Monday, May 23, 2022

AWS launches instances powered by Graviton3 processors

AWS announced the general availability of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) C7g instances, the next generation of compute-optimized instances powered by AWS-designed Graviton3 processors.

AWS says its AWS Graviton3 processors running C7g instances provide up to 25% better compute performance for compute-intensive applications than current generation C6g instances powered by AWS Graviton2 processors. The higher performance of C7g instances makes it possible for customers to run more efficiently a wide range of compute-intensive workloads—from web servers, load balancers, and batch processing to electronic design automation (EDA), high performance computing (HPC), gaming, video encoding, scientific modeling, distributed analytics, machine learning inference, and ad serving. 

“Customers of all sizes are seeing significant performance gains and cost savings using AWS Graviton-based instances,” said David Brown, Vice President of Amazon EC2 at AWS. “Since we own the end-to-end chip development process, we’re able to innovate and deliver new instances to customers faster. With up to 25% better performance than current generation Graviton instances, new C7g instances powered by AWS Graviton3 processors make it easy for organizations to get the most value from running their infrastructure on AWS.”

New C7g instances are built on the AWS Nitro System, a collection of AWS-designed hardware and software  that streamline the delivery of isolated multi-tenancy, private networking, and fast local storage. The AWS Nitro System offloads the CPU virtualization, storage, and networking functions to dedicated hardware and software, delivering performance that is nearly indistinguishable from bare metal. 

AWS also promises that C7g instances in the coming weeks will include support for Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA), which allows applications to communicate directly with network interface cards, providing lower and more consistent latency. C7g instances are available for purchase as On-Demand Instances, with Savings Plans, as Reserved Instances, or as Spot Instances. C7g instances are available today in US East (N. Virginia) and US West (Oregon), with availability in additional AWS Regions coming later this year.

http://www.aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types/c7g

AWS launches EC2 instances powered by its own Graviton2 processor

Amazon Web Services announced the general availability of its sixth generation of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances with three new instances powered by AWS-designed, Arm-based Graviton2 processors. Graviton2 is a custom AWS design that is built using a 7nm manufacturing process and based on 64-bit Arm Neoverse cores. AWS says it can deliver up to 7x the performance of the A1 instances, including twice the floating point performance....

Reports: AWS May Buy Israeli Start-up

Amazon is looking to acquire Annapurna Labs, a start-up based in Israel believed to be developing data center switching chipsets.  According to various media sources, the deal could excedd US$350 million. The company was founded in 2011 by Avigdor Willenz, who previously founded Galileo Technology. The companies have not yet commented on the reports. http://www.annapurnalabs.com/ https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/a...


Broadcom delivers 50G automotive Ethernet switch

Broadcom  introduced its latest Scorpio Ethernet switch for building next-generation in-vehicle networks based on zonal architecture and capable of supporting large numbers of high-performance sensors and displays.

Broadcom's BCM8958X, which represents the company's 6th generation of automotive Ethernet switch and third generation in its Scorpio family, features 16 Ethernet ports of which up to six are 10 Gbps capable, as well as integrated 1000BASE-T1 and 100BASE-T1 PHYs, providing greater flexibility and switching capacity needed to support automotive zonal electronic control unit (ECU) and central compute ECU architectures. Additionally, this switch is equipped with an advanced rule-based packet filter engine that can adapt to different vehicle operation modes to enhance driving safety.

The company says that as automotive networking becomes more complex and software-defined, many OEMs are adopting a zonal in-vehicle network architecture to connect sensors, high-resolution cameras and displays. The zonal ECUs need to aggregate the data from these connected devices in real time and securely share them across central compute ECUs. The BCM8958X is optimized for use in both zonal ECUs and central compute ECUs that can switch and route large volumes of data for real time decision making. 



