HPE to acquire Axis Security, an SSE provider

Hewlett Packard Enterprise agreed to acquire Axis Security, a cloud security provider based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Axis Security’s SSE offerings enable access to corporate and public-cloud resources, and the company’s cloud-based platform will build on Aruba’s existing Software-defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) and network firewall offering. This combination will provide a complete edge-to-cloud SASE solution, ensuring that Zero Trust security controls can be applied to people and devices, no matter where they connect – on campus, branch, home, or on the road. In addition, the HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform will integrate Axis Security’s cloud-native SSE platform, offering customers one single monthly subscription with no capital expenditure. 

HPE said the deal will expand its edge-to-cloud security capabilities by offering a unified Secure Access Services Edge (SASE) solution to meet the increasing demand for integrated networking and security solutions delivered as-a-service. 

 “As we transition from a post-pandemic world, and a hybrid work environment has become the new normal, a new approach is needed for network edge security to protect critical SaaS applications,” said Phil Mottram, executive vice president and general manager, HPE Aruba Networking. “The convergence of Aruba and Axis Security solutions will transform edge-to-cloud connectivity with a comprehensive SASE solution that provides enterprises with the highest levels of security for both IoT devices and all users’ access across geographically distributed locations. Today, we also accelerate our vision to help our customers expand their secure connectivity needs with SASE and private 5G solutions, building on our recently announced agreement to acquire private cellular technology provider, Athonet.”

“We developed Axis Security to enable a world where connectivity to every business resource, from anywhere, could always be simple, safe and reliable,” said Dor Knafo, CEO of Axis Security. “Our SSE platform is a natural complement to Aruba’s SD-WAN, network firewall, and dynamic segmentation offerings. Together, we create a unified SASE platform, designed to extend connectivity to edge, and do so through a combination of modern access services – all working together in harmony.”

 https://www.hpe.com

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Infinera unveils coherent optical subsystems and coherent pluggable engines

Infinera unveiled a new portfolio of coherent optical subsystems and coherent pluggable optical engines, including a line of high-performance transmit-receive optical sub-assemblies (TROSAs), innovative programmable digital signal processors (DSPs), and a line of high-performance, intelligent pluggable optical transceivers.

Building Block Components

Advanced coherent TROSAs – leveraging Infinera’s U.S.-based, in-house indium phosphide (InP) fab, the new line of TROSAs is based on unique monolithically integrated photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Infinera’s TROSAs reduce loss between components, provide increased control over optical functions, and enable greater flexibility in component design. The resulting solution produces industry-leading size, power efficiency, flexibility, and optical performance, with 0 dBm output power levels to support a greater number of network applications. The initial set of products includes three TROSAs: ICTR32, ICTR64, and ICTR140, with nominal baud rates of 32 Gbaud, 64 Gbaud, and 140 Gbaud respectively.

Intelligent programmable coherent DSPs – designed with innovative features, generational interoperability, and leading performance, Infinera’s line of DSPs provides a robust set of capabilities and flexibility to bring unique value to networking solutions. As part of Infinera’s advanced coherent subsystem offerings, the new line of high-performance DSPs includes the Wa’a 100™, Wa’a 400™, and Tahoe 800, supporting a range of point-to-point and point-to-multipoint applications.

Pluggable Coherent Optical Engines

Built off Infinera’s vertically integrated subsystem building blocks, Infinera’s line of ICE-X coherent pluggable solutions is designed to support a diverse set of network applications, including point-to-point and point-to-multipoint applications in DCI, access, metro, and regional networks. In addition to record-setting performance, Infinera’s ICE-X line of pluggables supports a unique level of intelligence, automation, and programmability to enable network operators to deploy coherent solutions more effectively in routers, switches, and servers without compromising on performance, visibility, or network resiliency. Additionally, with support for 100 Gb/s+ single-fiber bidirectional configurations and PON overlays, ICE-X can unleash the potential of existing fiber assets, enabling new revenue-generating high-speed services. Included in the line of ICE-X pluggables are 100G XR, 400G XR, 400G ZR+, and 800G ZR/ZR+ modules.

