Cignal AI: Drop in spending from N.American cloud and telcos in 4Q20

After spending aggressively during the first half of 2020, Traditional Telco operators (Incumbent and Wholesale) in North America curbed spending on optical and packet hardware during the fourth quarter. 4Q20 spending by these operators dropped almost 40%, according to the 4Q20 Transport Customer Markets Report from market research firm Cignal AI.

“North American network operators spent much less than usual in 4Q20 as they installed and used capacity acquired earlier in the year amidst COVID uncertainties,” said Scott Wilkinson, Lead Analyst for Transport Hardware. “This will change in 2021 as first Cloud and then Traditional operators resume normal spending patterns.”

 Key Findings from the 4Q20 Transport Customer Markets Report:

• Fourth Quarter spending on optical hardware by Cloud & Colo expanded dramatically in APAC but declined in EMEA and North America.
• Ciena lost some sales of optical transport equipment to Cloud operators but maintained market leadership in 2020. Huawei (due to growth in APAC), Nokia, and Infinera all gained share.
• Huawei maintained market share leadership for the year in both optical and packet transport equipment sales to Traditional Telcos. The company has not yet seen market share declines from growing political pressure in EMEA.
• Enterprise & Government spending on optical hardware was resilient for the year; defying expectations that it would decline due to COVID pressures.
• Transport markets should return to growth in the second half of 2021 as COVID restrictions are lifted, operational difficulties are resolved, and businesses resume normal operations. Strength will be led by Cloud & Colo operators, followed by Traditional Telco operators.

https://cignal.ai/2021/03/north-american-traditional-telco-and-cloud-capex-drops-in-fourth-quarter/

Read More

Benu enhances its Virtual BNG with SASE and 5G WWC

Benu Networks has enhanced its Virtual Broadband Network Gateway (vBNG) with new Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and 5G Wireless Wireline Convergence (WWC) capabilities. Benu's VBNG runs on its SD-Edge Platform, which is currently being used by its customers to connect over 25 million WLAN access points and CPE gateways and to handle over 7 Petabytes of data daily. 

The software-defined SASE capabilities run inside the carrier network -- an industry first. This enables carriers to run enterprise-class security for both remote workers and business sites/branch offices.

The new support for 5G Access Gateway Function (AGF) enables service providers to bring the benefits of 5G network slicing and low-latency services to fixed networks and WiFi. The Benu 5G AGF is a natural evolution of the BNG, where 5G service providers can manage their fixed line subscribers with their 5G core. 

“Our customers are thrilled we are bringing a cloud-native solution that is not only disruptive in performance and economics, but also enables high-value security services and the option to manage their fixed network using their 5G core, ” says Mads Lillelund, CEO of Benu Networks. “With our solution, operators will have the flexibility and agility to protect customers from within their broadband networks and deliver a unified experience across fixed and mobile networks. This delivers on our commitment to help operators delight customers, drive new revenue and reduce costs.”

https://benunetworks.com/cloud-native-bng-integrates-sase-and-5g-agf/

Read More

3rd Virtual OIDA Technology Showcase slated for 27 – 29 April 2021

Innovators will demonstrate state-of-the-art products advancing the field of optics and photonics during the 3rd Virtual OSA Industry Development Associates (OIDA) Technology Showcase, 27 – 29 April 2021. The three-day program will feature 27 companies in a format comprised of five technology themes – Fiber Optics and Communications, Instrumentation and Metrology, Lasers, Precision Optics and Components and Services.

Industry experts will describe unique applications with compact ultrafast fiber lasers, customizable field optical connectors, space optics and photonics technology for planetary exploration, quantum information processing and more. Participating companies, OIDA members, will present their products to a global audience and engage with attendees in virtual networking rooms for demos and Q&A discussion. Event registration is free and open to the public.

“The OIDA technology showcase has proven to be an effective platform for companies to engage with customers and prospects in a virtual environment,” said Simin Cai, OIDA Council Chair and President and CEO, Go!Foton, USA. “The networking opportunities enable them to present their unique products to a global audience and establish new connections. With new technologies entering the marketplace, it is important for companies and attendees to exchange information on products and industry trends.”

