IDC: Ethernet Switch Market up 4.8% in 2Q19

The worldwide Ethernet switch market (Layer 2/3) recorded revenues of $7.07 billion in the second quarter of 2019 (2Q19), an increase of 4.8% year over year, according to IDC's newly updated Worldwide Quarterly Ethernet Switch Tracker and Worldwide Quarterly Router Tracker. Worldwide total enterprise and service provider (SP) router market revenues grew 3.4% year over year in 2Q19 to $3.96 billion.

Ethernet Switch Market Highlights

• Port shipments for 100Gb switches rose 58.3% year over year to 4.4 million. 
• 100Gb revenues grew 42.9% year over year in 2Q19 to $1.28 billion, making up 18.1% of the market's revenue, compared to 13.2% of the market's revenue a year earlier. 
• 25Gb switches also saw impressive growth, increasing 84.8% to $364.1 million, with port shipments growing 74.5% year over year. 
• 10Gb port shipments rose 2.6% year over year, to make up 27.9% of the market's revenue. 
• 1Gb switches grew 6.6% year over year in port shipments, making up 40.0% of the market's total revenues.
• The Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region grew 10.8% year over year, with Russia – the region's largest market – growing 9.2% and Poland growing 29.6%. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region also had strong growth at 10.2%; Qatar led the region's increase with 70.3% growth. Western Europe rose 1.1%, with the Netherlands growing 18.6% within the region.
• The USA market grew 10.7% while Canada's market grew 3.8%. The Latin America region was off 1.2% after Brazil fell 8.3%.
• The Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) (APeJ) region fell 4.2% year over year. 
• China's market declined 4.7% year over year while Australia's market dropped 16.0%.

Router Market Highlights

• The worldwide enterprise and service provider router market grew 3.4% on a year-over-year basis in 2Q19, with the major service provider segment, which accounts for 75.9% of revenues, increasing 2.0% and the enterprise segment of the market growing a healthy 8.0%. 
• The combined service provider and enterprise router market increased 2.7% in APeJ, with the service provider segment increasing 3.8%. 
• Japan's total market grew 7.0% year over year. 
• Revenues in Western Europe rose 5.2% year over year, while the CEE combined enterprise and service provider market grew 15.2% year over year. 
• The MEA region was up 7.4%. 
• In the USA, the enterprise segment was up 18.8%, but service provider revenues fell 6.4%, causing the total market to decline 0.8% year over year. Canada's market rose 9.2% year over year and the Latin American market grew 8.1%.

Vendor Highlights

• Cisco finished 2Q19 with an 6.8% year-over-year increase in overall Ethernet switch revenues and market share of 51.1%.  In the hotly contested 25Gb/100Gb segment, Cisco is the market leader with 38.8% of the market's revenue. Cisco's campus/branch Ethernet switch revenue increased 14.3% year over year. Meanwhile, Cisco's datacenter switching revenue declined 3.2% year over year in 2Q19. Cisco's combined service provider and enterprise router revenue rose 6.6% year over year, with enterprise router revenue increasing 16.2% and SP revenues growing 1.1%. Cisco's combined SP and enterprise router market share increased to 36.8%, up from 35.7% in 2Q18.
• Huawei's Ethernet switch revenue rose 18.9% on an annualized basis, giving the company market share of 9.7%. The company's combined SP and enterprise router revenue rose 1.5% year over year with a market share of 31.1%.
• Arista Networks saw Ethernet switch revenues increase 15.4% in 2Q19, bringing its share to 7.3% of the total market, up from 6.6% a year earlier. 100Gb revenues accounted for 65.4% of the company's total revenue, indicating the company's focus on hyperscale and cloud providers and select large enterprise segments.
• HPE's Ethernet switch revenue declined 6.3% year over year, giving the company a market share of 5.8%.
• Juniper's Ethernet switch revenue declined 19.6% in 2Q19, bringing its market share to 2.9%. Juniper saw a 15.0% decline in combined enterprise and SP router sales, bringing its market share in the router market to 10.5%.

https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS45487019

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Qualcomm intros mmWave module for 5G Fixed Wireless Access

Qualcomm introduced a mmWave antenna module for 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) CPE. The company says its QTM527 mmWave antenna module for the Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System will open up the market for mobile operators to offer fixed internet broadband services to homes and businesses using their 5G network infrastructure.

