Ciena unveils 1.6 Tbps WaveLogic 6 coherent optics

Ciena introduced its latest generation, WaveLogic 6 coherent optics, supporting up to 1.6Tb/s single-carrier wavelengths for metro ROADM deployments, 800Gb/s over the longest links, and energy-efficient 800G pluggables across 1000km distances. Ciena expects to begin shipping WaveLogic 6 in the first half of 2024. 

Highlights

• WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e), Ciena’s performance-optimized solution, integrates new coherent DSP innovations to provide the highest capacity over fiber, supporting 1.6Tb/s single-carrier wavelengths for metro ROADM networks, 800Gb/s across the longest links, and 15% improvement in spectral efficiency compared to the previous generation. WL6e will also deliver significant economic benefits, including a 50% reduction in space and power per bit compared to Ciena’s industry-leading 800G technology today. The first coherent optical solution operating at 200GBaud, WL6e will maximize coverage of 800Gb/s connectivity across networks.
• WaveLogic 6 Nano (WL6n), Ciena’s footprint-optimized solution, powers 400G-800G coherent pluggables to drive cost, power, and space efficiencies in 400G long-haul and 800G metro/regional applications, as well as interoperable 800ZR DCI applications. With Ciena’s unique engineering innovations, WL6n can also deliver a fit-for-purpose 800LR design, bringing coherent technology inside the data center campus for the first time.
• WL6 will be supported across a range of Ciena’s optical and routing and switching platforms. 
• WL6 will also be made available for use in third-party solutions.

“The last few years have irreversibly changed our expectations of networks, showing the critical importance of enabling greater connectivity to help fuel our digital lifestyles. At the same time, we all need to do more to help the environment. As the pioneer in coherent optical technology, and the first to bring coherent 40G, 100G, 400G and 800G to the industry, we continue to set the standard in optical transport and push the limits of innovation by creating solutions that significantly reduce cost per bit, improve network performance, and drive energy efficiency,” states Scott McFeely, Senior Vice President, Global Products and Services, Ciena.

https://www.ciena.com/about/newsroom/press-releases/ciena-unveils-wavelogic-6

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Amazon launches AWS Telco Network Builder

Amazon introduced AWS Telco Network Builder, a fully managed network automation service that enables CSPs to deploy, run, and scale their telco networks on AWS faster and more easily. 

To start, a CSP populates their network architecture (e.g., routing requirements, location of deployment, specific NFs) as a template in the service’s console using telecom industry standard language, making it intuitive and easy to begin. AWS Telco Network Builder translates the customer’s network specifications into a cloud-based network architecture, streamlining programming requirements across multiple software vendors and accounting for the network’s geographic footprint. 

AWS Telco Network Builder automatically maps the provided topology to network services, provisions the necessary compute and storage resources, and connects the NFs to create an operational telco network. Customers can then reuse the uploaded templates to replicate that network architecture in new regions. As customers change their network configuration or run software updates, AWS Telco Network Builder handles lifecycle management for the NFs, performs updates to the NFs, and adjusts related infrastructure. 

Together, AWS Telco Network Builder and Amazon CloudWatch provide a comprehensive view of the NFs and AWS infrastructure, so customers can efficiently monitor and manage their networks to identify and remediate issues more quickly. AWS Telco Network Builder also integrates with popular third-party, end-to-end orchestrators for CSPs to maintain continuity across existing telco network operations and business systems. With AWS Telco Network Builder, customers only pay for the AWS products and services they use, so they can quickly scale their network based on business requirements.

“The telecom industry is undergoing a transformation as CSPs navigate building their telco networks in the cloud,” said Jan Hofmeyr, vice president of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). “Some of the biggest challenges CSPs face as they look to migrate include manually configuring and then managing these complex networks, which impedes growth and stifles innovation. Groundbreaking in the value it provides to the telecom industry, AWS Telco Network Builder removes the burden of translating a customer’s desired telco network into a cloud architecture, empowering them to easily modernize and quickly scale to meet demand while freeing time and capital to build new offerings, expand coverage, and refocus on invention.”

AWS Telco Network Builder is generally available today in US East (N. Virginia), US West (Oregon), Asia Pacific (Sydney), Europe (Frankfurt), and Europe (Paris), and with availability in additional AWS Regions coming soon.

AWS also announced a number of customers and partners using AWS Telco Network Builder, including: Amdocs, Cloudify, Infosys, Mavenir, and O2 Telefónica.

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-aws-telco-network-builder-deploy-and-manage-telco-networks/

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T‑Mobile and AWS to offer 5G advanced network solutions

T-Mobile and AWS agreed to pair T-Mobile's 5G Advanced Network Solutions portfolio with AWS cloud-based services and scalable, pre-integrated applications leveraging 5G edge compute.

The companies will also collaborate on customizable, use case specific offerings as part of the new Integrated Private Wireless on AWS program. These offerings help businesses get the performance and applications they need for their unique use cases – for example, monitoring worker safety on remote industrial campuses, performing predictive maintenance on manufacturing equipment, or ensuring faster aircraft turnaround times at the airport.

“T-Mobile and AWS are coming together to do what industry-leading companies do best – make things easier for customers,” said Callie Field, President, T-Mobile Business Group. “Businesses need a combination of connectivity and compute that fits into their current infrastructure. With our flexible 5G network deployment options and AWS’s cloud compute capabilities, we can quickly provide customers a right-sized solution to make their applications – new and existing – perform like never before.”