The 27 participating companies include Toptica Photonics, G&H, Thorlabs, Hitachi High-Tech, Santec, Menlo Systems, Schott, EXFO and LIGENTEC. Each company will exhibit technologies and products in a live 15-minute presentation. Registrants will have access to the online content and product profiles before and after the event.

More info is here: https://www.osa.org/en-us/meetings/industry_events/oida_technology_showcase_2021_march/

Read More

Belgium's Proximus deploys ADVA synchronization for 5G

Proximus is leveraging ADVA's Oscilloquartz timing technology to synchronize Belgium’s largest open mobile network. The deployment enables Proximus to improve speed, coverage and reliability for millions of mobile users throughout Belgium, while also preparing its network for next-generation services. The deployment includes ADVA’s core grandmaster devices, access boundary clocks and its enhanced primary reference time clock (ePRTC) solution,. ADVA’s partner is Arcadiz Telecom, a leading provider of connectivity solutions across the Benelux region.

Proximus’s new nationwide synchronization network is built on the OSA 5440, an ultra-stable timing solution optimized for deployment in core networks and the OSA 5412 family of cost-effective, mid-scale synchronization devices engineered for deployment in a wide range of locations. It’s anchored by the robust and proven OSA 3230B ePRC cesium clock installed in two central sites. This supports high levels of frequency stability compliant with the strictest ITU-T standards and, combined with the OSA 5440, ensures long-term stability of UTC time. The extended stability performance of ADVA’s ePRC provides immunity against GNSS outages – a crucial requirement for mission-critical applications that should not rely on satellite-based timing alone.

“For major mobile network operators like Proximus, our PTP grandmaster and boundary clocks and our ePRTC solution are the perfect tools. They enhance overall performance and deliver the precision timing necessary for 5G use cases. Our technology also enables other services such as broadcast networks to migrate to IP-based timing,” commented Jörg Urban, senior director, business development, Oscilloquartz, ADVA. “The OSA 5412 Series and OSA 5440 support a smooth and cost-effective migration to next-generation phase and frequency synchronization. And with our ePRTC solution providing robust backup for GNSS, Proximus’ mobile customers can be sure of high-quality, uninterrupted services with no loss of performance.”

http://www.adva.com

Read More

Vodafone tests Edgecore’s DCSG with ADVA software

Vodafone Romania successfully completed a live network trial of open IP routing with Edgecore’s Disaggregated Cell Site Gateway (DCSG) and ADVA's Ensemble Activator software. The DCSG was deployed in seven of Vodafone Romania’s live network sites in a variety of topologies.

Edgecore said its DCSG was developed as a joint operator community effort within TIP’s Open Optical & Packet Transport (OOPT) Project Group and is one of the first projects to introduce open, standard-based disaggregated hardware and software for use in telecom transport networks. As an early and leading contributor to OOPT, Edgecore has developed a series of TIP accepted DCSG products that address numerous use cases for mobile operators in both greenfield and brownfield deployments.

The trial in Romania validates the feasibility of open IP routers able to serve 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G mobile traffic and the ability to interoperate with Vodafone’s current transport network providers. The combination of Edgecore’s DCSG coupled with ADVA’s Ensemble Activator software demonstrates the key capabilities of the solution, delivering transport services with IP routing, and with frequency and time synchronization.

George Tchaparian, CEO and President of Edgecore Networks, said, “As the leading provider of open network solutions to tier-one operators worldwide, and the leading contributor to OCP, ONF, and TIP open communities, Edgecore understands the requirement to accelerate the innovation of disaggregated open network deployments while moving toward a more consistent and open infrastructure across mobile broadband and transport networks. This successful live trial in Romania is yet another proof point that open networking is robust and deployable in the most demanding network environments.

“Edgecore has a comprehensive DCSG portfolio with multiple performance classes, CPU, thermal, and timing/synchronization options based on Broadcom DNX Qumran packet processors. Open Network solutions are ideal for high-volume cell site and aggregation routing applications. Disaggregated, open hardware and software reduces operator costs, increases choice, and quickens the pace of innovation.”

“Built on our Ensemble Activator carrier-grade NOS and Edgecore’s innovative DCSG open hardware design, Vodafone Romania trial proves that service providers and can easily harness the power of this open and best-of-breed solution,” commented James Buchanan, GM, Edge Cloud, ADVA.