BCM8958X highlights:

• 6th generation automotive switch chip with 55 Gb/s switching capacity

• 16-port monolithic die switch

• Six 10G ports: XFI or PCIe x1 4.0 with SRIOV

• Integrated 100BASE-T1 and 1000BASE-T1 PHYs

• ARM subsystem with integrated TCM

• Hardware security and MACsec support

• AVB & TSN (802.1AS-2020, 802.1Qci, 802.1CB, 802.1Qbv)

• Software development kit including drivers, a gPTP protocol stack, and host APIs and providing portability from previous generation products

“Broadcom continues to lead with a comprehensive Ethernet solution for new automotive architectures,” said Vijay Janapaty, vice president and general manager of the Physical Layer

https://www.broadcom.com/company/news/product-releases/60241

T-Mobile advances 5G Private Mobile Network

T-Mobile US announced a 5G Private Mobile Network solution set for enterprise customers. The new 5G Advanced Network Solutions has three options: 5G connectivity with a Public Mobile Network, a Hybrid Mobile Network, and a Private Mobile Network. Customers have the option to add compute to each option or use their own compute provider. And each solution is fully managed. 

  • Customers who need more reliability and faster download speeds than legacy networks provide can use the T-Mobile Public Network for a wide variety of applications from smart meter applications to tracking optimization and more. T-Mobile’s public network is architected so that data travels less distance from the device to the compute resource and back. That’s a big reason T-Mobile 5G is faster with lower latency.
  • Customers who need even faster speeds, lower latency and/or dedicated reliability can use the Hybrid Mobile Network. This is ideal for things like immersive VR training, computer vision and inspections and other demanding applications, without the expense of a fully private solution.
  • Customers who need the highest speeds, reliability and ultra-low latency can use the Private Mobile Network. A private solution is needed for only the most demanding applications, like industrial automation in a factory or fully autonomous robots. 

T-Mobile also announced the following partnerships:

  • T-Mobile and Dell Technologies are developing solutions for enterprise and government customers to embrace the 5G era. T-Mobile’s 5G Private Mobile Network will pair a private 5G network with Dell edge computing technologies, including Dell VxRail hyperconverged infrastructure, so data can be processed, stored and acted upon locally at locations like large business campuses, factories, or universities. It will be available on-premises and be fully managed by T-Mobile.
  • Nokia and T-Mobile are developing 5G Private Mobile Networks and Hybrid Mobile Networks. Nokia’s equipment will be used for T-Mobile’s Hybrid Mobile Network; and for T-Mobile’s Private Mobile Network solution, the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud Private Network solution.
  • Ericsson’s RAN and Core equipment will power T-Mobile’s 5G Advanced Network Solutions.

“As we launch more 5G products and services this year, we’re always thinking about what our customers are telling us they need,” said Mishka Dehghan, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Product, and Solutions Engineering, T-Mobile Business Group. “And, customers are telling us that navigating the complex infrastructure around private networks to produce tangible results is a major pain point. We’re ready to help with partners like Dell Technologies so our customers can stay focused on their business and leave the next-gen connectivity solutions to us.”

http://t-mobile.com/business/solutions/networking/5G-advanced-solutions






UK's Netomnia tests STL's programmable FTTx

STL will test its programmable FTTx (pFTTx) software solution with Netomnia for their live networks in the UK.

STL recently announced general availability for pFTTx, a software-defined, open, and disaggregated Passive Optical Network  solution that is intended to make fibre networks intelligent and agile. 

The company cites core benefits like scalability, enhanced and detailed Telemetry reports, open community alignment (ONF/BBF/ITU-T), onboarding of third party Quality of Experience (QoE) applications, providing a better customer experience along with faster time-to-market and reduced total cost of ownership. This software stack, being cloud-native (Kubernetes microservices-based), can run on any Cloud-native Computing Foundation (CNCF)-based telco Edge Cloud platform. The solution currently supports both XGS-PON and GPON technologies and is upgradeable to 25G. Also, STL's pFTTx solution is certified and listed on the VMware Marketplace.

