Nokia looks to Marvell for 5G silicon development

Nokia is working with Marvell to develop 5G multi-RAT (Radio Access Technology) silicon, including multiple generations of custom silicon and infrastructure processors.

The new generation of custom system-on-chip (SoC) and infrastructure processors will expand the range of Nokia ReefShark chipsets. Marvell brings its multi-core Arm processor platforms.

Nokia said these new chipsets are designed to be deployed in several building blocks of its AirScale radio access solution.

Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said: “This important announcement highlights our continued commitment to expanding the variety and utilization of ReefShark chipsets in our portfolio. This ensures that our 5G solutions are equipped to deliver best-in-class performance to our customers. As service providers continue to evolve their 5G plans and support growing traffic and new vertical services, the infrastructure and components must evolve rapidly. Adopting the latest advancements in silicon technology is a critical step to better serve our customers’ needs.” 

Matt Murphy, CEO and President of  Marvell: “Marvell is excited and honored to partner with Nokia to enable next-generation solutions for 5G networks. Our platform of semiconductor solutions for data infrastructure in combination with Nokia’s technology and market leadership will enable wireless networks of the future to deliver on the promise of 5G and open a world of new business opportunities.”

Nokia's ReefShark silicon cuts massive MIMO antenna size and power consumption

Monday, January 29, 2018  #5G, Nokia, Silicon  

Nokia unveiled its ReefShark 5G chipsets for radio frequency (RF) units such as the radio used in antennas. The chipsets, which were developed in-house, significantly improve radio performance resulting in halving the size of massive MIMO antennas. Nokia says its ReefShark chipsets also reduce power consumption in baseband units by 64%, compared to current technology.

The ReefShark chipsets comprise:

• ReefShark Digital Front End for LTE and 5G radio systems supporting massive MIMO
• ReefShark RFIC front-end module and transceiver: massive MIMO Adaptive Antenna solution
• ReefShark Baseband Processor: All-in-one compute heavy design, capable of supporting the massive scale requirements of 5G. This is the brain power of baseband processing.

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Telenor and Telia build Multi-Operator Core Network with Nokia

Telenor and Telia are building a shared wireless network supporting a Multi-Operator Core Network (MOCN) feature in Denmark. Nokia is the solution provider.

A trial network with the 5G MOCN feature has been deployed and verified with successful end-to-end test calls.

The MOCN architecture model enables network sharing with each mobile operator having their own core network and sharing common radio access network infrastructure as well as spectrum resources. This is the first network to include live MOCN capabilities for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G simultaneously. The live trial utilized Nokia’s end-to-end 5G technology, including 5G RAN and 5G cloud core.

Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said: “Deploying 5G networks independently can be an expensive undertaking for mobile operators in the most competitive markets. This trial highlights that through network sharing, operators can drive efficiencies, lower costs and bring the myriad benefits of 5G to businesses and consumers quickly. We hope that this trial demonstrates to operators around the world that there are multiple options open to them to get their 5G networks up and running quickly and at the lowest possible cost.”

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Nokia expands fiber access portfolio with Lightspan MF-2 node

Nokia is expanding its fiber access portfolio with a new Lightspan MF access node designed for the 5G era, a new Beacon 6 in-home gateway that supports 5G mobile data offloading and several Nokia Bell Labs innovations that reduce latency.

Nokia’s new Lightspan MF-2 fiber access node is based on its Quillion chipset family. Some details:

• High capacity, small form factor access node fit for distributed deployments
• 10G PON today, and ready for evolution beyond
• Supports Multi-PON
• Optimized for low latency 5G Anyhaul

Nokia’s new Beacon 6 mesh WiFi solution supports Wi-Fi 6 and includes several core 5G technologies. Some details:

• Support for Wi-Fi 6 which improves the overall speed, performance and latency needed for 5G mobile offload
• Wi-Fi Certified EasyMesh and is fully interoperable with third-party Wi-Fi Certified EasyMesh products
• Includes Nokia Bell Labs low-latency innovations – PI2 algorithm and L4S

Nokia Bell Labs’ PI2 active queue management algorithm reduces excessive delays in congested networks, while L4S technology provides an “express lane” for data in network equipment to further reduce latency needed in applications like gaming and virtual reality. Operators can then use Nokia’s Software Defined Access Network solution to create a high-priority slice in the fiber access network to ensure low latency is further guaranteed from the home to the core.