“There is significant growth in demand for increased capacity and capabilities of coherent technology, both in the core and closer to the network edge, driving the need for new innovations in coherent solutions optimized for these types of traffic patterns and deployment scenarios,” said Tom Burns, General Manager of Optical Modules & Coherent Solutions Group at Infinera. “Our portfolio of programmable TROSAs, coherent DSPs, and ICE-X pluggables provides network operators with connectivity solutions that are compact, efficient, programmable, and streamlined in operations without sacrificing network integrity, visibility, or reliability.”

Infinera confirmed availability of ICE-X 100G and 400G-based subsystems and pluggables, with the 800G-based solutions beginning to become available in 1H 2024.

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Infinera previews 1.2 Tb/s ICE7 and expands GX platform

Infinera previewed its next generation GX Series Compact Modular Platform, which will feature a new 1.2 Tb/s optical engine ICE7 and a multi-haul optical line system.  The next gen GX will support multiple generations of high-speed transponders, and a variety of traffic grooming sleds on a single platform combined with native open APIs and streaming telemetry capabilities.

The 1.2 Tb/s ICE7 optical engine leverages Infinera’s vertically integrated ICTR140 TROSA and a custom-designed digital signal processor (DSP) optimized for high-baud rate transmission. Supported in existing GX platforms with availability beginning in 1H24, Infinera’s ICE7 optical engine provides the following benefits:

• Drive down cost, space, and power per bit – reduces cost per bit by up to 30% and power/space per bit by up to 60% with the industry’s highest-performing optical engine, supporting symbol rates of up to 148 Gbaud.
• Deliver 800G nearly everywhere – enables 800G-based transmission up to 3,000 km, more than three times the reach of currently available technology and covering more than 85% of network links.
• Deploy over almost any network – supports a broad range of programmable options and open APIs, enabling effective operation over virtually any existing optical line system.

Also introduced today are evolutions to the GX platform’s optical line system capabilities integrating a broader set of open multi-haul line system functionality. These capabilities include:

• Super C- and Super L-band support driving single-fiber useable spectrum to 12 THz, resulting in 25% more capacity per fiber than C+L-band implementations. In conjunction with Infinera’s ICE7 1.2 Tb/s optical engine, the GX multi-haul optical line system provides nearly 100 Tb/s on a single fiber pair.
• Multi-haul link control breaks down the barriers between metro, regional, long-haul, and subsea networks, enabling seamless end-to-end network operation.
• Support for FOADM up to 32-degree ROADM functionality with integrated Raman amplification.
• Multiple scalable add/drop options, from fixed to colorless-directionless-contentionless.

I“Infinera continues to be at the forefront of the industry’s most innovative optical networking solutions. Infinera’s ICE7 and the pioneering innovations of the GX Series will continue to provide network operators with flexible, scalable solutions that seamlessly integrate with their existing networks in a cost-effective way while providing them with the benefits of industry-leading technology,” said Ron Johnson, General Manager, Optical Systems & Network Solutions Group at Infinera. 

https://www.infinera.com/press-release/infinera-launches-ice7-optical-engine-and-expansion-of-gx-compact-modular-platform

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Ayar Labs demos 4-Tbps optical interconnect

Ayar Labs will demonstrate the first 4 terabit-per-second (Tbps) bidirecti onal Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) optical solution at the upcoming Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) in San Diego on March 5-9, 2023. 

At OFC, Ayar Labs will show its optical I/O solution moving data from one TeraPHY optical I/O chiplet to another at 2.048 Tbps each direction powered by their SuperNova light source. SuperNova powers 8 fiber links (using 64 highly accurate wavelengths operating at 32 Gbps, for 8 wavelengths and 256 Gbps per individual fiber) running error free at lower than 10ns of latency and without needing Forward Error Correction (FEC). This allows for a total bandwidth of 2.048 Tbps each direction, or 4.096 Tbps bidirectional. More importantly, the data transfer is using less than 5 pJ/bit (10W), a high level of energy efficiency, providing the power density and performance per watt needed to achieve AI models with trillions of parameters, advanced HPC designs and more.

