Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Cadence previews Janus Network-on-Chip interconnect tool

Cadence Design Systems introduced its Janus Network-on-Chip (NoC) technology for managing data delivery between silicon components in complex SoCs and disaggregated multi-chip systems. The Cadence Janus NoC manages these simultaneous high-speed communications efficiently with minimal latency, enabling customers to achieve their PPA targets faster and with lower risk.

The Cadence Janus NoC leverages Cadence's trusted Tensilica RTL generation tools and extensive software and hardware portfolio for simulation, emulation, and performance analysis. This flow enables architectural exploration, resulting in the best NoC design for product needs.

The Cadence Janus NoC addresses the routing congestion and timing issues common in complex SoC interconnects, often only apparent during physical implementation. As a first-generation NoC, it provides a platform for future innovations, including support for industry-standard memory and I/O coherence protocols.

Highlights

  • Easy to use: Cadence’s GUI enables easy NoC configuration ranging from small subsystems to full SoCs and future multi-chip systems.
  • Accelerated time to market: PPA-optimized RTL enables SoC designers to achieve their bandwidth and latency goals. Packetized messages enable higher utilization of wires, reducing wire count and timing closure challenges.
  • Lower risk: The NoC’s built-in power management, clock domain crossing and width matching reduce design complexity.
  • Quick turnaround: Cadence’s extensive simulation and emulation capabilities enable early architectural exploration, allowing quick validation of PPA results to ensure the configuration meets design requirements.
  • Scalable architecture: Customers can design a subsystem and reuse it in a full SoC context of the NoC, allowing future reuse in a multi-chip system.
  • Flexible: The NoC is compatible with any IP with an industry-standard interface, including AXI4 and AHB.

“Cadence is an established leader in IP and design quality, and we continue to invest in our foundational interface and processor IP, system IP, software and design services capabilities to enable our customers to develop differentiated and disaggregated designs,” said Boyd Phelps, senior vice president and general manager of the Silicon Solutions Group at Cadence. “The addition of the Cadence Janus NoC to our growing system IP portfolio is a key milestone in this strategy. Our evolution from an IP provider to an SoC design partner delivers greater value to our customers, empowering them to focus valuable engineering resources on differentiating their silicon.”


undefined

Telefónica and Nokia collaborate on 5G Standalone Network APIs

Telefónica and Nokia have announced an agreement to explore new opportunities for 5G Standalone (SA) network APIs, aimed at supporting developers in creating innovative use cases for consumer, enterprise, and industrial customers. As part of this collaboration, Telefónica will utilize Nokia's NEF (Network Exposure Function) solution to provide developers with access to its 5G network capabilities.

Nokia's NEF solution, based on 3GPP specifications, enables developers to interface with well-defined functions in the core network, combining multiple APIs from different core functions into a new customized API. This simplified approach allows developers to create new applications that leverage the operator's 5G network capabilities, such as precise device location, enhanced notifications, and edge discovery.

The collaboration also leverages Nokia's Network as Code platform, a unified ecosystem that connects networks, systems integrators, and software developers. This platform allows developers to easily integrate advanced 5G capabilities into their applications, without requiring in-depth knowledge of underlying network technologies. Since its launch in September 2023, Nokia has signed collaboration agreements with 14 network operators and ecosystem partners worldwide.

Highlights

  • Telefónica and Nokia are exploring the use of 5G Standalone (SA) network APIs to support developers in creating new use cases.
  • Nokia's NEF solution enables developers to access Telefónica's 5G network capabilities, such as precise device location and enhanced notifications.
  • The collaboration leverages Nokia's Network as Code platform, which provides a unified ecosystem for developers to integrate advanced 5G capabilities into their applications.
  • Nokia has signed agreements with 14 network operators and ecosystem partners worldwide since the launch of its Network as Code platform in September 2023.

Cayetano Carbajo Martin, Core & Transport Director, Global CTIO at Telefónica said: “We are pleased to take this step with Nokia in recognition of the tremendous opportunity we have to further empower developers with the tools they require to deliver new use cases and experiences for their customers and beyond. This partnering agreement is about steering the industry in building new APIs and more use cases over 5G SA capabilities that have been launched across Telefonica’s main operations.”

Shkumbin Hamiti, Head of Network Monetization Platform, Cloud and Network Services at Nokia said: “There continues to be a rising recognition that sustaining closed networks is a thing of the past and that embracing ecosystems is the way forward for deepening collaboration and creating new use cases; delivering better customer experiences; and generating new revenue opportunities. Our agreement with Telefónica is added proof of the much greater telco ecosystem openness that we are now seeing today and we look forward to jointly working to support developers in harnessing a broader array of network capabilities.” 

