Huawei shows XGS-PON-based enterprise optical solutions

At its "F5G Evolution, Bringing Intelligence Everywhere" Summit in Shanghai, Huawei highlighted optical networking solutions for enterprise, utility and securing/sensing cases.

Campus scenarios: Huawei has released the FTTO 2.0 solution. Based on the XGS-PON Pro technology, this solution supports 12.5G/25G to rooms, 2.5G/10G to APs, and 2.5G to desktops, building green 10G all-optical networks and facilitating campus intelligence. 

Electric power and transportation industries: Huawei has launched the SE-OTN solution, which is applied to SDH reconstruction at various stations, including power substations, trackside stations, toll stations, and oil and gas BVSs. Using the next-generation optical service unit (OSU) standard for SDH evolution, this solution offers 10 times more bandwidth than legacy SDH networks and inherits the high security and reliability of such networks. And unlike common OTN solutions, the SE-OTN solution does not require complex optical-layer devices, thereby making network planning and O&M far simpler and reducing construction costs effectively. As such, it represents an optimal choice for industries looking to evolve their SDH production networks. This solution fully meets the network requirements that energy and transportation customers have for building new service systems during the industry intelligence evolution.

Perimeter protection scenarios: Huawei has launched the industry's first perimeter protection solution that enables optical-visual linkage and multi-dimensional sensing. At the Summit, Huawei joined hands with Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Construction and Development Co., Ltd. and Beijing CSVision Technology Co., Ltd. to release Optical-Visual Linkage for Perimeter Protection Technical White Paper. The white paper illustrates the technical challenges of and requirements for the perimeter protection system, proposes the optical-visual linkage solution, summarizes industry applications of this solution, and outlines the prospects of the optical-visual linkage perimeter protection technology.

Richard Jin, President of Huawei Optical Business Product Line, said in his keynote speech, "Amid increasing application of AI, the industry poses new requirements on sensing and connectivity. Industry intelligence requires a sensing network and an all-optical network. During the industry intelligence evolution, Huawei continues to explore industry sensing, all-optical campus networks, WAN production networks, data center interconnect, and residential networks. On top of that, we have launched a series of innovative F5G products and solutions to empower AI-enabled industries."

https://www.huawei.com/en/news/2023/9/f5g-evolution-intelligence

Read More

FCC allocates spectrum for ground-to-rocket communications

 The FCC adopted new rules to ensure commercial space launches have the spectrum resources they need for reliable communications. 

The volume of commercial space launches in the United States has increased significantly in recent years, with more than 100 launches expected to occur this year. Each of these launches requires the use of radio spectrum to download data from the rocket and send control signals during the launch.

The new FCC rules adopt a new allocation in the 2025 to 2110 MHz band for ground-to-launch vehicle telecommand uses, and make the entire 2200 to 2290 MHz band available for launch telemetry. The rules also establish a non-exclusive nationwide licensing framework and technical rules to give operators the predictability they need to conduct commercial space launch operations.

The FCC said these new rules will help to ensure that commercial space launches can continue to operate safely and efficiently, while also supporting the continued growth of the US space industry.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel states " We need to ensure that providers have a more consistent and reliable way to get the bandwidth they need for communications during space launches. Historically, this agency provided access to airwaves for space launch activity using special temporary authority. But this cobbled-together approach is not well-suited to an era where commercial launches are a happening with far greater frequency. So today we allocate airwaves specifically to support commercial space launch activity. It will make our process simpler and more open to new entrants. It will better facilitate coordination with our federal partners through the use of a frequency coordinator. Launches are nail-biting undertakings under ideal conditions, so this will help make them easier and also boost competition."

Read More

Video: Breaking through the Memory Wall with CXL

The memory wall has been a major challenge in scaling computing performance. This is about to change.  Ahmad Danesh, Associate Vice President of Product Management from Astera Labs, highlights CXL at the Intel Innovation 2023 event in San Jose.

https://youtu.be/bLmfApz1hPg

- Astera Labs has pioneered CXL and is the first to break through the memory wall.

- By utilizing its Leo CXL Memory Connectivity Platform in conjunction with 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, Astera Labs managed to boost memory bandwidth and capacity by 50%. This is particularly beneficial for AI applications and complex modeling such as computational fluid dynamics or data warehousing.