“Fixed networks will be the critical technology behind 5G’s success,” said Sandra Motley, President of Fixed Networks at Nokia. “By leveraging existing FTTH and in-home Wi-Fi networks, operators will be able to deploy 5G faster and ensure a seamless, powerful 5G end-user experience is achieved.”

“Low-latency innovations like PI2 and L4S demonstrate the many ways Nokia Bell Labs continues to push the boundaries of technology innovation,” said Marcus Weldon, Nokia Corporate CTO and President of Nokia Bell Labs. “These technologies will play a critical role in the network and how end users ultimately engage with low-latency applications like gaming and AR/VR experiences. We’re excited to be the first in the industry to bring these innovations into our WiFi portfolio and offer this to customers and end users alike.”

Nokia aims Quillion chipset at next gen access

Tuesday, October 08, 2019  Nokia, Silicon  

Nokia outlined plans for a new family of chipsets to power next-generation massive scale access networks.

The forthcoming "Quillion" chipset will allow operators to introduce 10G PON in their fiber networks and to serve more users from G.fast access nodes. For next-generation fiber access networks, the Quillion chipset powers Nokia’s 16-port Multi-PON line card, which supports both GPON and NG-PON on each port. This allows operators with an existing GPON network to simply “switch on” NG-PON services on each port without recabling or disrupting the GPON service.

Nokia said Quillion is also optimized to allow for low-latency applications that are critical for 5G transport and has built-in programmability to support intents that pave the way toward automated workflows, such as network slicing for 5G transport.

In addition, the Quillion chipset supports copper infrastructure access, including the highest density G.fast and Vplus solutions on the market.

Sandra Motley, President of Fixed Networks at Nokia, said: “In a 5G world, consumers will expect a gigabit experience regardless if they are at home or on the go. Our Quillion chipset is designed to deliver gigabit broadband to every home, using  broadband technologies like fiber to complement 5G in massive scale access networks. This allows operators to efficiently connect more people with higher speeds, and positively impacts their business case.”

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Marvell partners with Samsung on RAN processing

Marvell and Samsung Electronics Co. are extending their collaboration to include additional segments of the Radio Access Network (RAN). The solutions will build on the OCTEON Fusion platform and integrating Samsung’s unique intellectual property.

To date, the companies have worked closely to deliver multiple generations of baseband and transport processing solutions for base stations based on Marvell’s OCTEON and OCTEON Fusion processors.

In addition, the companies are collaborating on innovative radio unit architectures designed to meet the dramatic increase in compute power required for the complex beamforming algorithms inherent to massive MIMO deployments. 

“Samsung is committed to helping mobile operators meet their performance targets,” said Jaeho Jeon, executive vice president and head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics.  “Our relentless spirit to find innovative ways to address the next set of 5G market challenges will drive us to enhance our 5G technical capabilities.  Marvell is a valued collaborator in helping us achieve these goals.”

“Marvell believes that close collaboration with Samsung has allowed both companies to excel in the 5G infrastructure market,” said Raghib Hussain, chief strategy officer and executive vice president of the Networking and Processors Group at Marvell.  “It is our goal to ensure that infrastructure equipment suppliers such as Samsung can allow network operators to thrive in the fast-paced world of 5G.”

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Innovium delivers SONiC/SAI for TERALYNX based Switch Systems

Innovium announced the first delivery of production-grade SONiC/SAI running on its TERALYNX switch silicon family.

“Our continued innovation, with over 75 patents, has enabled us to deliver a comprehensive data center switch family from 1 – 12.8Tbps performance. We now have over 20 switch system designs with the world’s leading ODM & OEM system partners, based on TERALYNX switch portfolio,” said Rajiv Khemani, CEO and Co-Founder of Innovium Inc. “Many of these systems are now being deployed in production networks by top data center customers using hardened software, including SONiC.”

Yousef Khalidi, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Azure Networking, Microsoft Corp. said, “SONiC is a leading open-source network switch OS empowering customers with modern and efficient cloud networking software. It has a thriving open community of ecosystem partners engaged and making excellent progress. We are pleased to have Innovium as part of the SONiC/SAI open community and to see it engaged with customers for SONiC/SAI deployments running on TERALYNX-powered switches.”