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2024/06/25/telefonica-and-nokia-sign-agreement-to-boost-adoption-of-network-apis-leveraging-5g-sa-capabilities/

  • The network API landscape is witnessing significant advancements, with major players like the Linux Foundation, GSMA, TM Forum, and MEF driving innovation and standardization. 
  • Recently, the Linux Foundation announced the availability of its LF Network API, a unified API framework that enables developers to access and manage network resources across different providers. TM Forum, a global industry organization, launched its APIs for Digital Services (DSS) initiative, focusing on creating standards-based APIs for service providers to expose their digital services to developers and businesses. Meanwhile, MEF is pushing forward with its LSO (Lifecycle Service Orchestration) initiative, aiming to create a standardized framework for network APIs that enables seamless service orchestration across different networks.
  • The GSMA is also actively involved in shaping the future of network APIs through its CAMARA (Common API for Mobile Applications and Services) project. CAMARA aims to define a set of common APIs that enable mobile operators to expose their network capabilities and services to third-party application developers, accelerating the development of innovative mobile services.The GSMA Open Gateway initiative launched with eight network APIs in 2023 and has since continued to expand. 

MEF State of the Industry Report: SASE

MEF published a report that explores multiple factors dramatically increasing the risk of major cyberattacks worldwide. 

“State of the Industry Report: SASE – Validating Cyber Defense in an Era of Unprecedented Threats” explains how enterprise networking and cybersecurity decisionmakers can utilize MEF standards-based SASE certification to choose the best solutions with validated cyber defense effectiveness and application performance. 

According to the report, many organizations are responding to today’s high-risk threat environment by prioritizing investment in SASE, a cloud-based cybersecurity model, to advance secure digital transformation. SASE solutions protect users, devices, and applications at scale regardless of their location, combining network connectivity via SD-WAN, cloud-based security including Zero Trust (ZT) and Security Service Edge (SSE), and subscriber policies, to provide a high level of application performance and a tightly integrated set of security capabilities.  

Key findings include: 

  • Industry Collaboration Essential: Stronger collaboration to develop effective, standardized and scalable cybersecurity solutions to protect critical infrastructure is essential. The SASE market is a logical focal point for collaboration. 
  • Increased Investments: Global spending on cybersecurity, the top area of technology investment in 2024, is expected to increase at double-digit rates. According to Gartner, nearly 40% of CIO’s will or plan to deploy SASE solutions by mid-2025. 
  • MEF Standards and Certification Drive Adoption: SASE industry standards and certification programs like MEF’s are crucial for ensuring consistent terminology, interoperability, and validated security effectiveness of SASE solutions, building trust, and accelerating adoption. 
  • Benefits of Standards-Based SASE Certification 

https://www.mef.net/news/mef-state-of-the-industry-report-highlights-critical-need-for-certified-sase-solutions-to-combat-rising-cyber-threats/

undefined

Windstream expands Beach Route dark fiber to Miami

Windstream Wholesale has expanded its Beach Route Dark Fiber Alliance to include South Reach Networks (SRN). This extends Windstream Wholesale’s reach by adding a new segment from the Jacksonville, Fla., Cable Landing Station to Miami. This extension adds 360 miles of dark fiber, bringing the total alliance route mile count to 1,400.

The new expansion passes through key locations in South Florida, enhancing connectivity options for international data traffic. Miami's strategic position as a major gateway for communication between North America, Latin America, and Europe makes it a Tier 1 access hub for data exchange between continents. The 100% underground fiber optic network from Miami to Jacksonville provides customers with a seamless, high-performing solution. Meanwhile, Windstream Wholesale's Beach Route spans 690 miles from Jacksonville to Raleigh, North Carolina, offering low-latency connections crucial for cloud services and content delivery providers. The route has been extended north by 315 miles through the Beach Route Dark Fiber Alliance, which includes Mid-Atlantic Broadband, Tilson Infrastructure, and SummitIG, linking key hubs along the East Coast.

Windstream Wholesale now offers a one-stop fiber solution between Miami and Ashburn, managing all aspects of the network transaction under one contract and one dedicated account team while the customer enjoys the benefits of more fiber, more miles, and more diversity and connectivity options along the coast.

Joe Scattareggia, president of Windstream Wholesale, expressed his enthusiasm for the expanded alliance, stating, “Extending the Beach Route to Miami marks a pivotal milestone in our mission to deliver unparalleled connectivity solutions and maintain our commitment to flexible partnerships. Including South Reach Networks in our alliance allows us to offer our customers even greater reach and performance, further cementing our position as a market leader.”


undefined

Ciena supplies XGS-PON to Georgia's Seimitsu

Seimitsu, a Savannah-based service provider, is launching residential broadband services in the Isle of Hope, Dutch Island, and Sandfly neighborhoods, utilizing Ciena's XGS-PON solution. The communities, nestled along Georgia's coast, have been lacking in reliable high-speed fiber internet service, a issue community leaders sought to address.