- What sets this solution apart is its ability to deliver these improvements while reducing latency by 25%. Plus, as a hardware-based solution, it can seamlessly integrate with any software application.

Have a tech update that you want to brief us on? Contact info@nextgeninfra.io!

Read More

Calix looks to Jabil to expand manufacturing in Michigan

Calix is working with Jabil to expandin manufacturing in the United States in support of the “Build America, Buy America” (BABA) for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD).

At a special event held at a factory in Auburn Hills, Michigan, operated by Jabil, the companies highlighted theit expanded manufacturing services agreement.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires the use of Made in America construction materials and manufactured products for federally funded infrastructure projects, including high-speed Internet service deployment under the Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative.

With an initial investment from Calix of $4 million to $6 million and an ongoing spend for operations of $10 million to $15 million per year, Calix manufacturing solutions providers will hire workers in manufacturing, operations, engineering, quality assurance, and administrative roles as they ramp US production of Calix optical solutions—a first step in the company’s BABA initiative. The ongoing collaboration with these manufacturers will create more than 100 American jobs, with additional jobs planned as Calix customers participate in the BEAD program over the next five to 10 years.

“We founded Calix 24 years ago in the US by focusing on and partnering with US rural broadband providers as they innovated to close the digital divide,” said Calix Chairman Carl Russo. “Cooperatives, tribal and community-owned, family and community run, and private equity-backed local broadband providers are the lifeblood of rural America, and we appreciate the opportunity to partner with federal and state leaders on broadband programs that help them expand the great work that they do every day. In doing so, they have created tremendous value for underserved communities across the US as our America-led software and cloud innovation in broadband has enabled even the smallest BSP to thrive and provide the essential broadband services that enable economic growth, education, health, and safety." 

Read More

2023 5G Challenge Winners

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DoD), announced the final winners of the 2023 5G Challenge and its $7,000,000 total prize purse.  

NTIA has awarded $3,000,000, the largest of the 2023 5G Challenge total prize purse, to the Stage Four: Mobility winning contestant team, Lions-NewEdge-Mavenir-Radisys. 

Two teams successfully completed Stage Four: the winning team and a second mobility team, Capgemini-JMA Wireless-QCT/Benetel. A tiebreaker determined the mobility prize winner. 

“America needs to lead the way to a diverse, resilient, and competitive global telecommunications supply chain,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson. “This year’s 5G Challenge winners, through their groundbreaking interoperability and mobility demonstrations, have provided a glimpse of that future. I congratulate the winners and all participants for their work in advancing this field.”

The 2023 5G Challenge focused on testing interfaces among the Open RAN-specified subsystems and end-to-end integration, as well as testing handovers between different vendors.

NTIA/ITS additionally announced the following 2023 5G Challenge prizes winners: 

• Wrap-around Emulation Prizes of $100,000 to Capgemini, Fujitsu, GXC, JMA Wireless, Lions, Mavenir, NewEdge, QCT/Benetel and Radisys,
• Multi-Vendor End-To-End (E2E) Integration 1st place prize of $750,000 and additional lab time to Capgemini and QCT/Benetel, 
• Multi-Vendor End-To-End (E2E) Integration 2nd place prize of $250,000 to Radisys and Lions, 
•  Two Best in Show SBOM and VEX winners of $100,000 and security testing to Fujitsu and JMA Wireless, and 
• Best in Show Collaborator winner of $20,000 and security testing to Lions. 

Read More

Cisco to acquire Splunk, extending its data observability powers

Cisco agreed to acquire Splunk for $157 per share in cash, representing approximately $28 billion in equity value. 

Splunk  (NASDAQ:SPLK) offers a software platform for searching, monitoring, and analyzing machine-generated data, including website logs, application logs, server logs, and network logs. It can be used to troubleshoot problems, improve performance, and identify security threats. 

Splunk’s Unified Security and Observability Platform delivers ML-powered analytics and insights that can be extended with third-party apps. Splunk, which is based in the San Francisco Bay area, has over 7,500 employees and reported $3.654 billion in revenue for 2023, up 37% year-over-year.