STL and Netomnia have recently partnered for Optical Fibre deployment and are now collaborating to incorporate programmability into large-scale FTTx networks. Once concluded, this trial will pave the way for the adoption of advanced software-defined architectures for FTTx in the UK.

Commenting on this collaboration, Jeremy Chelot, CEO, Netomnia, said, "The promise of full-fibre broadband will be realised when service providers implement advanced architectures that software-ise the fibre networks. We are excited about the possibilities that STL's pFTTx solution presents. This trial with STL will be significant as we will jointly demonstrate pFTTx in a live scenario."

Commenting on the announcement, Chris Rice, CEO, Access Solutions, STL, said, "pFTTx is a cloud-based access network solution that elevates the network service providers' business model. We are excited to collaborate with Netomnia for their Ultrafast full-fibre broadband program. Our solution is intended to help them achieve accelerated network rollout with faster deployment, provisioning and enhanced network performance."

https://www.stl.tech/press_release/Netomnia-and-STL-to-collaborate-for-testing-of-programmable-FTTx-in-live-networks/

STL launches VMWare-powered programmable FTTx

STL introduced its Programmable FTTx (pFTTX), a software-defined, open, and disaggregated solution that is now now listed on VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure 2.0 OpenStack Edition Platform. STL said its pFTTx solution enables cloud- native networks with open interfaces by disaggregating the software from the hardware layer.Speaking at the launch, Gaurav Agarwal, Sr. Director - Enterprise & Government Sales from VMware India, said: “We...


First systems powered by NVIDIA's Grace and Grace Hopper Superchips

Leading Taiwanese computer makers are introducing the firstsystems powered by the NVIDIA's new Grace CPU Superchip and Grace Hopper Superchip.

Dozens of server models from ASUS, Foxconn Industrial Internet, GIGABYTE, QCT, Supermicro and Wiwynn are expected starting in the first half of 2023. The Grace-powered systems will join x86 and other Arm-based servers to offer customers a broad range of choice for achieving high performance and efficiency in their data centers.

The coming servers are based on four new system designs featuring the Grace CPU Superchip and Grace Hopper Superchip, which NVIDIA announced at its two most recent GTC conferences. 

“A new type of data center is emerging — AI factories that process and refine mountains of data to produce intelligence — and NVIDIA is working closely with our Taiwan partners to build the systems that enable this transformation,” said Ian Buck, vice president of Hyperscale and HPC at NVIDIA. “These new systems from our partners, powered by our Grace Superchips, will bring the power of accelerated computing to new markets and industries globally.”

The Grace CPU Superchip features two CPU chips, connected coherently through an NVIDIA NVLink-C2C interconnect, with up to 144 high-performance Arm V9 cores with scalable vector extensions and a 1 terabyte-per-second memory subsystem. The design provides the highest performance and twice the memory bandwidth and energy efficiency of today’s leading server processors to address the most demanding HPC, data analytics, digital twin, cloud gaming and hyperscale computing applications.

The Grace Hopper Superchip pairs an NVIDIA Hopper GPU with a Grace CPU over NVLink-C2C in an integrated module designed to address HPC and giant-scale AI applications. Using the NVLink-C2C interconnect, the Grace CPU transfers data to the Hopper GPU 15x faster than traditional CPUs.

The Grace CPU Superchip and Grace Hopper Superchip server design portfolio includes systems available in single baseboards with one-, two- and four-way configurations available across four workload-specific designs that can be customized by server manufacturers according to customer needs:

  • NVIDIA HGX Grace Hopper systems for AI training, inference and HPC are available with the Grace Hopper Superchip and NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs.
  • NVIDIA HGX Grace systems for HPC and supercomputing feature the CPU-only design with Grace CPU Superchip and BlueField-3.
  • NVIDIA OVX systems for digital twins and collaboration workloads feature the Grace CPU Superchip, BlueField-3 and NVIDIA GPUs.
  • NVIDIA CGX systems for cloud graphics and gaming feature the Grace CPU Superchip, BlueField-3 and NVIDIA A16 GPUs.