The goal is to enable 5G fixed wireless access CPEs that can be deployed on a roof or in a window to receive a 5G signal.

The Qualcomm QTM527 mmWave antenna module builds on prior mmWave technology breakthroughs to extend 5G beyond the smartphone.

Qualcomm's QTM527 mmWave antenna module supports up to 64 dual polarization antenna elements for optimal and extended mmWave range. It suppors beam forming, beam steering and beam tracking for bi-directional communication, along with global band support for compatibility in every major region around the world.

“Our comprehensive Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System architecture and mmWave innovation drives best in class 5G performance and scale. With this new extended-range solution, we deliver yet another major mmWave breakthrough and allow operators to provide enhanced fixed broadband services with broad coverage in urban, suburban and rural environments,” said Cristiano Amon, president, Qualcomm Incorporated.

Sampling is underway.

https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2019/09/06/qualcomm-announces-worlds-first-fully-integrated-extended-range-mmwave

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AT&T awards IT outsourcing contract to Tech Mahindra

AT&T has awarded a multiyear contract to Tech Mahindra Tech Mahindra Ltd. to accelerate AT&T’s IT network application, shared systems modernization and movement to the cloud. Tech Mahindra will assume management of many of the applications which support AT&T’s network and shared systems. The transformation roadmap also aims to optimize AT&T’s IT application footprint by aggregating functionalities, while optimizing business processes, costs, efficiencies and overall quality.

Jon Summers, CIO, AT&T Communications, said, “Our agreement with Tech Mahindra is another step forward in delivering greater flexibility across our IT operations. This includes optimizing our core operations and modernizing our internal network applications to accelerate innovation as we march forward to our goal of a nationwide 5G network by the first half of 2020. Our collaboration with Tech Mahindra will ultimately help accelerate our network operations and overall technology leadership.”

CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra, said, “This is a step towards elevating Tech Mahindra’s long standing strategic relationship with AT&T to help make the vision of a 5G-enabled future, a reality. As part of our TechMNxt charter, Tech Mahindra is betting big on 5G – network of the future, and is focused on technology-led innovation to enable digital transformation for our customers globally.”

Manish Vyas, President, Communications, Media and Entertainment Business and the CEO, Network, Tech Mahindra, said, “Our aim is to significantly boost AT&T’s 5G time-to-market and simultaneously reduce their cost of ownership by automating aspects of their network lifecycle. We look forward to a continued strategic relationship with AT&T to drive innovation in technology and network ecosystem while delivering value and quality to our customers.

https://www.techmahindra.com/media/press_releases/TechMahindra-Announces-Multi-Year-Agreement-to-Accelerate-ATTs-Technology-Transformation.aspx

AT&T to move most non-network workloads to public cloud by 2024

Wednesday, July 17, 2019  ATT, Microsoft  

Microsoft and AT&T announced an extensive, multiyear alliance under which Microsoft will be the preferred cloud provider for non-network applications. Specifically, AT&T will provide much of its workforce with Microsoft 365, and plans to migrate non-network infrastructure applications to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

AT&T said the alliance is part of its broader public cloud first strategy to consolidate data center infrastructure and operations. AT&T is becoming a “public cloud first” company by migrating most non-network workloads to the public cloud by 2024.

“AT&T and Microsoft are among the most committed companies to fostering technology that serves people,” said John Donovan, CEO, AT&T Communications. “By working together on common efforts around 5G, the cloud, and AI, we will accelerate the speed of innovation and impact for our customers and our communities.”

“AT&T is at the forefront of defining how advances in technology, including 5G and edge computing, will transform every aspect of work and life,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “The world’s leading companies run on our cloud, and we are delighted that AT&T chose Microsoft to accelerate its innovation. Together, we will apply the power of Azure and Microsoft 365 to transform the way AT&T’s workforce collaborates and to shape the future of media and communications for people everywhere.”

In addition, Microsoft will tap into the innovation AT&T is offering on its 5G network, including to design, test, and build edge-computing capabilities. With edge computing and a lower-latency 5G connection enabled through AT&T’s geographically dispersed network infrastructure, devices can process data closer to where decisions are made. Recently, Microsoft and AT&T worked together to test an edge computing-based tracking and detection system for drones. With more connected devices and the growing demand for streaming content from movies to games, businesses and consumers require ever-increasing network capabilities.