The companies said Splunk's security capabilities will complement Cisco's existing portfolio to provide leading security analytics and coverage from devices to applications to clouds. Cisco and Splunk's complementary capabilities will also provide observability across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, enabling customers to deliver smooth application experiences that power their digital businesses.

“We’re excited to bring Cisco and Splunk together. Our combined capabilities will drive the next generation of AI-enabled security and observability,” said Chuck Robbins, chair and CEO of Cisco. “From threat detection and response to threat prediction and prevention, we will help make organizations of all sizes more secure and resilient.”

Upon close of the acquisition, Splunk President and CEO Gary Steele will join Cisco’s Executive Leadership Team reporting to Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins.

• In June 2023, Cisco agreed to acquire Accedian, a privately-held company based in Montreal that offers performance analytics and end user experience solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed. Accedian's cloud-native Skylight service assurance solution provides granular, end-to-end visibility within “the massive multi” – multi-layer, multi-cloud, and multi-vendor networks. Skylight leverages its high-quality performance data, analytics and machine learning to identify, predict and prevent customer-impacting issues. It uses both hardware and software sensors across network traffic from Layer 2 to Layer 7 on physical, virtualized, and cloud infrastructure.
• In 2020, Cisco acquired privately-held ThousandEyes, a provider of real-time visibility tools for the delivery of applications and services over the Internet. Financial terms were not disclosed. San Francisco-based ThousandEyes was founded in 2010 by Mohit Lad and Ricardo Oliveira who had worked together during grad school in the UCLA Internet Research Lab to visualize Autonomous System topologies. ThousandEyes vantage points around the world perform billions of measurements each day to detect when traffic flows are disrupted within ISPs, public cloud networks and other service providers. This network telemetry data is algorithmically analyzed as part of ThousandEyes’ core Digital Experience Monitoring platform and the macro outages that are detected are displayed on an interactive map as part of ThousandEyes’ Internet Insights offering.

https://newsroom.cisco.com/c/r/newsroom/en/us/a/y2023/m09/cisco-to-acquire-splunk-to-help-make-organizations-more-secure-and-resilient-in-an-ai-powered-world.html

Read More

U.S. DoD funds eight Microelectronics Commons hubs

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded $238 million or the establishment of eight Microelectronics Commons (Commons) regional innovation hubs.

The Microelectronics Commons, a key component of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, aims to facilitate the creation of innovative microelectronics. With $2 billion in funding for Fiscal Years 2023 through 2027, the Microelectronics Commons program aims to leverage these Hubs to accelerate domestic hardware prototyping and "lab-to-fab" transition of semiconductor technologies. Each Hub will be advancing U.S. technology leadership in one or more of these areas:

• Secure Edge/Internet of Things (IoT) Computing
• 5G/6G
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hardware
• Quantum Technology
• Electromagnetic Warfare
• Commercial Leap Ahead Technologies

The eight awardees are:

1. Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) Hub

Awardee (Hub Lead): The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech)

Hub Lead State: Massachusetts

FY23 Award:  $19.7 M

90 Hub Members

2. Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons (SCMC) Hub

Awardee: The Applied Research Institute (ARI)

Hub Lead State: Indiana

FY23 Award:  $32.9 M

130 Hub Members

3. California Defense Ready Electronics and Microdevices Superhub (California DREAMS) Hub

Awardee:  The University of Southern California (USC)

Hub Lead State: California

FY23 Award:  $26.9 M

16 Hub members

4. Commercial Leap Ahead for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors (CLAWS) Hub

Awardee:  North Carolina State University (NCSU)

Hub Lead State: North Carolina

FY23 Award:  $39.4 M

7 Hub members

5. Southwest Advanced Prototyping (SWAP) Hub

Awardee:  Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University

Hub Lead State: Arizona

FY23 Award:  $39.8 M

27 Hub members

6. Midwest Microelectronics Consortium (MMEC) Hub

Awardee:  MMEC

Hub Lead State: Ohio

FY23 Award:  $24.3 M

65 Hub members

7. Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH)

Awardee :  The Research Foundation for the State University of New York (SUNY)

Hub Lead State: New York

FY23 Award:  $40.0 M

51 Hub members

8. California-Pacific-Northwest AI Hardware Hub (Northwest-AI Hub)

Awardee:  The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University

Hub Lead State: California

FY23 Award:  $15.3 M

44 Hub members

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3531768/deputy-secretary-of-defense-kathleen-hicks-announces-238m-chips-and-science-act/