OneWeb signs Gogo Business Aviation

OneWeb confirmed a long-term distribution partnership agreement with Gogo Business Aviation, whereby the inflight connectivity solutions provider will market and sell OneWeb’s high-speed, low latency inflight broadband services to business aviation users globally.  

The agreement, OneWeb’s first announced distribution partner for the business aviation market, was signed at EBACE between Ben Griffin Vice President Mobility at OneWeb and, Jim MacDougall Vice President, Product Management for Gogo.

Gogo Business Aviation has more than 4,500 narrowband satcom systems installed and flying worldwide, and is a factory option at every major business aircraft manufacturer. 

MacDougall commented: “For more than 30 years, Gogo Business Aviation has been a driving force behind the technological innovations that have connected the skies. “This agreement with OneWeb enables Gogo to continue to disrupt and innovate to bring our customers superior connectivity solutions while expanding our service to a global audience.”  

https://oneweb.net/resources/oneweb-partners-gogo-business-aviation-revolutionise-flight-connectivity-business-jet

GSMA: Mobile operators commit to greenhouse gas reductions

The number of mobile operators committed to rapid emissions cuts has increased by more than 50% over the last year, according to GSMA's new 2022 Mobile Net Zero Report.

GSMA finds 49 operators representing 62% of the industry by revenue have now committed to rapidly cutting emissions over the next decade. This represents an increase of 18 operators since 2020, despite the challenges of Covid-19. In addition, 50% of mobile network operators by revenue have now committed to net-zero targets by 2050 or earlier.

Despite double-digit growth in data traffic and the global expansion of 5G networks, the report shows that operators successfully limited increases in carbon emissions to 2% on average in 2021. Investment in more energy-efficient network equipment and lower-carbon energy sources helped industry players limit their carbon impact, even as networks grew significantly to meet consumer demand.

GSMA’s Director General Mats Granryd said, “We are proud that the mobile industry continues to align around the 1.5C decarbonization pathway, even in the face of double-digit growth in demand for mobile services. We have far more to do to achieve our net zero ambitions, but mobile will undeniably play an essential role in helping industries and individuals across the globe reduce their carbon impact. The connected solutions we underpin, such as remote working, IoT and automation, are key enablers in reducing travel, cutting emissions in other industries and transitioning to a lower carbon future. We also take our responsibilities seriously, with greater disclosure and strict targets to reduce our own emissions, as we show in our annual Mobile Net Zero report.”

https://www.gsma.com/betterfuture/resources/mobile-net-zero-state-of-the-industry-on-climate-action-2022-report

Sunday, May 22, 2022

Reports: Broadcom in talks to acquire VMware

Multiple U.S. media sources, including the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, reported that Broadcom is in advanced talks to acquire VMware. 

Neither company has commented on the reports, which cite anonymous sources. 




VMware completes spin-Off from Dell Technologies

VMware completed its spin-off from Dell Technologies. The move provides VMware increased freedom to execute its multi-cloud strategy, a simplified capital structure and governance model, and additional operational and financial flexibility. VMware and Dell said they will continue to partner with each other and to continue support/services to mutual customers.“VMware’s mission is to deliver the trusted software foundation that accelerates our customers’...


Trump blocks Broadcom's proposed takeover of Qualcomm

President Trump signed an executive order prohibiting Broadcom from acquiring Qualcomm or proceeding with any substantially equivalent merger, acquisition, or takeover of the firm whether effected directly or indirectly. The order cited "credible evidence" that Broadcom, along with its partners, subsidiaries, or affiliates, impairs the national security of the United States. Trump said he was taking this action upon review of a recommendation...


BT trials new hyper-sensitive quantum radio receiver

BT is testing a new hyper-sensitive quantum antenna technology uses ‘excited atoms’ to deliver over 100x greater sensitivity than traditional receivers.