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Verizon debuts 5G in 13 NFL stadiums

Verizon activated its 5G service in 13 NFL stadiums this past Kickoff Weekend, including:

Bank of America Stadium (Carolina Panthers)
Empower Field at Mile High (Denver Broncos)
CenturyLink Field (Seattle Seahawks)
Ford Field (Detroit Lions)
Gillette Stadium (New England Patriots)
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Dolphins)
Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis Colts)
MetLife Stadium (New York Giants and New York Jets)
M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore Ravens)
NRG Stadium (Houston Texans)
Soldier Field (Chicago Bears)
U.S. Bank Stadium (Minnesota Vikings)

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DT to bring 5G to Allianz Arena in Munich

Deutsche Telekom and FC Bayern Munich announced a partnership to bring 5G coverage to the Allianz Arena in Munich by spring 2020.

“Deutsche Telekom is working with FC Bayern Munich to open up the world of 5G technology to soccer spectators. Fans visiting the Allianz Arena will be able to explore a whole new dimension in soccer through VR and AR. We’re helping bring the club and its fans even closer together, which is of course in keeping with our motto – ‘Life is for sharing,’” comments Michael Hagspihl, Head of Consumers at Telekom Deutschland.

https://www.telekom.com

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Chile studies subsea cable to Asia

Chile's telecommunications regulator his continuing to study the feasibility of direct subsea cable system from South America to Asia. Current connections are routed either via the United States or Europe. Chile's President, Sebastián Piñera, has expressed his support for the study.

The government has now awarded a contract valued at US$2.9 million to Telecommunications Management Group Inc. and WFN Strategies LLC to provide an assessment of the economic, technical and legal issues concerning the project.

https://www.subtel.gob.cl/mtt-adjudica-elaboracion-del-estudio-de-factibilidad-del-cable-submarino-asia-sudamerica/

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ADVA debuts multi-layer cell site gateway for 5G

ADVA introduced its FSP 150-XG118Pro cell site gateway for deployment at radio base stations. It is designed for ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) in 5G mobile networks

ADVA said its FSP 150-XG118Pro has been specifically engineered to support a seamless, cost-efficient transition from LTE mobile networks to 5G. It provides multi-layer demarcation and precise synchronization delivery. The gateway's 10Gbit/s capacity enables MNOs to utilize the full 5G spectrum. Its open SDN control supports automated network slicing and its pluggable server allows it to be upgraded in-service for edge hosting of VNFs. The ADVA FSP 150-XG118Pro’s capacity and edge hosting capabilities also enable enterprises to unlock the potential of the industrial IoT (IIoT).

“Our FSP 150-XG118Pro brings high-capacity demarcation and edge aggregation to the radio base station without exceeding strict requirements for space, power and cost. It really is the ultimate tool for rapid 5G rollouts over existing LTE infrastructure,” said Richard Strike, director, product line management, ADVA. “Our FSP 150-XG118Pro empowers mobile network operators (MNOs) to respond to soaring bandwidth needs with 10Gbit/s bandwidth at the radio base station. They can also cater for new URLLC applications that demand data to be processed right where it’s created. And, as the solution has been built with our Oscilloquartz team of network synchronization specialists, it delivers the accurate and stable timing that’s so crucial for 5G applications.”

“This new member of our hugely successful and widely deployed FSP 150 family opens the door to a world of new opportunities. It tears down the entry barriers and provides CSPs and businesses with a risk-free route to all the advantages of virtualization,” commented Ulrich Kohn, director, technical marketing, ADVA. “Featuring our award-winning, field-proven Ensemble Connector NFV hosting software, our FSP 150-XG118Pro enables enterprises to seize the full business potential of the IIoT. It supports big data analytics at the very edge of the network, saving significant bandwidth and improving performance. Now businesses can benefit from our vast experience with migrating centrally hosted network functions to the edge. Our customers can focus on revenue-generating services while we handle complex network integration and testing and ensure superb levels of performance.”

http://adva.li/fsp-150-xg118pro-slides

https://www.advaoptical.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/20190905-adva-introduces-multi-layer-cell-site-gateway-to-maximize-5g-efficiency

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Finisar intros L-band High Resolution Optical Spectrum Analyzer

Finisar introduced its WaveAnalyzer 1500S/L High Resolution Optical Spectrum Analyzer designed to inspect the spectral characteristics of optical channels in the L-band of the telecommunications spectrum.