Read More

Video: Solving Distributed Computing at Scale

A radical transformation is coming for data center infrastructure as computing systems scale up and scale out. Enfabrica's Accelerated Compute Fabric Switch (ACF-S) aims to solve critical networking, I/O and memory scaling problems in data center AI and high-performance computing clusters. 

https://youtu.be/BR0ZFs0L5lo

Rochan Sankar, Thomas Norrie, and Shrijeet Mukherjee, discuss:

• how Enfabric is meeting the exacting requirements of data centers, aiming to disrupt networking.
• how Enfrabrica has architected their chip and system specifically with AI and ML in mind, focusing on the communication layer to unlock the next generation of AI performance and scaling.
• how Enfabrica is focusing on merging scale-up and scale-out computing, and addressing the challenges of fitting large amounts of memory into systems.

Have a tech update that you want to brief us on? Contact info@nextgeninfra.io!

Read More

Spirent's CloudSure stress tests 5G CNFs

Spirent Communications released an automated, cloud-native test platform to help communication service providers (CSPs) and cloud-native network function (CNF) vendors ensure resilient 5G services. 

Spirent CloudSure evaluates and validates CNF resiliency within 5G networks to help ensure reliable service delivery, while reducing operational costs, and optimizing customer experience. The new CloudSure test platform complements Spirent’s Landslide 5G network test solution by injecting user-defined real-world cloud impairments and correlating their impact on cloud-native 5G services.

Key capabilities of Spirent CloudSure:

• Reliable service delivery: Confirms 5G cloud-native network functions operate reliably under the most challenging cloud conditions for uninterrupted service delivery and long-term revenue growth.
• Reduced operational costs: Optimizes resource utilization and validates complex fault recovery mechanisms to avoid costly outages, 5G service interruptions and reduce operating expenses.
• Enhanced customer experience: Ensures resilient 5G service design, configuration, and performance to deliver high-quality user experiences to improve customer satisfaction and retention.
• Competitive advantage: Enables reliable, high-performing 5G services that meet customer expectations consistently, for a competitive edge in 5G and to attract new customers.

“Cloud-native environments represent a revolutionary new technical approach that breaks a handful of highly reliable, vertically integrated 5G functions into thousands of individual software components that run on a cloud optimized for performance and cost, but not reliability,” said Glenn Chagnot, Senior Director of Product Management for Cloud Solutions at Spirent. “Cloud-native marginalizes traditional testing and visibility approaches, demanding completely new processes and tooling to realize the potential benefits. CloudSure provides proactive, pre-deployment validation to test 5G services with real-world traffic operating on an imperfect cloud to ensure services are resilient and always available in operations.”

https://www.spirent.com/products/cloud-native-testing

Read More

AST SpaceMobile completes 5G call via LEO satellite with Samsung Galaxy S22

AST SpaceMobile completed the first-ever 5G connection for voice and data between an unmodified smartphone and a satellite in space.

The call was placed by AST SpaceMobile engineers from Hawaii to a Vodafone engineer in Madrid using AT&T spectrum and AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 test satellite — the largest-ever commercial communications array deployed in low Earth orbit. 

The 5G call was placed on September 8, 2023, from an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone located near Hana, Hawaii, in a wireless dead zone. 5G connectivity testing was completed with  partners Vodafone, AT&T and Nokia. In a separate test, the company broke its previous space-based cellular broadband data session record by achieving a download rate of approximately 14 Mbps.

“Once again, we have achieved a significant technological advancement that represents a paradigm shift in access to information. Since the launch of BlueWalker 3, we have achieved full compatibility with phones made by all major manufacturers and support for 2G, 4G LTE, and now 5G.” said Abel Avellan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AST SpaceMobile. “Making the first successful 5G cellular broadband connections from space directly to mobile phones is yet another significant advancement in telecommunications AST SpaceMobile has pioneered. We are more confident than ever that space-based cellular broadband can help transform internet connectivity across the globe by filling in gaps and connecting the unconnected.”

Read More

NETGEAR's WiFi 7 Orbi 970 delivers up to 27 Gbps

NETGEAR introduced its Orbi 970 Series Wi-Fi 7 consumer access point capable of performing at up to 27 Gbps.

