements our customers demand.”

http://www.swimlane.com

Reinventing networking for multi-cloud, multi-region connectivity

Sunday, June 12, 2022  Alkira, Cloud, ONUG, Start-Ups, Video  

https://youtu.be/kX3L9hQ-ceUAlkira's Amir Khan and Ahmed Datoo discuss the need for better enterprise networking solutions in the era of distributed applications residing in multiple clouds and regions.Four areas of challenge: (1) Geographic expansion of the network footprint (2) Connecting applications to the cloud (3) for customers already in the cloud, there is the challenge of expanding into multiple regions in the same cloud (4) for customer...

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Hyper Automation of Enterprise Networks

Saturday, June 11, 2022  Automation, Gluware, ONUG, Video  

https://youtu.be/VtN0YiGuIcoEnterprises really must ask themselves whether they are up for the challenge of automating workloads across their hybrid cloud environments, or whether a purpose-built automation framework could more easily optimize their operations. Jeff Gray, Co-founder and CEO of Gluware, says that for most companies it makes more sense to bring in a vendor capable of abstracting all of the disparate platforms into a cohesive layer...

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Video: Simplifying Connectivity at Cloud Scale - Prosimo

Thursday, May 26, 2022  ONUG, Prosimo, Video  

https://youtu.be/oT6fNlB1Kj4Enterprises, including major financial institutions, have been struggling to provide connectivity at cloud scale for all of their application workloads, says Faraz Siddiqui, Head of Solutions Architecture, Prosimo.Filmed at ONUG Spring 2022.https://prosimo.ioWho is Prosimo? CTO presentationTuesday, April 06, 2021  Prosimo, SD-WAN, Start-Ups  https://youtu.be/58YMebmBJwMProsimo, a start-up...

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