This instrument has been developed for researchers and engineers focused on optical communication systems operating in the L-band as well as for manufacturing test applications on the production floor.

The new WaveAnalyzer 1500S/L is based on heterodyne measurement technology and offers a resolution bandwidth of 180 MHz. It provides a high scan rate of four updates per second for full L-band scans and up to 10 updates per second for smaller range scans.

Similar to the C-band version of the WaveAnalyzer 1500S, the new L-band unit also has a built-in web server which includes a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and an Application Programming Interface (API). Additional analysis functions include Optical Signal to Noise Ratio (OSNR) measurements and Multi-Wavelength Analysis or Side Mode Suppression Ratio (SMSR) measurements.

https://www.finisar.com/optical-instrumentation

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Dell'Oro: DWDM systems revenue grew 8% Y/Y in 1H19

The market for DWDM systems significantly grew year-over-year (Y/Y) in the first half of 2019, according to Dell'Oro Group, in part because the comparative period, 1H 2018, includes much lower sales into China caused by the US ban on ZTE.

Some highlights:

• In 1H 2019, Ciena held nearly 30 percent share of the optical DWDM market outside of China due to the company’s dominance in North America and growing share in international markets. 
• Ciena’s revenue grew over 20 percent Y/Y. 
• During this period, Huawei held the second-highest share outside of China even though the company’s market share declined slightly from both full-year 2018 and 1H 2018. 
• Nokia continued to hold the third-highest share outside of China with revenue growth in the period exceeding the market average percentage growth of 5 percent.

https://www.delloro.com/optical-transport-2q19-report-dwdm-systems-market-grew-8-percent-y-y-in-1h-2019/

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Ciena posts revenue of $961 million, up 17%, as non-telco sales increase

Ciena reported revenue of $960.6 million for its fiscal third quarter ended July 31, 2019, up 17.3% year over year. Ciena's GAAP net income for the fiscal third quarter 2019 was $86.7 million, or $0.55 per diluted common share, which compares to a GAAP net income of $50.8 million, or $0.34 per diluted common share, for the fiscal third quarter 2018.

"We delivered another quarter of outstanding financial results as we benefit from our strong competitive position within the industry and continue to gain market share," said Gary Smith, President and CEO, Ciena. "Looking ahead, fiscal 2019 will be an extraordinary year for Ciena, including substantial revenue growth and increased profitability."

Some highlights:

• Non-telco represented 41% of total revenue 
• Direct web-scale contributed over 26% of total revenue 
• EMEA revenue up 39% YoY 
• North America revenue up 24% YoY, with telco and web-scale growth 
• WaveLogicAi has 128 total customers with 16 new wins in Q3 
• Waveserver has 142 customers with 8 new wins in Q3 
• Two 10%-plus customers represented a total of 25% of revenue 
• Cash and investments totaled $842.9 million

https://investor.ciena.com/news/press-release-details/2019/Ciena-Reports-Fiscal-Third-Quarter-2019-Financial-Results/default.aspx

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Fractal Antenna Systems develops wideband antenna for sub-6GHz 5G

Fractal Antenna Systems introduced a directional antenna for sub-6GHz 5G sector coverage in stadiums and high capacity venues. The

Whereas traditional solutions require many narrow-band antennas to be crammed under a single cover, Fractal uses proprietary wideband technology to reduce the complexity, size, and number of sub-6GHz antennas, freeing up space for more eye-pleasing solutions and/or higher performance.

The Symphony-SP provides broadband MIMO coverage from 617MHz to 6GHz, with coverage of all key licensed and unlicensed bands – including GSM, LTE, 5G, CBRS, WiFi, C-Band, and LAA. The Symphony-SP weighs in at less than 10 lbs and wields a footprint of less than 13”x13”.