While WiFi 6E opened the 6GHz band as a superhighway for the latest, fastest devices, WiFi 7 builds on that promise by expanding the channels to 320 MHz and unleashing unprecedented speeds and performance. 

The new Orbi features Quad-Band technology and unique Enhanced Dedicated Backhaul that brings multi-link operation (MLO), a feature of WiFi 7, to create Enhanced Dedicated Backhaul which combines a dedicated 5 GHz band with a 6 GHz band to double the connection speed between the router and satellites and achieve 10 Gig wireless backhaul for reduced latency, and data delivery with maximum speed. 

The router features a 10 Gig internet port as well as one 10 Gig and four 2.5 Gig Ethernet ports, to achieve the fastest speeds available today. The new, elegant, cylindrical bodies of the routers and satellites are purposefully designed for optimal performance while gracing the home with their slim profile and smaller overall footprint to fit unobtrusively on a desk, entertainment unit or shelf. They feature 12 high-performance internal antennas with high-powered amplifiers for 360-degree, wall to wall, front to back coverage.

Technical Specifications:

• 320MHz high-capacity channels – New, ultrawide bandwidth means up to 2.4x the speed to connected devices and is fully backward compatible with older WiFi devices. WiFi 7 smartphones and laptops can get up to 5Gbps.
• 4K QAM – Increases speeds for users by more efficient usage of the available bandwidth.
• Preamble Puncturing – Enables a wider channel than would otherwise be available in areas of high interference.
• Multi-link Operation – Uses multiple WiFi bands at once, for both backhaul and fronthaul to improve network reliability, reduce latency, and ensure data is delivered with maximum speed.
• Enhanced Dedicated Backhaul - Leverages multi-link operation (MLO), to combine dedicated 5Ghz with a 6GHz band to get 10 Gig wireless backhaul speed between router and satellites.
• Multi-Gig Speeds with 10GbE Internet Port – Use the 10 Gig internet port for cable and fiber plans up to 10Gbps. Compatible with any internet service provider.
• 10GbE LAN Ports – Option to use 10Gig wired connection between the router and satellites.
• More Capacity for Data-Intense Activities – Connect up to 200 devices, such as security cameras, smart home devices, and speakers, while enjoying smooth 4K/8K video streaming, ultra-responsive online gaming, AR/VR entertainment, and uninterrupted UHD video conferencing.
• More Multi-gig Wired ports on Router and Satellites – Plug in wired devices to improve performance via a 10Gbps and four 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports.
• Wi-Fi 7 Qualcomm® Networking Pro Series platform – Delivers uncompromising WiFi 7 performance for today’s hyper-connected homes.

Pricing:

Router and 2 Satellites – 3 pack, $2299.99 MSRP

Router and 1 Satellite - 2 pack, $1699.99 MSRP

Add-on Satellite, $899.99 MSRP

https://www.netgear.com

Read More

Deutsche Telekom commercializes network APIs

Deutsche Telekom announced the commercial launch of network APIs under the brand “MagentaBusiness API”. This new service allows developers and business customers to build apps and services that communicate seamlessly with Deutsche Telekom’s network in Germany.

The MagentaBusiness API platform is powered by Vonage, which is a division of Ericsson. It serves as a one-stop shop for access to communications and network APIs, allowing developers and business customers to embed communication functions like video, voice, messaging, and other capabilities into their products, applications, and workflows.

The companies describe the launch of network APIs service as a significant development for the telecommunications industry, as it opens up new possibilities for businesses of all sizes to innovate and develop new products and services. The MagentaBusiness API platform could be used to develop a wide range of applications, such as:

• Smart city applications that use real-time traffic data and other sensor data to improve transportation and other services
• Industrial IoT applications that connect machines and devices to the cloud to enable real-time monitoring and control
• Customer relationship management (CRM) applications that use network APIs to integrate with customer communication channels

The following three network APIs will be made available by the MagentaBusiness API Portal (powered by Vonage):

Quality-on-demand

This API allows an application to request a certain quality of service for a SIM card. Data can be transferred with stable latency or bandwidth, even under high load conditions in the network. Teleoperated driving, for example, requires low latency at all times for safety purposes. This was successfully showcased at the International Motor Show Germany together with partners from the automotive industry.