Innovium’s TERALYNX family supports both NRZ and PAM4 interfaces for 10GbE to 400GbE ports in a fully software and feature compatible manner.

Separately, Innovium announced interoperability of 12.8Tbps TERALYNX 7 switch silicon with Credo’s MACsec chip family.

This enables cloud and data center customers to deploy a MACsec enabled 1RU, 32 x 400G switch using Innovium’s 12.8Tbps TERALYNX 7 switch silicon and Credo’s dual 400G CMS50216 MACsec chip.

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Ericsson begins production at its U.S. 5G factory

Ericsson manufactured its first 5G base station at its factory in Lewisville, Texas. The first unit is the millimeter-wave Street Macro solution, which is key to Ericsson’s 5G portfolio for its North American customers. All radio access components are housed in one lightweight enclosure, allowing service providers to rapidly grow 5G coverage in complex city environments.

Erik Simonsson, Head of the USA 5G Smart Factory, Ericsson, says: “We’re excited to produce advanced 5G radio products for our U.S. customers, to meet the demand for next-generation 5G networks across the country. It’s also exciting to use our own 5G products in the factory for wireless connectivity to increase production efficiency. With the first 5G base stations now rolling off the production line, we are on target this year to have the most fully automated, sustainable 5G smart factory in the U.S.”

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SiTime offers 48-hour worldwide availability of MEMS oscillators

SiTime is now offering 48-hour availability of its MEMS oscillators. Previously, customers had to wait up to 20 weeks and sometimes pay non-recurring engineering (NRE) fees to get oscillators that were configured to their exact requirements.

SiTime’s rapid programming service accelerates the phases of typical product development to help technology innovators take an industrial and IoT product idea to design and production quickly and easily. SiTime datasheets, as well as the Part Number Generator on the SiTime website, list all the programmable configurations available for these MEMS oscillators. Among the most popular programmable options are frequency (with up to six decimal places of accuracy), supply voltage, output drive type and drive strength, operating temperature range, and frequency stability.

“Fast, efficient delivery of oscillators has been the Achilles heel of the quartz industry for decades," said Piyush Sevalia, executive vice president of marketing at SiTime. "With 48-hour lead time for our MEMS timing solutions, SiTime is once again transforming the timing market and leading the industry in availability.”

https://www.sitime.com/company/news/press-release/sitime-accelerates-customers-designs-48-hour-worldwide-availability-mems

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SES and Telesat support FCC’s C-band Order

SES and Telesat, as founding members of the C-Band Alliance, applauded the FCC's final C-band Report and Order.

"We congratulate the Commission on striking the right balance to ensure accelerated access to the spectrum with appropriate incentives, providing an effective transition framework, and adequately protecting critical satellite services for customers and earth station operators."

FCC approves C-Band spectrum rules

Sunday, March 01, 2020  Auction, C-Band, FCC, Satellite  

The Federal Communications Commission voted to approve new rules to accelerate the auction and transfer of a wide swath of 3.5 GHz spectrum from the satellite industry for new uses, including 5G.

The 280 megahertz of mid-band spectrum will be made available via a public auction.

Within the 3.7-4.2 GHz band, the FCC has is allocating the 3.7-4.0 GHz portion of the band for mobile use and 280 megahertz (3.7-3.98 GHz band) will be auctioned by the FCC for wireless services in the contiguous United States.  Another 20 megahertz (3.98-4.0 GHz) will serve as a guard band while existing satellite operations will be repacked into the upper 200 megahertz of the band (4.0-4.2 GHz).

Satellite operators will be able to receive accelerated relocation payments of $9.7 billion if they meet accelerated clearing milestones.

FCC expects to conduct an auction beginning on December 8, 2020.

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Infinera announces $200M convertible senior notes offering

Infinera announced the pricing of $200 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2027 in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers. Infinera also granted the initial purchaser of the Notes a 13-day option to purchase up to an additional $30 million in aggregate principal amount of Notes.

The company said the proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital to fund growth and potential strategic projects.

https://www.infinera.com/

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Red Hat Summit 2020 to move to a virtual experience

Red Hat Summit, which was scheduled for April 27-29 in San Francisco, will move to a virtual tradeshow format. The physical event was canceled due to concerns about coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Red Hat Summit Virtual Experience will be a free, immersive multi-day event from April 28-29, 2020, including keynotes, breakout sessions, access to Red Hat experts, etc.