“While millimeter wave is getting a lot of attention in 5G, the reality is that sub-6GHz will continue to be the anchor and primary vehicle for ubiquitous high throughput connectivity,” said FRACTAL’s VP of Strategy and Product Management Petersen Bolvig. “We are not going to get away from the ‘antennapocalypse’ problem without a radical new approach to sub 6GHz antenna design. This is where our technology provides major benefits, with the Symphony-SP as one example.”

http://www.fractenna.com/

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MACOM shows Open Eye MSA compliant analog chipset

MACOM Technology Solutions demonstrated a 200G optical module designed in collaboration with an industry leading optical manufacturer, leveraging MACOM’s Open Eye MSA compliant analog chipset. The chipset is optimized for volume-scale deployment in high-density Cloud Data Center links.

MACOM said its chipset will provide a clear pathway to 200G throughput speeds utilizing industry-leading analog components. MACOM’s fully analog transmit and receive chipset is comprised of the MAOM-38053 four-channel transmit CDR with integrated laser driver and, on the receive side, features MACOM BSP56B photodetectors, a MATA-03819 quad TIA and the MASC-38040 four-channel receive CDR.

MACOM is applying its expertise and market leadership in 25Gbps and 100Gbps solutions to 50Gbps PAM-4 applications and specifically to 200G QSFP and 2 x 200G OSFP/QSFP-DD modules to bring the benefits of low power and low latency solutions in addition to existing digital signal processing (DSP) architectures, to Cloud Data Centers.

MACOM’s chipset is sampling for both single mode and multimode fiber applications.

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Spectra7 and Leoni show CRX Active Copper Cable

Spectra7 Microsystems and the telecommunication systems business unit of Leoni’s Wire and Cables Solution Division demonstrated new CRX Consortium Active Copper Cable technology at the annual China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE) 2019.

The demonstration showed Leoni cables with embedded Spectra7 chips operating with Mellanox ConnectX-5 network adapters configured for Ethernet low latency CA-N transmission.

“Spectra7 has developed impressive technology for the data center market and we are thrilled to be collaborating with them and Tencent in the formation of the CRX™ Consortium,” said Helmut Jungsthoefel, Data Center PM at Leoni. “We believe Active Copper Cables with technology from Spectra7 will play a critical role in the future of copper interconnects.”

Leoni is known in the global interconnect market for producing the highest performance raw cable and cable assemblies. They have selected Spectra7 chips for their entire line of Active Copper Cables including 25, 100 and 400G products.

CRX Consortium pushes for active copper cables

Sunday, June 23, 2019    

A new CRX (Copper Reach Extension) Consortium has been launched to accelerate the adoption of active copper cable products. The key backers are Tencent and Spectra7 Microsystems, a supplier of high-performance analog semiconductor products and a developer of active copper cable technology. Additional members include Luxshare-ICT and Foxconn Interconnect.

The CRX Consortium says its initial focus will be on 25G Ethernet connections between servers and switches. The consortium is developing a specification for these cables that is expected to be released in Q4 of this year. Subsequent specifications will be developed for 50G, 100G, 400G and 800G Ethernet as well as other evolving protocols. The specifications will cover both NRZ signaling as well as PAM4 signaling.

The initial CRX specification release is planned for Fall 2019; CRX consortium members plan to begin mass deployment of cables complying with the CRX specification later this year.

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KPN appoints Dominique Leroy as CEO

Mrs. Dominique Leroy has been appointed as the next CEO and Chairman of the Board of Management of KPN, with effect from 1 December 2019. She succeeds Maximo Ibarra, who resigned from his position effective 30 September 2019.

Leroy will join KPN from Proximus Group (formerly Belgacom), where she is currently CEO. She joined Belgacom, Belgian’s leading telecommunications company, in 2011 and was from 2012 onwards a member of the management committee with responsibility for the consumer business. Prior to joining Proximus, she worked for 24 years at Unilever, ultimately as Managing Director of Unilever BeLux and member of the Unilever Benelux management committee.

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IDC: Worldwide server market drops 11.6% in 2Q19

After a torrid stretch of prolonged market growth that drove the server market to historic heights, IDC has found that the global server market declined in 2Q19 for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2016. Vendor revenue in the worldwide server market declined 11.6% year over year to just over $20.0 billion during the second quarter of 2019 (2Q19).

Worldwide server shipments declined 9.3% year over year to just under 2.7 million units in 2Q19.