Ayar Labs is using working with high-volume manufacturing and supply partners including GlobalFoundries, Lumentum, Macom, Sivers Photonics and others to deliver the optical interconnects needed for data-intensive applications. 

“In-package optical I/O solutions have the potential to transform how semiconductor, AI, HPC and aerospace customers process their next-generation, data-intensive workloads,” said Craig Thompson, vice president of Business Development for Networking at NVIDIA. “NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platform is enabled by advanced technologies such as WDM optical interconnects to equip tomorrow’s innovators with the extreme performance they need.”

“Ayar Labs continues to showcase our technology leadership with this live silicon demonstration, an industry-first milestone on the path to overcoming the impending power and performance wall of electrical design, and unleashing the power of next generation compute,” said Charlie Wuischpard, CEO, Ayar Labs. “As we bring together all the supply, manufacturing, test and compute pieces needed for high-volume deployment, we also show today that we continue to lead in pure technical achievement.”

http://www.ayarlabs.com

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Orange shows experimental end-to-end 5G SA platform

At #MWC23, Orange disclosed details on its end-to-end cloud-native 5G SA experimental multi-cloud network, named Pikeo. 

This experimental network runs over two locations in France to date and is currently used by internal employees. The trial will be extended soon to a third site in Spain for internal use.

The Pikeo 5G SA network is multi-cloud and is deployed:

• either on an on-premises Orange Telco Cloud infrastructure, operated by Orange, and leveraging the SUSE/Rancher opensource Kubernetes distribution. This implementation was instrumental to the contribution to the first beta release of Sylva (the Linux Foundation's telco cloud solution).
• on AWS or using a hybrid architecture with AWS: the core network is deployed in an AWS Region completely or with an optional local AWS Outpost close to customer locations (in this instance, Orange locations) for user traffic control. The second option allows enterprise customers to benefit from low latency or security and local requirements.

Orange believes its software and data based telco vision will transform its activities, shaping how it builds, deploys, and operates its future networks. 

The experiment also developed Orange’s know-how in integrating technologies from various partners such as Dell Technologies, AWS, Casa Systems and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, as well as Amdocs, Arista, Mavenir and Xiaomi and clarified what this means in terms of skills and transformation.

Leveraging automation and artificial intelligence, Orange’s experimental network demonstrated that:

• the 5G network (core and RAN) can be automatically redeployed in less than one hour, rather than days or weeks, as it does on a legacy network, thanks to the implementation of a DevSecOps pipeline.
• automated anomaly detection for mobile networks is much faster.  Operational teams have access via a dashboard to automated explainable anomaly detection leveraging artificial intelligence to reduce the Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) an anomaly and to help them identify its root cause by correlating RAN, core and infrastructure metrics.
• energy consumption can be optimised by automatically switching off the 5G private network of a company or facility in the evening and switching on in the morning, which can be particularly relevant for some companies.
• dynamic end-to-end slice management for critical communication services was modelled and successfully demonstrated on the 5G SA core network with isolation, using security and traffic prioritization principles.
• a zero-trust security model was successfully implemented with identity and access management leveraging Orange Connect authentication, automated vulnerability detection and integration with SIEM (Security Incidents & Event management).

Orange also highlighted its work with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to demonstrate the feasibility to run network functions over a public cloud. This marks a key point in the maturity of how Orange and hyperscalers can work together to deliver compelling solutions to enterprise customers, insisting on two key elements: a Zero Trust security model using Orange identities and Amazon IAM (Identity and Access Management); optimizing energy efficiency with an on-demand use of AWS resources cloud infrastructure. The trial is extended in 2023 to further investigate the potential of automation through AI, as well as to evaluate vertical use cases.