BT says Atomic Radio Frequency (RF) receiver technology represents a revolutionary new way of detecting radio waves that could find much weaker signals than conventional receivers. The receiver works by using a quantum effect called “electromagnetically induced transparency” to form a highly sensitive electric field detector. BT’s trial represents the first time a digitally-encoded message has been received on a 3.6GHz (5G) carrier frequency. Previously, simple audio has been received using much higher frequencies but this trial is the first industrial demonstration using digital modulation within one of EE’s main commercial 5G frequency ranges.

Researchers at BT Labs in Martlesham are now working to miniaturise the equipment and find the optimum RF modulation and signal processing for potential use in future generations of radio networks. BT has secured a number of patents related to the implementation of the atomic RF receiver and is the first company to make use of the technology to send a message at 3.6GHz. Earlier this year, BT also had its first external publication on its atomic RF Receivers accepted for publication in the prestigious Journal of Lightwave Technology. 

Howard Watson, Chief Technology Officer of BT said: “BT’s investment in cutting edge R&D plays a central role in ensuring the UK remains a network technology leader. Our programme has huge potential to boost the performance of our next generation EE network and deliver an even better service to our customers. Although it’s early days for the technology, we’re proud to be playing an instrumental role in developing cutting edge science”.

BT tests Quantum Key Distribution over hollow core fibre 

 BT has conducted a trial of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) over hollow core fibre cable developed by Lumenisity, a spin out from Southampton University.Testing of Nested Anti-Resonant Nodeless Fibre (NANF) hollow core fibre kicked off this summer at the BT Labs in Ipswich.BT researchers operated a state-of-the-art QKD system using commercial equipment over a 6-kilometre-long Lumenisity CoreSmart cable with a hollow, air-filled centre, revealing...


Canada bans Huawei and ZTE for 5G

Citing security concerns, the Government of Canada banned Huawei and ZTE from participating in the nation's 5G rollout.  Specifically:

  • The use of new 5G equipment and managed services from Huawei and ZTE will be prohibited and existing 5G equipment and managed services must be removed or terminated by June 28, 2024.
  • Any use of new 4G equipment and managed services from Huawei and ZTE will be prohibited and any existing 4G equipment and managed services must be removed or terminated by December 31, 2027.
  •  The Government expects that telecommunications service providers will cease procurement of new 4G or 5G equipment and associated services by September 1, 2022.
  • The government further intends to impose restrictions on Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) equipment used in fibre-optic networks.
  • During these transition periods, telecommunications service providers that use this equipment and managed services would be required to comply with any assurance requirements prescribed by the government, building from the Communications Security Establishment’s Security Review Program.

https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-science-economic-development/news/2022/05/policy-statement--securing-canadas-telecommunications-system.html

Huawei's Meng Wanzhou resolves legal case brought by U.S.

Wanzhou Meng, Chief Financial Officer of Huawei Technologies, reached an agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division (CES), and the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division (MLARS). As a result, the U.S. Department of Justice withdrew its request to...


FCC eyes higher speed goals for small rural broadband

The Federal Communications Commission is seeking comment on a proposal to provide additional universal service support to certain rural carriers in exchange for increasing deployment to more locations at higher speeds.  

The proposal would make changes to the Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) program, with the goal of achieving widespread deployment of faster 100/20 Mbps broadband service throughout the rural areas served by rural carriers currently receiving A-CAM support.  

The ACAM Broadband Coalition submitted a proposal to create an Enhanced A-CAM program, which is the impetus for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted today.  Enhanced A-CAM, as proposed, would raise the broadband speeds required by the A-CAM programs to those generally required by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, while minimizing duplicative support across different federal broadband programs.  