“This is a major milestone in the path to developing a healthy and sustainable open ecosystem of cell site gateways to increase flexibility and efficiency. We validated the Edgecore and ADVA solution in our networks and look forward to our continued partnership in the future,” commented Nikos Plevris, Vodafone Head of Transmission and Transport Engineering.

Read More

SpaceX completes 25th Starlink launch mission

SpaceX launched a further 60 Starlink satellites on Wednesday, March 24 at 4:28 a.m. EDT fromCape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The booster was successfully recovered on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The mission marked the sixth launch and landing of this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously supported the launch of GPS-III Space Vehicle 03, Turksat 5A, and three Starlink missions. 

Read More

II-VI maintains its existing bid for Coherent, Inc.

II-VI is maintaining its current proposal to acquire Coherent, which will expire at Noon Pacific Time on Thursday, March 25, 2021.  II-VI believes its proposal would create significant value for the shareholders of both companies and remains superior to Lumentum’s latest proposal.

Under the terms of the II-VI proposal, Coherent’s shareholders would receive $220.00 in cash and 0.91 of a share of II-VI common stock for each Coherent share, which implies a total per share value of $287.18 based on the 10-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) of II-VI common stock for the period ending March 16, 2021, the day prior to the date II-VI submitted its current proposal.

https://ii-vi.com/ii-vi-incorporated-maintains-its-current-proposal-for-coherent/

Lumentum again raises bid for Coherent Inc.

Tuesday, March 23, 2021  Coherent, Lumentum, Mergers And Acquisitions  

On March 22, Lumentum increased its bid to acquire Coherent.Under the terms of the revised proposal, Coherent stockholders would receive $230.00 per share in cash and 0.6724 shares of Lumentum common stock for each Coherent share they own. Based on Lumentum's closing stock price on March 22, 2021, this equates to a consideration of $287.50 per Coherent share.Lumentum intends to finance the cash portion of the transaction through a combination of...

READ MORE

II-VI again raises its bid for Coherent

Thursday, March 18, 2021    

II-VI increased its offer to acquire Coherent Inc. to top the revised proposal from Lumentum on March 17th.Under the terms of the revised II-VI proposal, Coherent’s shareholders would receive $220.00 in cash and 0.91 of a share of II-VI common stock for each Coherent share, which implies a total per share value of $287.18 based on the 10-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) of II-VI common stock, ending March 16, 2021. II-VI continues to expect...

READ MORE

Read More

Google Cloud builds a universal Network Connectivity Center

Google Cloud launched a preview of a new Network Connectivity Center for providing "planet-scale network management" to simplify complex networks for on-prem and cloud connectivity.

The idea is a single interface for creating, connecting, and managing heterogeneous on-prem and cloud networks leveraging Google’s global infrastructure. Network Connectivity Center aims to seamlessly connect VPNs, partner and dedicated interconnects, as well as third-party routers and Software-Defined WANs.

Google Cloud also announced an expanded partnership with Cisco. Their joint solution leverages Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub and Google Cloud Network Connectivity Center to connect branch sites and on-prem data centers to the cloud using Google’s high performance, global infrastructure and Cisco SD-WAN’s vManage. Via Cisco Cloud OnRamp, users can also extend Cisco SD-WAN’s fabric through an automated process to Google Cloud.

“Google Cloud and Cisco continue driving innovation for our joint customers to enable secure and automated SD-WAN access from applications and services running on Google Cloud Platform,” said JL Valente, vice president, product management, for Cisco Enterprise Routing, SD-WAN and Cloud Networking. “Our latest integration not only extends the Cisco SD-WAN fabric to Google Cloud to automate provisioning of site-to-cloud connectivity effortlessly, but also gives customers the choice of using Google Cloud for providing a highly reliable, high performance global cloud network for site-to-site connectivity that can be deployed in minutes.”

https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/networking/announcing-network-connectivity-center

https://blogs.cisco.com/networking/cisco-sd-wan-cloud-hub-with-google-cloud-delivers-enterprise-connectivity-over-global-cloud-network

Cisco SD-WAN offers tighter integration with Google Cloud

Wednesday, April 22, 2020  Cisco, Google Cloud, SD-WAN  

Cisco and Google Cloud are building tighter integration for enterprise customers.