"The second quarter saw the server market's first contraction in nine quarters, albeit against a very difficult compare from one year ago when the server market realized unprecedented growth," said Sebastian Lagana, research manager, Infrastructure Platforms and Technologies. "Irrespective of the difficult compare, factors impacting the market include a slowdown in purchasing from cloud providers and hyperscale customers, an off-cycle in the cyclical non-x86 market, as well as a slowdown from enterprises due to existing capacity slack and macroeconomic uncertainty."

Some highlights:

• The number one position in the worldwide server market during 2Q19 was shared* by Dell Technologies and the combined HPE/New H3C Group with revenue shares of 19.0% and 18.0% respectively. 
• Dell Technologies declined 13.0% year over year, while HPE/New H3C Group was down 3.6% year over year. 
• The third position went to Inspur/Inspur Power Systems, which increased its revenue by 32.3% year over year. 
• Lenovo and IBM tied for the fourth position with revenue shares of 6.1%, and 5.9% respectively. 
• Lenovo saw revenue decline by 21.8% year over year while IBM saw its revenue contract 27.4% year over year. 
• The ODM Direct group of vendors accounted for 21.1% of total revenue and declined 22.9% year over year to $4.23 billion. 
• Dell Technologies led the worldwide server market in terms of unit shipments, accounting for 17.8% of all units shipped during the quarter.

https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS45482519

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Dell'Oro: 25 Gbps Ethernet adapter gain share

Shipments of Ethernet controllers and adapters marked the first sequential growth year-over-year (Y/Y) in 2Q 2019, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group. The 25 Gbps continues to gain share in the Cloud and Enterprise markets.

“Shipments of 10 Gbps controllers and adapters were stronger than expected with demand from general enterprises and lower-tier Cloud service providers. Meanwhile, 25 Gbps continues to gain momentum across key vendors in the high-end Enterprise market,” said Baron Fung, Director, at Dell’Oro Group. “Among the major Cloud service providers, which generally deploy 25, 40, and 50 Gbps ports, growth was mixed, as select companies are still undergoing server capacity digestion. Thus, we continue to anticipate great volatility in this sector for these higher-speed ports.”

Additional highlights from the Controller and Adapter 2Q 2019 quarterly report include:

• Total controller and adapter port shipments increased 3 percent quarter-over-quarter (Q/Q) in 2Q 2019.
• Average sell price per port increased 6 percent Q/Q, which contributed to higher sequential revenue growth.
• Amazon still commands more than 90 percent share of the Smart NIC market by ports shipped, although Broadcom and Mellanox gained share.

https://www.delloro.com/news/shipments-of-ethernet-controllers-and-adapters-marked-first-sequential-growth-y-y-in-2q-2019-according-to-delloro-group/

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Credo ships HiWire Active Electrical Cables

Credo announced the production availability of HiWire Active Electrical Cables (AEC).

The company says its AECs provide plug and play, deterministic, persistent in-rack and inter-rack connections at lower cost and lower power of alternative optical approaches. Additionally, the AEC family provides system level, in-cable speedshifting providing seamless connectivity of 50G PAM4 enabled switch ports to widely available 25G NRZ based servers.

Credo is showcasing the AEC product family at the China International Optical Expo (CIOE 2019) in Shenzhen, China, through September 7.

“Our Credo connectivity solutions are being widely deployed in cloud, service provider, and enterprise networks,” said Jeff Twombly, VP of Marketing and Business Development Credo. “The addition of our HiWire AECs allow system providers to move rapidly to 400G while striking a strategic balance with CapEx and OpEx.”

https://www.credosemi.com/

HiWire aims for standard Active Electrical Cables at 400G and up

Tuesday, September 03, 2019  400G, Standards  

A new HiWire Consortium has been established to pursue the standardization and certification of a new category of Active Electrical Cables (AEC). The group is dedicated to the establishment and ongoing development of an AEC standard that defines a specific implementation of the many industry MSAs and a formal certification process. This will enable an ecosystem of trusted Plug and Play AECs, available from multiple sources, for the hyperscale data center, telecom and enterprise markets.

HiWire AECs provide a full solution for layer 1 and 2 interconnect to deliver persistent and deterministic connectivity necessary for the next generation of data centers as the industry moves to 400G and beyond.