Device Status – Roaming 

The Device Status – Roaming API will be implemented to determine whether or not a device is in international roaming mode, and in which country. This has use-cases for example in credit card fraud detection, where a banking app can instantly check whether a customer is likely to be making a payment abroad.

Device Location

The network can verify the location of a SIM card within the mobile network in Germany, independent of GPS availability.  One successful trial with a major logistics company saw delivery vehicles tracked and routed to the correct loading ramp of a freight plane, increasing efficiency and minimizing the risk of delay. 

"In the future, our network itself will enable new growth opportunities for businesses through APIs. We invite our customers to explore new use cases or optimize existing business processes by participating in our friendly adopter program," said Claudia Nemat, Board Member for Technology and Innovation at Deutsche Telekom. "Together with Vonage and Ericsson, we are the first to expose network APIs in a one-stop shop portal. APIs are a key strategic focus for Deutsche Telekom. This is underlined by our status as a founding member of the CAMARA alliance, which aims to make standardized APIs available internationally."

"We are excited to be working with Deutsche Telekom as our first strategic CSP partner. Together, Deutsche Telekom, Vonage and Ericsson will leverage our strengths to help companies enhance user experience and growth opportunities with both communications APIs and new network APIs," said Rory Read, Vonage CEO and SVP, Head of Business Area Global Communications Platform for Ericsson. 

https://www.telekom.com/en/media/media-information/archive/telekom-commercially-launches-network-apis-1049276

Read More

Ericsson Cloud RAN now runs on Google Distributed Cloud

Ericsson Cloud RAN solution can now run on Google Distributed Cloud (GDC), offering integrated automation and orchestration and leveraging AI/ML for additional communications service providers (CSP) benefits. The companies have  demonstrated the full implementation of the Ericsson vDU and vCU on GDC Edge and the solution is running live in the Ericsson Open Lab in Ottawa, Canada, with joint ambition for market development.

Google Distributed Cloud is an on-premise solution with fully managed hardware and software. 

Deploying Ericsson Cloud RAN on GDC Edge enables the delivery of a fully automated and very large-scale distributed cloud, resulting in an efficient, reliable, highly performant and secured software centric radio access network infrastructure. In this setup, the on-premises GDC Edge is managed using functions such as fleet management from the public cloud through a dedicated secure connection between on-prem hardware and the cloud, while also addressing sovereignty and privacy requirements of the CSP customers. This architecture ensures the clear path for CSPs toward the implementation of a fully hybrid cloud solution for RAN.

Ericsson and Google Cloud are jointly enhancing the solution through the Linux Foundation open-source project Nephio (a Kubernetes-based automation platform for deploying and managing highly distributed, interconnected workloads such as 5G network functions).

Mårten Lerner, Head of Product Line Cloud RAN, Ericsson, says: “This partnership enables us to deepen and expand our valuable collaboration with Google Cloud, and it opens new opportunities for operators to utilize the benefits of cloud-native solutions and automation. Ericsson remains committed to ensuring the adaptability of its Cloud RAN applications on diverse cloud infrastructures, offering operators enhanced flexibility and choice in deploying Cloud RAN as well as supporting the evolving hybrid cloud architectures together with Google Cloud.”

Read More

Linux Foundation announces funded model for CAMARA project

The Linux Foundation has announced that its CAMARA project, an open source community working on API interoperability for the telecommunications industry, has graduated to a funded model.

CAMARA was launched in February 2022 with 22 initial partners and has since grown to over 250 participating organizations with over 750 contributors. The funded model will help to sustain the project's rapid growth and ensure that it has the resources it needs to succeed.

The funded model will also introduce a Governing Board, Technical Steering Committee, and End User Council to manage collaboration at scale.

Earlier this year, CAMARA partnered with the GSMA, TMForum and LF Networking to publish a white paper, “The Ecosystem for Open Gateway NaaS API Development.” The paper outlines collaborative concepts of Open Gateway (a framework of common network APIs designed to provide universal access to operator networks for developers, helps application developers enhance and deploy services more quickly across operator networks via single points of access to the world’s largest connectivity platform) Network as a Service (NaaS) architecture.

https://camaraproject.org/

Read More

Digital Realty links to Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud

Digital Realty to offer connectivity to the recently-launched Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud via Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) FastConnect. 