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-proposes-higher-speed-goals-small-rural-broadband-providers-0

AMD and Qualcomm optimize Wi-Fi 6 and 6E on laptops

AMD and Qualcomm Technologies are working to optimize the Qualcomm FastConnect connectivity system for AMD Ryzen processor-based computing platforms, starting with AMD Ryzen PRO 6000 Series processors and the Qualcomm FastConnect 6900. This will enable optimized Wi-Fi 6 and 6E connectivity on business laptops powered by AMD Ryzen processors.

In collaboration with Microsoft, next-generation Windows 11 PCs, such as the Lenovo ThinkPad Z Series and HP EliteBook 805 Series, can harness the full potential of Windows 11 Wi-Fi Dual Station through Qualcomm 4-Stream Dual Band Simultaneous. Multiple Wi-Fi bands outperform traditional single band connections for improved video conferencing experiences, reduced latency, and enhanced connection robustness. Leveraging the 6 GHz band, next-gen laptop users can take full advantage of its bandwidth and speed improvements without competing with any non-6E devices.

Out-of-band Wi-Fi remote management is an important tool for enterprise IT managers to diagnose and fix issues, even when the operating system is not running,” said Jason Banta, CVP and General Manager, OEM Client Computing, AMD.  “AMD Ryzen™ PRO 6000 Series processors with Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 enable next generation business laptops to have the processing and connectivity tools needed to perform in modern environments, offering professional-strength remote manageability for users in the new, hybrid workplace.”

“Our collaboration with AMD reflects Qualcomm Technologies’ commitment to the mobile computing space. By optimizing FastConnect 6900 for platforms powered by AMD Ryzen 6000 Series processors, we’re bringing secure Wi-Fi remote management to AMD enterprise customers,” said Dino Bekis, vice president and general manager, Mobile Compute and Connectivity, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “This represents the first step in our relationship to bring superior wireless connectivity to the AMD mobile computing roadmap.” 

https://www.amd.com/en/press-releases/2022-05-17-amd-and-qualcomm-collaborate-to-optimize-fastconnect-connectivity


Cato opens SASE PoP in Marseilles

Cato Networks inaugurated its Marseilles point of presence (PoP), its twentieth PoP in EMEA. 

With the new PoP, Cato extends enterprise-grade threat prevention, data protection, and global traffic optimization to the sites and users in Southern France. Cato already operates a PoP in Paris. The Cato SASE Cloud delivers a full suite of converged security capabilities -- Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Firewall as a Service (FWaaS), IPS as a Service, and Next Generation Anti-malware (NGAM). All available from 70+ PoPs worldwide, servicing 150+ countries, and interconnected by Cato's global private backbone that uses built-in WAN optimization to far outperform legacy MPLS services.

"With the rise of ransomware, cyberthreats, and the need for secure and optimized, global application access, Cato has seen strong demand for our cloud-native SASE platform," says Luca Simonelli, vice president of EMEA sales, "The Marseilles PoP helps meet that demand extending the reach of the Cato SASE Cloud while extending the cloud platform's resiliency within France. The expansion is just part of our strategic plan to continue investing in the EMEA region."

https://www.catonetworks.com/

Thursday, May 19, 2022

Intel to open data center R&D lab in Oregon

Intel plans to invest more than $700 million for a 200,000-square-foot, state-of-the art research and development mega lab focused on data center technologies and addressing areas such as heating, cooling and water usage. Construction on the lab will begin this year at the Jones Farm campus in Hillsboro, Oregon, with opening expected in late 2023.  The lab will qualify, test and enable Intel’s portfolio of data center products including Intel® Xeon, Intel Optane, network interfaces and switch gear, Intel Agilex™ FPGAs, Xe architecture, Habana accelerators and future products under development.  

Additionally, Intel introduced an open intellectual property (open IP) immersion liquid cooling solution and reference design. With the initial design proof of concept initiated in Taiwan, Intel aims to simplify and accelerate the implementation of immersion liquid cooling solutions throughout the ecosystem globally. 