The founding companies of the HiWire Consortium are: Accton Technology, Alpha Networks, Arrcus, Bizlink, Cameo Communications, Zhejiang Canaan Technology, Centec Networks, Chelsio Communications, Credo, Dell EMC, Delta Electronics, Edom Technology, Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co.(Foxlink), Innovium, Barefoot Networks (an Intel Company), Inventec, Juniper Networks, Keysight Technologies, Quanta, Senao, Spirent Communications, Steligent Information Technologies Co., Wistron, Wistron NeWeb, and Wywinn Corporation.

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Federated Wireless raises $51M for CBRS spectrum management

Federated Wireless, a start-up based in Arlington, Virginia, announced $51 million in Series C funding for its Citizens Band Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum management services.

Federated Wireless highlighted its role in the development of CBRS, including:

• Co-founding the CBRS Alliance
• Being the first to complete deployment of a nationwide Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) network
• Readying multiple customers to deliver CBRS services using its Spectrum Controller (Spectrum Access System or SAS) when commercial services begin this month

The latest funding included contributions from existing investors Allied Minds, American Tower and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, in addition to new investors Pennant Investors and SBA Communications. The

“We passed all of the major hurdles on the road to CBRS deployment in the first half of 2019 and we are fully ready to engage the growing number and types of customers clamoring for access to shared spectrum services,” said Iyad Tarazi, President and CEO of Federated Wireless. “I would like to thank Allied Minds, American Tower, GIC, Pennant Investors and SBA Communications for their support and alignment with our vision for this truly unique opportunity. This funding will propel us, and by extension the CBRS industry as a whole, to new heights, helping us to ensure that we are able to not only meet but exceed the needs of the customers and partners who have collaborated so closely with us to make this vision a reality.”

http://www.federatedwireless.com

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Samsung's prototype Key Value SSD offloads processing from server

Samsung Electronics announced the first standards-based prototype of a new type of SSD that moves the storage workload from the server CPUs into the SSD.

Samsung’s KV SSD prototype is based on a new open standard for a Key Value Application Programming Interface (KV API) that was recently approved by SNIA.

Samsung says there are numerous benefits of KV storage technology. Rather than operating as a block device, the KV SSD moves resource-draining storage operations from the host CPU to the SSD itself. This results in:

• Much-improved system-level performance
• Freeing the CPU from computational work, such as block operations and storage-level garbage collection
• Substantially greater scalability in the number of linked SSDs by reducing CPU overload
• Greatly reduced write amplification (WAF)
• Much less wear on each SSD
• Greater software efficiency

SNIA’s KV API standard was developed in response to growing concern that as the speed of SSDs further increases, system-level performance was reaching the point of saturation, allowing relatively few SSDs to be optimally interlinked. As the performance of SSDs continues to improve, the situation is expected to worsen when ever-increasing loads are placed on the CPU to manage block operations.

While there are other approaches to this now under development, KV SSD technology is likely to be the most cost-efficient for use with many storage appliances and IT systems.

“The SNIA KV API specification, which provides an industry-wide interface between an application and a Key Value SSD, paves the way for widespread industry adoption of a standardized KV API protocol,” said Michael Oros, SNIA Executive Director.

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CIG demos 200G FR4 optical module for DCI

Cambridge Industries Group (CIG) will demonstrate a 200G FR4 optical module at this week's CIOE 2019 exhibition in Shenzhen, China. The module is fully compliant with Open Eye MSA specifications and interoperable with multiple vendors’ products including DSP based 200G optical modules.

“This live demonstration of our new analog CDR based 200G FR4 module, in addition to our DSP-based modules, reaffirms our commitment to bring low cost and low power technologies to the industry,” said Gerry Wong, CEO of CIG. “CIG is the first in the world to introduce this product into the datacenter interconnect market, and together with our large scale, high quality automated manufacturing capabilities, we are capable of quickly meeting the needs of the DCI market.”

The module adopts 50Gbps PAM-4 format and advanced technologies in analog clock and data recovery (CDR) chipsets. This enables lower cost, lower power, and lower latency compared to DSP-based modules. Low latency is especially important because mission critical applications such as real-time application or high- frequency trading require very low latency transmission.

CIG said it is applying its expertise and leadership in optical module design and manufacturing for 25Gbps, 100Gbps and 400Gbps products into these new 200Gbps modules targeted for datacenter applications. The product is in the early sampling stage with general availability (GA) expected in early 2020.

http://www.cigtech.com/

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