A new turnkey networking solution called Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud promises secure and on-demand connectivity from a customer's branch, to the edge of the cloud, through Google Cloud’s backbone, and to applications running in Google Cloud, a private data center, another cloud or a SaaS application.

Google notes that the network that supports services like YouTube, Search, Maps and Gmail is the same infrastructure that provides connectivity to Google Cloud customers and their users.

Key capabilities of Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud:

• A flexible, on-demand network that allows customers to automatically provision a reliable, global network that grows with enterprises’ business needs. In most cases, customer traffic enters Google’s network directly from their last mile provider and stays on Google’s network while it traverses the globe. Combining Cisco’s advanced SD-WAN capabilities with Google's software-defined backbone, customers get an end-to-end network that not only optimizes connectivity between branches, stores and to the cloud, but also provides telemetry for troubleshooting and diagnostic purposes. 
• Automated application and path-aware routing takes the complexity out of mapping business services to the appropriate network. The Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud solution allows customers to publish all of their services in a single place with the ability to define the intent of how the network should treat those services in an automated fashion, reducing time to onboard new services on to the network. With a combined view of network telemetry, this solution also provides the most optimized path to interconnect Anthos-based services hosted in hybrid/multi cloud environments. 
• Stronger, smarter security thanks to Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud’s end-to-end security, which seamlessly integrates network control and available application-layer security controls based on workload and user identities. With this rich set of controls, customers get security at multiple layers, resulting in stronger protection for their applications.

https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/partners/introducing-cisco-sd-wan-cloud-hub-with-google-cloud

Read More

Aryaka: 2021 State of the WAN report

 A significant majority of enterprieses expect a hybrid work environment to persist after the pandemic recedes, according to Aryaka's fifth annual 2021 State of the WAN report. The study surveyed over 1350 global IT and network practitioners at enterprises spanning all verticals, headquartered in NA, APAC and EMEA. The survey asked respondents about their networking and performance challenges, priorities and their plans for 2021 and beyond. 

The report finds that the number of enterprises connecting to over 100 inter-regional sites growing by 50%, from 19% in 2020 to 28% in 2021. This is coupled with continued application growth, with the number of enterprises stating that they’ve deployed over 500 distinct applications growing to 46%, compared to 32% in 2021. As evidence of collaboration traction, Zoom was identified as critical by 36% in 2021, up from 25% in 2020.

Key trends identified in this year’s report include:

• Accelerating fusion of networking and security planning, with almost a third of enterprises stating that they are already deploying what they consider to be a secure access service edge (SASE) architecture
• A hybrid work environment that will persist after the pandemic recedes, with over 80% stating that they expect over a quarter of workers to remain remote, and over two-thirds desiring flexibility between on-premises and remote deployments
• Continued WAN and application growth, resulting in increased network complexity. The number of enterprises reporting they’re deploying over 500 distinct applications has grown to 46%. 37% of enterprises identify complexity as their number one network concern     
• 43% of enterprises identify application performance as an underlying driver for WAN transformation. However, WAN transformations have slowed this year due to the pandemic
• Over 70% of enterprises intend to move to managed services versus just 18% who prefer the autonomy of a do-it-yourself WAN solution  

“The fifth edition of the Global State of the WAN is bigger and better than ever, with survey inputs and insights from over 1350 Enterprises worldwide,” said Shashi Kiran, CMO of Aryaka. “On behalf of Aryaka Networks, I would like to express my gratitude to those who participated in this survey, and hope this serves as an excellent resource and guidebook for all those CIOs, network, cloud and security practitioners to leverage and proactively Plan their WAN™. Of particular interest are the trends focusing on SD-WAN and SASE deployments.”

https://www.aryaka.com/state-of-wan-2021/

Read More

Intel sets course with new integrated device manufacturing strategy

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger outlined the company’s path forward to an integrated device manufacturing model. The IDM2 strategy has 3 elements:

Building Intel’s global, internal factory network for at-scale manufacturing. Intel said its 7nm development is progressing well, driven by increased use of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) in a rearchitected, simplified process flow. Intel expects to tape in the compute tile for its first 7nm client CPU  in the second quarter of this year.

Expanding the use of third-party foundry capacity to include the manufacturing for a range of modular tiles on advanced process technologies, including products at the core of Intel’s computing offerings for both client and data center segments beginning in 2023. 