“Intel’s dedication to its global partnerships is evident with these announcements today. The future of the data center and data center design is based on innovative and sustainable technologies and practices, and I’m proud of the work we’re doing every day to help make a sustainable future a reality,” stated Sandra L. Rivera, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Datacenter and AI Group.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/newsroom/news/key-investments-advance-data-center-sustainability.html

Motorola Solutions signs GlobalFoundries to secure radio chip supply

Motorola Solutions, which supplies two-way radios for public safety, critical infrastructure and enterprise organizations, signed a long-term agreement with GlobalFoundries to supply chip solutions.

The companies point out that several critical chips the company designs for its public safety, professional and commercial radios are manufactured by GF in Vermont. GF's SiGe process technology enables the highly reliable, long-range, secure and clear communications vital to police, fire and other first responders.   

“Millions of first responders, utilities, infrastructure providers and businesses rely on Motorola Solutions radios for everyday and emergency communications, and it is essential that we maintain supply of these critical components,” said Scott Mottonen, senior vice president of products, Motorola Solutions. “Our long-term relationship with GF provides important capabilities, reliable U.S.-based manufacturing and added assurance that we will continue to meet the safety and security needs of our customers across the globe.” 

 "Through long-term agreements, we provide assured supply of highly reliable and vital chips used in millions of mission-critical products worldwide. A great example of this is our collaboration with Motorola Solutions on their two-way radios, which are relied upon by first responders everywhere,” said Dr. Bami Bastani, senior vice president and general manager, mobile and wireless infrastructure strategic business unit at GF. “We are gratified to serve the industry with feature-rich solutions but also the innovations in RF technology that deliver low noise and high power and efficiency to allow for clear and long-range communications in highly demanding situations.” 

https://gf.com

Celona picks Keysight’s Open RAN Architect test solution

Celona has selected Keysight’s Open RAN Architect (KORA) solution portfolio to validate the quality and reliability of 5G private network deployments for enterprises.

Celona is using several Keysight 5G radio access network (RAN) test tools, including:

  • Keysight’s user equipment emulation (UEE) test solution (UeSIM) to emulate real network traffic over radio and O-RAN fronthaul interfaces, enabling comprehensive base station performance validation across the protocol stack.
  • Keysight's S9130A 5G Performance Multi-Band Vector Transceiver (VXT), a non-signaling measurement system, to accelerate the validation of sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G base stations (gNodeBs) according to the latest 3GPP specifications.

Keysight says its integrated test, validation and optimization tools enable Celona to accelerate the deployment of 5G local area network (LAN) solutions, including access points for indoor and outdoor wireless coverage and cloud-native software powered by artificial intelligence (AI). 

“Keysight is pleased to support Celona in delivering end-to-end networking solutions that seamlessly integrate with existing enterprise networks to simplify private cellular wireless operations and accelerate the adoption of business-critical applications requiring deterministic wireless connectivity,” said Giampaolo Tardioli, vice president and general manager for Keysight's enterprise and service providers group. “Keysight’s test solutions speed industrial device and network validation and certification, network planning, deployment and site acceptance, as well as simplify network monitoring critical in smart manufacturing, energy, utilities, mining, transport and health care.”




GlobalFoundries announces research and collaboration program

GlobalFoundries is launching a new program that extends the development horizon of innovative, differentiated semiconductor technology and broadens the company's portfolio of feature-rich and enablement solutions. 

GF Labs will focus on advancing new technology and long-term roadmap differentiation that will enable GF customers to develop innovative products and accelerate their time-to-market. The program is offer an open framework of internal and external research and development initiatives that deliver a differentiated pipeline of market-driven process technology solutions for future data-centric, connected, intelligent and secure applications. GF Labs will harvest capabilities from a broad research platform including the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC) in Belgium, Fraunhofer in Germany, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the U.S., and the Institute for Microelectronics in Singapore, along with a broad network of university partnerships.