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Infinera and Corning carry 800G wavelength over 800km

Infinera has demonstrated the ability to carry an 800 Gbps wavelength across 800km on Corning’s TXF optical fiber.

The achievement leveraged Infinera’s sixth-generation Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE6) technology in a Groove (GX) Series platform transmitting 800G using 64QAM with probabilistic constellation shaping (PCS). ICE6 combines Infinera’s sixth-generation photonic integrated circuit with its in-house-developed 7-nanometer dual-channel 800G per-wave FlexCoherent digital signal processor.

Corning’s state-of-the-art TXF fiber is an ITU-T G.654.E compliant, ultra-low-loss, silica-core fiber with large effective area.

The companies said the success of the 800G trial highlighted the advanced features of Infinera’s vertically integrated ICE6 technology, including Nyquist subcarriers, per-subcarrier long-codeword PCS, and per-subcarrier dynamic bandwidth allocation, along with superior fiber designed to help meet growing bandwidth demands for network operators from metro to subsea network applications.


“This demonstration proves that 800G transmission using Infinera’s industry-leading technology enables a wide variety of network applications and is further enhanced by Corning’s innovative TXF fiber,” said Parthi Kandappan, Chief Technology Officer at Infinera. “This achievement is made possible by Infinera’s high degree of vertical integration including our in-house digital signal processor design, photonic integrated circuit design and manufacturing, and holistic in-house packaging.”

“We are pleased to work with Infinera to demonstrate how our combined leading-edge technologies can maximize capacity and reach,” said Jeanne Propst, division vice president, product line management, Optical Fiber and Cable, Corning Incorporated. “Our TXF fiber, with its high-data-rate capabilities and exceptional reach, helps network operators stay ahead of growing bandwidth demands while lowering their overall network costs.”

https://www.infinera.com/press-release/Infinera-and-Corning-Achieve-800G-Across-800-Kilometers-with-ICE6

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OIF's Coherent Common Management Interface Spec supports 400ZR

OIF has completed the Coherent Common Management Interface Specification (C-CMIS) Implementation Agreement (IA), which serves as an extension to the CMIS (QSFP-DD/OSFP/COBO) management specification, specifically targeting DCO modules.

“The C-CMIS IA is an important part of the developing 400ZR ecosystem,” said Ian Betty, Ciena and OIF Board Member. “It defines additional management registers, and monitors, together with new functionality, mechanisms, or behaviors, as needed.”

The C-CMIS IA provides register definition for coherent modules in pages and parameters that were previously reserved. Users that have previously implemented software to manage optical modules using CMIS will be able to quickly add support for these coherent pages and parameters. This release, which augments the existing CMIS specification which focused on addressing direct detect client optics, is targeted at the 400ZR application.

The technology and complexity of coherent modules requires additional monitoring parameters for use in field applications. This additional monitoring is primarily focused on Forward Error Correction (FEC) monitoring and optical/analog monitoring including items like Chromatic Dispersion, Differential Group Delay and Electrical Signal to Noise Ratio (eSNR). The C-CMIS IA provides specifications to monitor the standard parameters in a normative manner while taking advantage of the flexibility of the CMIS specification to monitor any additional proprietary parameters. 

“The current IA is focused on supporting the OIF 400ZR IA, which supports a single data path with eight-lane host electrical interface for a 400GBASE-R PCS signal and a single-lane 400G coherent media interface (with a new signal format called 400ZR),” explained Betty. “However, we expect future versions to include more complex Metro modules and may even extend these management features to other form factors.”

https://www.oiforum.com/

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NEC hits 10Gbps with outdoor radio in the 150GHz-band

NEC has demonstrated bidirectional 10Gbps outdoor transmission over a span of 150m using all-outdoor packet microwave radios operating in the D-band (130-174.8GHz). The radios use customized RF modules powered by a new RF IC chipset.

In the demonstration, the frequency points for the transmitter and the receiver were 142GHz and 157Hz respectively, the modulation scheme was 128QAM, and modulation speed was 1.6Gbaud.

NEC plans to support this technology in its iPASOLINK series of super compact microwave radio products. Targeted applications include both mobile fronthaul and backhaul networks, which are required to be ultra-high capacity in order to support 5G commercialization.