Customers can connect to the Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud regions in Frankfurt and Madrid, and they can choose to use Digital Realty to interconnect their Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud-based applications and workloads to other cloud platforms.

The OCI FastConnect interconnection to Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud is facilitated by Digital Realty's proprietary interconnection and orchestration solution ServiceFabric™\, which also extends access to Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud from more than 130 locations globally. In addition to OCI FastConnect connectivity to Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud in Madrid, Digital Realty currently hosts nine other OCI FastConnect points-of-presence (PoPs) globally, including Amsterdam, Chicago, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, London, Madrid, Marseille, and Sao Paulo.

Read More

Sabey Data Centers to build new data center campus in Oregon

Sabey Data Centers unveiled plans for a new, 100MW data center campus on a 60 acre plot in Umatilla, Oregon.

The 700,000 square foot data center campus will support 100+ MW of critical IT load. As of 2020, Oregon reported a 40% renewable utility power fuel mix with a target to hit 100% by 2040. Sabey will procure/invest in carbon free energy in time to meet the Company’s net-zero target by 2029 in Umatilla and across the SDC portfolio, 11 years ahead of Oregon's target.

The campus will offer multiple diverse connectivity solutions, provide low latency to West Coast metro areas and enjoy proximity to west coast subsea cables.

“Sabey continues its commitment to build cutting-edge, super-efficient data centers in markets like Umatilla that move us toward our goal to operate with net-zero carbon emission by 2029. Our data centers combine that level of sustainability with low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) throughout the data center lifecycle, reliability and connectivity,” says Rob Rockwood, President of Sabey Data Centers. “And as we have in every one of our markets, we will run our campuses with men and women from the local community who share our vision to build opportunity along with the world’s best data centers.”

http://www.sabeydatacenters.com/umatilla.

Read More

Netcracker integrates its GenAI Telco with Google Cloud

Netcracker is working to combine its GenAI Telco Solution with Google Cloud’s Vertex AI.

Netcracker leverages its expertise in the telecom BSS/OSS domain together with Google Cloud's Vertex AI to enable a variety of high-value use cases that securely use real-time telecom data. By adding precise telco data and instructions to enrich GenAI models acquired through Vertex AI and fine-tuning these models, CSPs can enable exceptional quality responses and resolutions in their GenAI use cases.

“We’re pleased that Netcracker has identified Google Cloud Vertex AI as an underlying technology powering its new generative AI solutions and services,” said Vivek Gupta, Head of Telecom AI Solutions and Partnerships, Google Cloud. “We look forward to seeing the impact this will have on our Telecom clients looking to build and deploy time-saving, innovative programs across their businesses.”

“Netcracker is excited to work closely with Google Cloud to bring the transformative value of GenAI to our telecom customers,” said Bob Titus, CTO at Netcracker. “With our telco IT leadership and history of innovation, we are ideally positioned to help CSPs leverage this technology to make radical improvements and innovations and achieve real results that will dramatically impact their businesses.”

Read More

Juniper expands Apstra, its Intent-Based Networking solution

Juniper Networks announced enhancements to its Apstra solution, which is an intent-based networking (IBN) software platform that automates and validates the design, deployment, and operation of data center networks. 

Apstra works by modeling the network as a graph, which allows it to understand the relationships and dependencies between all of the network devices and elements. This model is used to validate the network design and to generate configuration instructions for the devices. Apstra can also monitor the network in real time and identify any problems or misconfigurations.

New capabilities in the latest release of Apstra software include:

• Simple data collection and visualization - users can now  customize intent-based analytics probes for telemetry and visibility into network operations, then easily explore and visualize the data using the new database query interface included in Apstra 4.2.0. 
• Complete network visibility with integrated flow data - multivendor flow data through Apstra provides granular visibility for in-depth analysis and insights into the application traffic flows traversing the network without the complexity and cost of a separate monitoring system. When paired with Apstra’s telemetry and analytics features, these capabilities simplify and speed troubleshooting, enable better performance management, capacity planning and cost control, and improve security and compliance - regardless of vendor.
• Automated and streamlined network provisioning with Terraform. Companies currently using the Terraform infrastructure-as-code (IaC) platform to automate their public cloud deployments can now use the Terraform provider for Apstra to automatically push configurations to the data center through Apstra without any API programming. 