"Fostering semiconductor innovation is critical to delivering a differentiated technology portfolio that will continue to fuel emerging markets," said Gregg Bartlett, senior vice president of Technology, Engineering and Quality, GF. "Our focus is on making sure we're always developing the latest technologies that provide meaningful differentiation for our customers, not just in the near-term, but far into the next decade. The launch of GF Labs accelerates our pursuit of the innovation it takes to develop and deliver powerful technological advances for our customers."


Dell'Oro: RAN misses estimates in 1Q 2022

Preliminary findings suggest the positive momentum that has characterized the RAN market over the past four years extended into the first quarter, according to Dell'Oro Group.

However, external challenges, including Covid-19 restrictions and supply chain disruptions, taken together with more challenging year-over-year comparisons, impacted the growth rate. Preliminary estimates suggest that the overall 2G–5G RAN infrastructure equipment market—including hardware, software, and firmware—increased at the slowest pace in more than two years.

Additional highlights from the 1Q 2022 RAN report:

  • Top 5 suppliers in the quarter include Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, ZTE, and Samsung.
  • Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, and Samsung lead outside of China while Huawei and ZTE continued to dominate the Chinese RAN market.
  • Non-top 5 suppliers collectively gained around 2 percentage points of share in 1Q 2022.

“Even with the RAN results now coming in below expectations two quarters in a row, it is important to keep in mind that it is still early days in the broader 5G cycle and fundamentals remain healthy”, said Stefan Pongratz, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “We have not made any major adjustments to the aggregate forecast and still expect the broader RAN market to record a fifth consecutive year of growth in 2022, underpinned by elevated investments in North America, Europe, and China”, continued Pongratz.

https://www.delloro.com/news/ran-misses-estimates-in-1q-2022/

 

Dell'Oro: Microwave transmission equipment up 7% in 1Q 2022

Microwave Transmission equipment revenue grew 7 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2022, according to Dell'Oro Group. In the quarter, Huawei and ZTE grew revenues at a faster pace than the market, resulting in significant market share gains for each company compared to the year-ago quarter.

“Sales of microwave transmission equipment started the year strong as operators increasingly added backhaul capacity to cell sites,” stated Jimmy Yu, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “While component shortage and supply chain issues are expected to remain a problem for this industry through 2022, we continue to forecast a strong rate of market growth this year. That said, without a shortage of components, the market would be growing at a much higher rate as identified in this quarter,” added Yu.

Highlights from the 1Q 2022 Quarterly Report:

  • Mobile backhaul drove better than expected results in Microwave Transmission. We estimate the Microwave Transmission market grew 7 percent year-over-year (Y/Y) in 1Q 2022 due to a 16 percent Y/Y growth in mobile backhaul. This sharp growth, however, was slightly offset by a decline in the Verticals market.
  • Component shortages and supply chain issues in the quarter seemed to have worsened compared to the prior quarter. We estimate that without component shortages and supply chain issues the Microwave Transmission market could have grown 11 percent Y/Y in the quarter.
  • Significant market share shifts occurred in the quarter with Huawei and ZTE each gaining over 4 percentage points of share compared to 1Q 2021.

https://www.delloro.com/news/microwave-transmission-equipment-market-grew-7-percent-in-1q-2022/

Airgain releases CBRS and C-Band antennas

Airgain introduced its Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) and Lower C-Band Panel Antenna. 

The antenna provides high performance CBRS and C-Band connectivity for point-to-point or point-to-multipoint applications. Equipped with two ports, this antenna connects to most branch routers or modems. Leveraging MIMO technology, this antenna also offers two high-gain CBRS and Lower C-Band antennas that operate in the 3300 to 3800 MHz band. The small panel limits the wireless infrastructure footprint and provides high-gain for stable point-to-point links.

“There is an explosion in demand for a next generation private wireless network, from corporations needing to power greater productivity to school districts pushing connections on campus and to nearby homes,” said Airgain SVP of Global Product and Marketing Morad Sbahi. “Airgain will be at the forefront of enabling the connectivity of these networks by helping base stations to broadcast reliable and secure private networks at a lower cost.”

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