The TrueConnX Home service, powered by Ciena's technology, will deliver broadband speeds of up to 10Gb/s over fiber, ending slow connections, buffering, and lag for residents. The service will be accessed through an all-underground fiber network that stretches across Chatham County and up to Atlanta.

Highlights

  • Seimitsu's TrueConnX Home service will be available in late summer 2024, passing around 2,300 homes in the initial stage.
  • The service will be powered by Ciena's 5164 Routers, XGS-PON uOLTs, and 3802 ONUs.
  • Seimitsu plans to pass 24,000 homes in Chatham County as it expands throughout the Low Country, aiming to bring the same reliability and velocity it has provided to business customers since its inception.

Dell'Oro: Insatiable Demand for GPUs and Accelerators

 The server and storage component market grew 152 percent in 1Q 2024, reaching a new record, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group. This rapid growth is primarily the result of high demand for GPUs and custom accelerators for the hyperscale cloud market. General-purpose server and storage components also experienced double-digit revenue growth following an inventory correction cycle in 2023.

“While accelerators continue to set record shipments quarter after quarter, the unit growth of the traditional server and storage component market returned to positive year-over-year growth for the first time in eight quarters as vendors and the Cloud service providers resume purchases in anticipation of higher system demand later this year,” stated Baron Fung, Senior Research Director at Dell’Oro Group. “Average selling price (ASP) of components has increased significantly from a year ago adding to topline growth. For CPUs, an increasing mix toward fourth- and fifth-generation CPUs, which have more cores and feature sets compared to their predecessors, have commanded higher ASPs. Storage drives and memory have seen a significant increase in pricing as vendors ensure supply does not exceed demand. In the case of memory, the three major suppliers have shifted production capacity from DRAM to AI-focused HBM products,” explained Fung.

Additional highlights from the 1Q 2024 Data Center IT Semiconductors and Components Quarterly Report:

  • In 1Q 2024, NVIDIA led all vendors in component revenues, followed by Samsung and Intel. NVIDIA accounted for nearly half of the reported component revenues as H100 GPU supplies improved for both the Cloud and Enterprise markets.
  • Strong growth for accelerators is expected to continue into 2024. GPUs will remain the primary choice for training and inference, with NVIDIA’s upcoming Blackwell platform strengthening the firm’s leadership. Dell'Oro also anticipates that custom accelerators and other vendors will gain some share with competitive offerings such as the AMD MI300X/MI325X Instinct and Intel Gaudi3.
  • Smart NIC and DPU revenues grew more than 50 percent in 1Q 2024, driven by strong hyperscale adoption for both AI and non-AI use cases.

https://www.delloro.com/news/insatiable-demand-for-gpus-and-accelerators-pushed-data-center-semiconductor-and-component-market-up-152-percent-in-1q-2024/

Broadcom updates VMware Cloud Foundation, its private cloud platform

Broadcom announced the latest updates to VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), its flagship private cloud platform. The new release includes several key advancements designed to modernize infrastructure, accelerate innovation, and simplify cloud operations.

VCF now includes a new VCF Import capability, which enables customers to integrate existing vSphere and vSAN environments into the platform, centralizing management and optimizing resources. The platform also provides full support for vSAN Max and vSAN ESA stretched clusters, offering petabyte-scale disaggregated storage and active-active availability.

The new VCF Edge configuration is optimized for edge use cases, providing scalable, cost-efficient, and flexible management. VCF also simplifies application deployment and management with quick start templates, easy network integration, and advanced performance insights.

In addition, the platform offers Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) as an independent service, delivering asynchronous TKG releases to align with upstream Kubernetes. VCF networking enables developers to focus on coding and testing, facilitates better collaboration, and supports more efficient CI/CD pipelines.

The new release also includes several security and resilience enhancements, including ESXi Live Patching, Flexible VCF Component upgrade, and dual DPU support with vSphere Distributed Services Engine. vSAN Data Protection enables administrators to more easily protect and recover VMs from accidental deletions and ransomware attacks.

“VMware Cloud Foundation is the industry’s first private-cloud platform to offer the combined power of public and private clouds with unmatched operational simplicity and proven total cost of ownership value,” said Paul Turner, Vice President of Products, VMware Cloud Foundation Division, Broadcom. “With our latest release, VCF is delivering on key requirements driven by customer input. The new VCF Import functionality will be a game changer in accelerating VCF adoption and improving time to value. We are also delivering a set of new capabilities that helps IT more quickly meet the needs of developers without increasing business risk. This latest release of VCF puts us squarely on the path to delivering on the full promise of VCF for our customers.”


undefined