“AWS and T-Mobile share a common desire to work backwards from customer feedback to deliver innovation,” said Adolfo Hernandez, Vice President, Telco Industry at AWS. “One of the biggest challenges in galvanizing industries and revenue for 5G services has been the lack of flexible 5G solutions that meet the compute and connectivity needs for customers. Together with T-Mobile's innovative suite of 5G Advanced Network Solutions and our Integrated Private Wireless Program, we have the power to meet customers where they are."

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/t-mobile-and-amazon-web-services-join-forces-on-5g-advanced-network-solutions

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Europe’s 6GTandem project gets underway

 The 6GTandem consortium aims to co-design novel dual-frequency operation and a new highly integrated and distributed radio transceiver architecture to deliver energy-efficient services for future 6G applications, and enhance Europe's position in telecommunications. The project is funded by the European Union and Switzerland. Work was started in January 2023 and will run over the next three-and-a-half years.

Participating companies and organizations include: Technikon Forschungs, Ericsson, KU Leuven (University, Belgium), Infineon, Huber + Suhner, and Sweden's Chalmers University of Technology, Linköping University, and LUND University.

"We are excited to be part of this consortium," said Hannes Grubinger, Head of Product Management Cable Connectivity. "Our over 50+ year heritage in radio frequency, fiber optics and low frequency technologies in the communication, transportation and industrial markets has helped us gain valuable experience in connectivity solutions for infrastructure. We look forward to lending our expertise in electrical and optical connectivity to the 6GTandem project, working with other experts with the goal of bringing innovation to the next generation of mobile communication."

As published by 6GTandem, the key elements for the consortium include the development of a system defining an aligned tandem dual-frequency distributed MIMO architecture, medium-aware waveforms, transmission schemes and communication strategies, novel "radiostripe" hardware at 130GHz – 175GHz, an easily-deployable sub-THz infrastructure, and a combined low-frequency and sub-THz distributed MIMO system to support joint high-resolution sensing, high-accuracy positioning, and high-resilience and reliable communication.

https://horizon-6gtandem.eu

https://www.hubersuhner.com/en/company/media/news

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Blueprint: Brazil looks to municipal Wi-Fi 6E

 by Atul Bhatnagar, president and CEO of Cambium Networks

Given its immense size and bountiful natural resources, Brazilians have long talked about their country as the “land of the future.” One unexpected area where Brazil is indeed taking the lead over the rest of the world is in the realm of Wi-Fi connectivity.

In December, Brazil became the first country in Latin America to test outdoor Wi-Fi 6E as part of a joint project in cooperation with the Municipality of São Paulo and the Campo Belo Gastronomia Association, and the results of the test will be eagerly monitored by service providers around the world. 

With the deployment of Wi-Fi 6E in the Campo Belo neighborhood of São Paulo, users are able to take advantage of the faster speeds and lower latencies than were available through Wi-Fi 6 and earlier iterations. In fact, this deployment delivers 10X the capacity of traditional Wi-Fi.  

This is a watershed moment for the spread of advanced broadband. For Brazil and other early adopters, Wi-Fi 6E finally puts the prospect of realizing multi-Gigabit speeds with a 6 GHz fixed wireless infrastructure within reach as Wi-Fi 6E extends the capacity, efficiency, coverage, and performance benefits of advanced Wi-Fi into the 6-GHz band, which allows for internet speeds of greater than 1Gbps.

While the United States approved the 6 GHz spectrum for Wi-Fi use in 2020, a decision that allowed the development and deployment of Wi-Fi 6E devices to move forward, this marks the first real-world study of its use. The insights these tests could provide around the true efficiency and data throughput of these congestion-free connections could prove substantial for others considering the spectrum.

Many service providers in the U.S. have been testing new 6 GHz equipment under experimental licenses granted by the FCC for the purposes of technical evaluation but not for commercial deployment. The outdoor network in São Paulo will now serve as a petri dish for the country to help officials in the U.S. and abroad better understand the benefits this Wi-Fi 6 technology provides and hopefully move us one step closer to a 6 GHz reality.  

This is a particularly exciting moment when you consider the potential impact of advanced internet technology on closing the digital divide for underserved communities around the world and, in this case, the daily life in Brazil, where about 50% of homes are still not connected to broadband. More broadly speaking, these and other multi-Gigabit wireless technologies entering the market will allow providers in the US and around the world to bring fast broadband to more people than ever before.

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Mavenir and HPE collaborate on Open vRAN

Mavenir expanded its existing partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) by validating its Open vRAN DU software on the HPE ProLiant DL110 Telco server.

Mavenir’s O-RAN compliant, fully containerized Open vRAN solution works on open interfaces supporting O-RAN Split 7.2x and Split 2 configurations. It further disaggregates into a Distributed Unit (DU) and Centralized Unit (CU). These entities work as containerized network functions running on general purpose infrastructure and are designed to support multiple fronthaul splits simultaneously – making the vRAN solution an ideal choice for a future-proof strategy.

The HPE ProLiant DL110 Telco server is workload optimized for edge applications that require low power, high bandwidth and low latency such as 5G cellular processing (vRAN.) In addition, the server is open and standards-compliant, carrier grade infrastructure offering dense I/O capabilities with PCI2 Gen4 speed, acceleration and powerful compute driven by 3rd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable Processors.

“This milestone aligns with Mavenir’s mission to create network solutions built around virtualized software that can run on any cloud,” said Ramnik Kamo, EVP, CIO and CPO, Mavenir. “Adding HPE as an infrastructure partner strengthens Mavenir’s Open vRAN by expanding the technology ecosystem with a reliable, high performance hardware platform that meets the needs of the most demanding customers.”

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