Creating a new Intel Foundry Services with plans to become a major provider of U.S.– and Europe-based foundry capacity to serve the incredible global demand for semiconductor manufacturing. The new business will be headed by Dr. Randhir Thakur.  IFS will be differentiated from other foundry offerings with a combination of leading-edge process technology and packaging, committed capacity in the U.S. and Europe, and a world-class IP portfolio for customers, including x86 cores as well as ARM and RISC-V ecosystem IPs.

During the company’s global “Intel Unleashed: Engineering the Future” webcast, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced a $20 billion investment to build two new fabs in Arizona, located at the company’s Ocotillo campus. 

“We are setting a course for a new era of innovation and product leadership at Intel,” said Gelsinger. “Intel is the only company with the depth and breadth of software, silicon and platforms, packaging, and process with at-scale manufacturing customers can depend on for their next-generation innovations. IDM 2.0 is an elegant strategy that only Intel can deliver – and it’s a winning formula. We will use it to design the best products and manufacture them in the best way possible for every category we compete in.” 

In addition, Intel and IBM announced plans for an important research collaboration focused on creating next–generation logic and packaging technologies.

https://newsroom.intel.com/news-releases/idm-manufacturing-innovation-product-leadership/#gs.wf9f4f

Read More

Aqua Comms upgrades trans-Atlantic submarine cable routes with Ciena

Aqua Comms has upgraded its two Trans-Atlantic submarine cable routes with Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme submarine network solution.

Aqua Comms owns two major subsea networks: AEC-1 that connects the US, Ireland, the UK, and AEC-2, which connects North America with Scandinavia, Ireland and the UK. With Ciena, the AEC-1 path, that spans 5,521 km and connects New York to Ireland and the UK, has been completely modernized and upgraded to support 400GbE services leveraging Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e), doubling the cable’s capacity to almost 20 Tbps.

Aqua Comms is also utilizing Ciena’s technology to enhance the 7,650 km AEC-2 network to support up to 500G Trans-Atlantic channel rates and the introduction of spectrum sharing and backhaul capabilities for its customers.

Ciena said both upgrades were successfully completed with the networks in-service. The upgrade will also provide Aqua Comms with access to Ciena’s Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) domain controller that offers a more sophisticated management and control capability, translating into significant operating efficiencies. Aqua Comms is also adopting Ciena Insights Service and predictive software capabilities to help resolve network issues.

“Aqua Comms has proven to be a trail blazer in the subsea market,” said Ian Clarke, Vice President of Global Submarine Solutions, Ciena. “With these network enhancements Aqua Comms can offer greater efficiencies and reliability across its network and support the hyper-growth traffic between the US and Europe.”

Aqua Comms activates AEC-2 transatlantic cable

Tuesday, December 01, 2020  Aqua Comms, Submarine, Subsea  

Aqua Comms activated AEC-2 (America Europe Connect-2), the company’s second Trans-Atlantic subsea cable system and complementing its existing AEC-1 (America Europe Connect-1) cable, which went Ready for Service in 2016. AEC-2 connects New Jersey, U.S.A to Denmark, and is a wholly diverse and resilient new Trans-Atlantic subsea route, doubling fibre connectivity between North America and Denmark making it the first new subsea system directly...

READ MORE

Read More

Synopsys announces PCIe 6.0 solutions

Synopsys introduced its intellectual property solution for PCI Express (PCIe) 6.0 technology that includes controller, PHY and verification IP.

The solutions enables early development of PCIe 6.0 system-on-chip (SoC) designs. 

Synopsys' DesignWare IP for PCIe 6.0 supports the latest features in the standard specification including, 64 GT/s PAM-4 signaling, FLIT mode and L0p power state. To achieve the lowest latency with maximum throughput for all transfer sizes, the DesignWare Controller for PCI Express 6.0 utilizes a MultiStream architecture, delivering up to 2X the performance of a single-stream design. The Controller, with available 1024-bit architecture, allows designers to achieve 64 GT/s x16 bandwidth while closing timing at 1GHz. In addition, the controller provides optimal flow with multiple data sources and in multi-virtual channel implementations. To facilitate accelerated testbench development with built-in verification plan, sequences and functional coverage, the VC Verification IP for PCIe uses native SystemVerilog/UVM architecture that can be integrated, configured and customized with minimal effort.