Additional field tests were conducted throughout a 4 month period over an approximate 1km link distance as part of preparation for practical applications. Going forward, NEC is seeking to confirm parameters necessary for link design based on the recommendations of the ITU-R (*2), such as how to expand to D-band when considering the relationship between rainfall and communication availability.

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Xilinx delivers an FPGA-powered SmartNIC

Xilinx introduced its Alveo U25 SmartNIC for accelerating network, storage and compute acceleration functions.

The Alveo U25 SmartNIC, which is currently sampling, is powered by an FPGA-based engine that supports full programmability and turnkey accelerated applications. Xilinx says its FPGA-powered SmartNIC deliver higher throughput that SoC-based NICs or ASIC based solutions.

Targeted workloads include SDN, virtual switching, NFV, NVMe-oF, electronic trading, AI inference, video transcoding, and data analytics. The first accelerated application available is support for Open vSwitch (OVS) offload and acceleration. Xilinx claims its solution will offload over 90 percent of OVS processing from the server to improve packet throughput by over 5X. Future turnkey solutions from Xilinx are planned for security functions such as IPSec, SSL/TLS, AES-256/128, and distributed firewall as well as AI inference acceleration.

“The SmartNIC market is forecast to surpass $600M and comprise 23 percent of the worldwide Ethernet adapter market by 2024,” according to Baron Fung, research director at Dell’Oro Group. “As cloud service providers scale capacity upwards, they are increasing their deployment of SmartNICs to free up valuable CPU cores for business applications, optimizing server utilization. The telco service providers, another market with strong growth potential, are looking to integrate SmartNICs from the core to the edge of the network for applications such as NFV and AI inferencing. FPGA-based SmartNICs such as the Alveo U25 are well positioned to address this growing market opportunity.”

“Today’s cloud infrastructures suffer from critical data bottlenecks caused by server I/O,” said Donna Yasay, vice president of marketing, Data Center Group at Xilinx. “With up to 30 percent of data center compute resources allocated for networking I/O processing, overhead continues to grow along with CPU cores. Xilinx is addressing the challenges resulting from the increased demands on networking by providing an easier to deploy SmartNIC with turnkey accelerated applications and out-of-the-box capabilities that go far beyond fundamental networking.”

In addition, Xilinx announced its first XtremeScale Ethernet adapter card in the Open Compute Project (OCP) Spec 3.0 form factor and a proof of concept for the world’s first FPGA-based OCP Accelerator Module (OAM). The new XtremeScale X2562 10/25Gb Ethernet adapter card is designed for high-performance electronic trading environments and enterprise data centers, the X2562 features sub-microsecond latency and high throughput with ultra-scale connectivity for real-time packet and flow information to thousands of virtual NICs. The X2562 is currently sampling and will be generally available in the second calendar quarter of 2020.

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Turkcell completes 800G test with Huawei

Turkcell completed an 800G transmission test between two data centers in Istanbul using Huawei's equipment.

Huawei's latest processing boards offer programmable and flexible adjustment of multiple modulation formats ranging from 200G to 800G. The solution uses second-generation channel-matched shaping (CMS) technology, a Faster than Nyquist (FTN) algorithm system, and an AI neuron function module. The company claims optimal spectral efficiency and transmission performance while achieving the single-fiber capacity of 48 Tbps. The trial also confirmed the 400G ultra-long-haul transmission capacity of the live network, which can implement 1040 km of unregenerated transmission from Istanbul to Ankara.

Mr. Gediz Sezgin, CTO of Turkcell, said "We continue our infrastructure investments to strengthen our existing technology and prepare our networks for 5G for superior user experience. In 5G-era, virtual reality applications, autonomous driving, and smart cities will be mainstays in the digital area. These technologies will pave the way for generating large revenues and transform our lives at large. High-speed data-needs will be at their highest, and next- generation technologies such as remote surgery and robots will offer solutions to a wide variety of problems. We have been able to respond easily to rapidly increasing capacity needs through the 800G and 400G long-haul channels that we have deployed in our network. Turkcell will continue to lead the industry on new technologies in the future".

https://www.huawei.com/en/press-events/news/2020/2/turkcell-huawei-800g-trial-live-carrier-network

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Equinix to offer Bare Metal as a Service with Packet acquisition

Equinix completed its previously-announced, $335 million acquisition of Packet, a leading bare metal automation platform.