Read More

Amazon previews Wi-Fi 7 mesh system

Amazon announced its first Wi-Fi 7 mesh system - -the eero Max 7 combines the company’s patented TrueMesh networking technology with Wi-Fi 7 standard to increase speeds, avoid interference from neighboring networks, and improve mesh latency–and with 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

As eero’s fastest tri-band mesh wifi system, eero Max 7 supports the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz radio bands, and delivers wireless speeds up to 4.3 Gbps and wired speeds up to 9.4 Gbps. With two 10 and two 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, it can support multiple wired devices and enable customers to take advantage of internet plans up to 10 Gbps. 

“Connectivity is core to our everyday lives—we stream movies and TV, take video calls for work, play online games with our friends, and use an ever increasing number of connected devices,” said Nick Weaver, co-founder and CEO of eero. “With tens of millions of eero devices around the world, we know customers notice even a millisecond delay when streaming a movie or gaming, want reliable connectivity in every corner of the home, and always look for faster speeds. eero Max 7 is the culmination of everything we’ve learned—this is an entirely new class of eero, built without compromise.”

eero Max 7 will be priced at $599.99 (one-pack), $1,149.99 (two-pack), and $1,699.99 (three-pack). 

Read More

Intel demos multi-chiplet package using UCIe interconnects

Intel demonstrated the first multi-chiplet package using Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) interconnects.

Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) is an open industry standard for a die-to-die interconnect and serial bus between chiplets. It is co-developed by AMD, Arm, ASE Group, Google Cloud, Intel, Meta, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Samsung, and TSMC. In August 2022, Alibaba Group and Nvidia joined as board members. The open specification is now supported by more than 120 companies.

Intel's test chip combined an Intel UCIe IP chiplet fabricated on Intel 3 and a Synopsys UCIe IP chiplet fabricated on TSMC N3E process node. The chiplets are connected using embedded multi-die interconnect bridge (EMIB) advanced packaging technology. The demonstration highlights the commitment of TSMC, Synopsys and Intel Foundry Services to support an open standard-based chiplet ecosystem with UCIe.

Additional highlights of the first day of Intel Innovation 2023 event in San Jose

• Intel confirmed its five-nodes-in-four-years process technology plan remains on track. Intel 7 already in high-volume manufacturing, Intel 4 manufacturing-ready and Intel 3 on track for the end of this year. An Intel 20A wafer was displayed showing the first test chips for Intel’s Arrow Lake processor, which is destined for the client computing market in 2024. Intel 20A will be the first process node to include PowerVia, Intel’s backside power delivery technology, and the new gate-all-around transistor design called RibbonFET. Intel 18A, which also leverages PowerVia and RibbonFET, remains on track to be manufacturing-ready in the second half of 2024.
• The company revealed new details on next-generation Intel Xeon processors, including major advances in power efficiency and performance, and an E-core processor with 288 cores. 5th Gen Intel Xeon processors will launch Dec. 14. Sierra Forest, with E-core efficiency and arriving in the first half of 2024, will deliver 2.5x better rack density and 2.4x higher performance per watt over 4th Gen Xeon and will include a version with 288 cores2. And Granite Rapids, with P-core performance, will closely follow the launch of Sierra Forest, offering 2x to 3x better AI performance compared to 4th Gen Xeon. Looking ahead to 2025, the next-gen E-core Xeon, code-named Clearwater Forest, will arrive on the Intel 18A process node.
• The AI PC arrives with the launch of Intel Core Ultra processors on Dec. 14. With Intel’s first integrated neural processing unit, Core Ultra will deliver power-efficient AI acceleration and local inference on the PC.
• A large AI supercomputer will be built on Intel Xeon processors and Intel® Gaudi 2 AI hardware accelerators, with Stability AI as the anchor customer.

“AI represents a generational shift, giving rise to a new era of global expansion where computing is even more foundational to a better future for all,” said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. “For developers, this creates massive societal and business opportunities to push the boundaries of what’s possible, to create solutions to the world’s biggest challenges and to improve the life of every person on the planet.”

Read More