Laurent Leboucher, Orange Group CTO and SVP Orange Innovation Networks, says: “We are proud to showcase the benefits of a fully automated cloud native multi-cloud 5G SA network at this year’s Mobile World Congress. The experience gained from the Pikeo project and the expertise of Orange teams will be leveraged in the new Mobile Private Network cloud experimental offer launched by Orange Business. As Orange seeks to fulfil its ambition to become the telecom reference for resilient, green, software and data-based networks, the results of this trial to date mark a major milestone in achieving this.”

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T-Mobile details 4X carrier aggregation performance > 3 Gbps

T-Mobile US has aggregated four channels of mid-band spectrum on its 5G standalone (5G SA) network with the Samsung Galaxy S23, working with Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Samsung. The carrier reports speeds above 3.3 Gbps.

T-Mobile US also expanded VoNR to four new cities: Cincinnati, OH; New Orleans, LA; New York, NY; and Seattle, WA.

“We are working with industry leaders around the globe to move the 5G ecosystem forward for the benefit of wireless customers everywhere,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “With the most advanced 5G network in the world, T-Mobile is at the forefront of wireless innovation, spearheading new capabilities so we can continue raising the performance bar and enable future transformative applications that require a seamless and robust 5G connection.”

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/4g-lte-5g-networks

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ColorChip announces Chip-on-Board AEC for 800G and 1.6Tbps

ColorChip introduced chip-on-board technology for active electrical cables, enabling high density 1.6T OSFP-XD with significant improvements in both performance and cost. 

This innovation addresses the challenges of density, reach, power consumption and higher bandwidth required for the new OSFP-XD form factor and can also be leveraged to produce best-in-class solutions for 800G AEC applications.

ColorChip said that by removing the lossy and bulky package of the Re-timer, DSP or Re-driver, it achieves a longer reach, better cost, better thermal management and higher density for active copper cable solutions.  Collaborating with Maxlinear, this is the first time in the industry that an active cable has been developed with a bare die.

 "Partnering with ColorChip, we are bringing our companies' advanced technologies and capabilities together to provide our joint customers with industry leading solutions for AEC applications", said Drew Guckenberger, Vice President of High-Speed Interconnect BU at MaxLinear.

"MaxLinear's Keystone 5nm KGD bare die solutions for AEC applications enable the high density, long reach and best-in-class power consumption required to meet our customers' key requirements for 800G and 1.6T AEC applications," said Xin Wu, EVP at ColorChip.

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Telefónica validates network APIs with AWS

Telefónica validated the integration of their network application programming interfaces (APIs) with the Pilot AWS Wavelength Zone in a Telefónica Edge location in Madrid in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

This provides developers the ability to combine AWS edge services with quality on demand (QoD) specialized services from Telefónica. Telefónica is launching an Early Adopter Program to empower the developer community to carry out a first integration and validation of services based on network APIs. 

Telefónica and AWS worked with Cinfo, a Spanish startup that enables live production and streaming of events, to test network QoD with AWS Wavelength. Cinfo’s TiiVii solution, a cloud-based automated video production service powered by artificial intelligence, is highly sensitive to connectivity quality parameters such as latency and jitter, as it needs to send more than 50 commands per second to each camera in a venue and must make automated decisions in milliseconds such as moving and panning of the camera. 

In the Pilot, an AWS Wavelength Zone together with Telefónica’s 5G enhanced connectivity enabled Cinfo to provide its Tiivii service to the Madrid Volleyball Federation event. The cameras at the event streamed a live video over Telefónica’s 5G network with the configured enhanced connectivity to the Pilot AWS Wavelength Zone, reducing the deployment time of the application to minutes. The output stream of the Tiivii service, as compared to regular deployment, provided a superior viewing experience on live streaming by reducing the frozen frames and allowing viewers to seamlessly follow the play by enabling Cinfo’s artificial intelligent control commands to cameras on time as required. This test solution reduced latency by ~20 milliseconds and jitter by ~90% during cell congestion, which is critical for a consistent user experience.

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