Equinix intends to operate the existing Packet business as "Packet, an Equinix company," while developing new solutions for enterprise customers that combine Packet's leading bare metal automation technology with the rich ecosystems, global reach and interconnection fabric of Platform Equinix. Zachary Smith, former CEO of Packet, will serve as managing director of the bare metal business.

Equinix said Bare Metal as a Service allows companies to rapidly deploy physical infrastructure at the edge.

Equinix to acquire Packet for bare metal automation platform

Tuesday, January 14, 2020  Equinix  

Equinix agreed to acquire Packet, a start-up based in NYC offering a bare metal automation platform for developers. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The acquisition will accelerate Equinix's strategy to help enterprises more seamlessly deploy hybrid multicloud architectures on Platform Equinix® and extract greater value from the platform's rich ecosystems and global interconnection fabric. By leveraging bare metal services at Equinix to deploy digital infrastructure on demand, customers will be better equipped to reach everywhere, interconnect everyone and integrate everything that matters to their business.

Equinix said intends to leverage the Packet offering to accelerate the development and delivery of its interconnected edge services. The idea is to offer an enterprise-grade bare metal offering across Platform Equinix that allows customers to rapidly deploy digital infrastructure, within minutes, at global scale.

Platform Equinix is a dynamic data center and interconnection platform that leverages the company's global footprint of more than 200 data centers.

Bare metal is a key foundational element allowing customers to deploy distributed, hybrid multicloud infrastructure on demand. A proven leader in bare metal automation, Packet's proprietary technology automates physical servers and networks without the use of virtualization or multitenancy.

"We started Packet in 2014 with a vision to redefine the next wave of cloud with a focus on the distribution and automation of fundamental infrastructure. This dovetails perfectly with Equinix's strategy for helping enterprises implement new digital architectures in a growing number of edge locations. The incorporation of Packet into Equinix will accelerate the delivery of enhanced edge services to Equinix's growing customer base, while continuing to serve the developer community that has come to rely on Packet's unique offering," states Zachary Smith, CEO, Packet.

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DE-CIX joins CoreSite’s Open Cloud Exchange

DE-CIX has joined CoreSite’s Open Cloud Exchange.

The CoreSite SDN-based Open Cloud Exchange provides a single port into a layer 2 Ethernet switching platform, enabling customers to now reach DE-CIX New York to access over 220 networks through a single interconnection. CoreSite customers in Boston and Northern Virginia can now provision connections to DE-CIX to reach networks not available in each local market.

“We’re excited to offer access to DE-CIX New York through CoreSite’s Open Cloud Exchange,” said Ed d’Agostino, Vice President and General Manager of DE-CIX North America. “Through a connection to DE-CIX New York, CoreSite customers gain more than just access to hundreds of domestic and international networks. A connection also enables the ability to use DE-CIX’s GlobePEER Remote service, which extends low latency connectivity and reach to DE-CIX Frankfurt and other exchanges with access to over 1,200 networks throughout the world seamlessly, effectively and more cost-efficiently.”

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Ribbon completes merger with ECI Telecom

Ribbon Communications completed its previously announced acquisition of ECI Telecom Group, which supplies packet-optical transport and SDN/NFV solutions for service providers, enterprises, and data center operators.

The newly combined company will offer an extensive portfolio of advanced voice, security, data and optical networking solutions. In addition to extending the company’s solutions portfolio into adjacent markets, the merger advances Ribbon’s strategy of expanding into the service provider 5G data domain with bundled network analytics, intelligence and security offerings. The newly combined company allows Ribbon to enhance and broaden its existing customer offerings with ECI’s industry-leading packet optical transport solutions.

"We are thrilled to welcome ECI to the Ribbon family,” said Bruce McClelland, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ribbon. “Our expanded product offering combines ECI’s leadership in packet optical networking with our existing proven portfolio of software-based, real-time communications security, analytics and digital transformation solutions. Our new organization will leverage the strength and presence of our global sales force to create a very formidable market leader in the communications industry.”

McClelland added, “ECI’s solutions are specifically designed to address the rapidly growing 5G ecosystem. We look forward to working closely with all of our employees to leverage Ribbon’s strong foundation to build sustained, long-term growth.”

“This transformational transaction accelerates our strategy to position the company into higher growth markets,” said Daryl Raiford, Chief Financial Officer of Ribbon. “The combination of Ribbon and ECI offers our customers world-class products that we believe will drive Ribbon’s growth, profitability and cash flow. We are immediately focused on our integration efforts to unlock revenue expansion and drive shareholder value.”

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HPE posts Q1 revenue of $6.9 billion, down 8% yoy

Hewlett Packard Enterprise reported quarterly net revenue of $6.9 billion, down 8% from the prior-year period and 7% from the prior-year period when adjusted for currency. m

HPE said market uncertainty, supply constraints, and North America manufacturing capacity constraints impacted revenue in Q1, particularly in Compute.

GAAP gross margin was 32.8%, up 170 basis points from the prior-year period and Non-GAAP gross margin of 33.2%, up 210 basis points from the prior-year period. Non-GAAP diluted net EPS was $0.44, compared to $0.42 in the prior-year period and in-line with the previously provided outlook of $0.42 to $0.46 per share.

Some highlights:

• Intelligent Edge returned to growth with revenue of $720 million, up 4% year over year when adjusted for currency, with 9.7% operating margin, up 630 basis points from the prior-year period. Enhancements to North America sales leadership and go-to-market segmentation are paying off with double-digit growth in North America and 13% growth when adjusted for currency in overall WLAN product.
• Compute revenue was $3.0 billion, down 15% year over year when adjusted for currency, with 9.5% operating margin, flat from the prior-year period. Revenue was pressured this quarter due to a more uneven business environment, component supply constraints and North America manufacturing capacity constraints.
• High Performance Compute & Mission Critical Systems (HPC & MCS) revenue was $823 million, up 6% year over year when adjusted for currency, with 6.0% operating margin, down 660 basis points from the prior-year period. HPC business continues to gain momentum with over $2.0 billion of awarded business expected to be delivered by FY23.
• Storage revenue was $1.3 billion, down 7% year over year when adjusted for currency, with 18.1% operating margin, down 60 basis points from the prior-year period. Hyperconverged Infrastructure showing continued momentum, up 6% year over year when adjusted for currency and Big Data, up 45% year over year when adjusted for currency.
• Advisory & Professional Services (A&PS) revenue was $243 million, flat year over year when adjusted for currency, with (0.8%) operating margin, up 12.5 points from the prior-year period. A&PS is a strategic business that pulls through significant infrastructure and operational services sales.
• Financial Services revenue was $859 million, down 6% year over year when adjusted for currency, with 8.5% operating margin, up 10 basis points from the prior-year period. Net portfolio assets were up 2% year over year when adjusted for currency, and financing volume was up 2% year over year when adjusted for currency. The business delivered return on equity of 14.8%, down 90 basis points from the prior-year period.

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Comcast carries 600G wavelength over 1600km with Ciena

Comcast carried a 600Gbps single wavelength with live commercial traffic across more than 800km between core peering locations in Newark, New Jersey, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Comcast also looped back the signal and verified successful operation of 600Gbps across 1,600-kilometers.

The trial used Ciena's WaveLogic 5 Extreme technology. The deployment marks the first in Ciena’s Waveserver 5 form factor.

Ciena said its WaveLogic 5 Extreme is designed to provide bandwidth tunability, from 200G to 800G, and adapt to constantly changing end-user demands with more capacity per wavelength and lower cost per bit.Waveserver 5 leverages WaveLogic 5 coherent technology to scale up to 12.8Tbps in a compact 2RU footprint. WL5e also facilitates the evolution to 400G-interface routers and universal 400GbE transport across any location in the Comcast National Backbone network without regeneration.

“As the largest fixed-broadband provider in the US, we know the way people consume media and data, in general, is changing and we’re committed to continue and support the increased customer demand with increased capacity across our network. This recent achievement allows us to benefit from Ciena's continued innovation in its coherent optical technology, optimizing both our network architecture as well as our overall cost per bit,” stated Noam Raffaelli, Senior Vice President, Network and Communications Engineering, Comcast.

https://www.ciena.com/about/newsroom/press-releases/comcast-and-ciena-achieve-600G-milestone-across-1600-kilometer-connection.html

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