"Advanced cloud computing, storage and machine learning applications are transferring significant amounts of data, requiring designers to incorporate the latest high-speed interfaces with minimal latency to meet the bandwidth demands of these systems," said John Koeter, senior vice president of marketing and strategy for IP at Synopsys. "With Synopsys' complete DesignWare IP solution for PCI Express 6.0, companies can get an early start on their PCIe 6.0-based designs and leverage Synopsys' proven expertise and established leadership in PCI Express to accelerate their path to silicon success."

The DesignWare Controller and PHY IP for PCIe 6.0 early access are scheduled to be available in Q3 of 2021. The Verification IP for PCIe 6.0 is available now. 

https://www.synopsys.com/designware-ip/interface-ip/pci-express/pci-express-6.html

Read More

Equinix launches Precision Time service in its data centers

Equinix announced the launch of a highly accurate Time as a Service capability to help enterprises with  precise and secure time synchronization of their networks.

Equinix Precision Time, which is delivered seamlessly over Equinix Fabric in it global data centers, is aimed at the financial services, online gaming, government, manufacturing, and media and entertainment sectors. The service is essential for meeting compliance requirements and maintaining precise time synchronization across the network to support seamless operations of their digital infrastructure.

Some highlights

• Accurate – Provides microsecond-level precision for Precision Time Protocol customers with an SLA of 50 microseconds. For customers operating standard enterprise network infrastructure, Equinix Precision Time also offers support for the popular NTP protocol, providing the flexibility to choose the optimal time protocol that suits their organization's operational needs.
• Compliant – The service is in compliance with the time synchronization accuracy requirements of FINRA and MiFID II, which have SLA requirements of 100 microseconds for timestamping of applications. It is also compliant with the time synchronization accuracy requirements of SMPTE 2110 requirements. 
• Reliable and Secure – Delivered over Equinix Fabric, customers can bypass the public internet to achieve more secure and reliable time synchronization across servers using private IP network connectivity.
• Equinix Precision Time is currently available with Equinix Fabric within Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers located in global markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific, including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Barcelona, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Culpeper, Dallas, Denver, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Houston, Istanbul, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Manchester, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Osaka, Paris, Philadelphia, Seattle, Seoul, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Sofia, Stockholm, Tokyo, Toronto, Warsaw, Washington, D.C. and Zurich.

https://www.equinix.com/newsroom/press-releases/pr/124140/Finance-Online-Gaming-Broadcast-and-Other-LatencySensitive-Businesses-Benefit-from-New-OnDemand-Precision-Time-Service-on-Platform-Equinix/

Read More

.

GÉANT, the European research network,has selected Orange Business Services as one of its preferred partners in its Open Clouds for Research Environments project (OCRE)

The OCRE project aims to accelerate cloud adoption in the European research community by bringing together cloud providers with earth observation, health, research and education groups. The agreement enables Orange Business Services to sell public cloud services to National Research Education Networks (NREN) and more than 8,000 institutions across Europe – covering over 50 million users – and leverages Orange local, in-country support and capabilities across Europe.

Orange Business Services will provide its trusted public cloud platform Flexible Engine, a high-performance infrastructure capable of supporting emerging technologies, such as big data management and artificial intelligence (AI), with a security perimeter to guarantee the security of the platform.

“The knowledge and expertise of Orange in the cloud environment will enable us to give our members the right combination of governance, services and pricing. This will allow our members to tap into the power of a future-proofed cloud infrastructure that will significantly expand their research capabilities,” said Dave Heyns, Director Cloud and Digital Services, GÉANT.

“We are thrilled to be a chosen cloud provider in the Open Clouds for Research Environments (OCRE) project. By teaming with Orange Business Services, GÉANT has a trusted and global digital services partner capable of delivering the agility of cloud and associated professional services to research and education groups across Europe. This will enable them to remain at the forefront of research and innovation. With our extensive GDPR and European regulatory expertise, researchers can have a trusted environment for their own intellectual properties,” said Kristof Symons, Executive Vice President, International, Orange Business Services.

https://www.orange-business.com/en

Read More

Nokia tops 4.5 Gbps in 5G mmWave testing with Nokia

Turk Telekom achieved a top downlink speed in excess of 4.5 Gbps in field testing of Nokia’s AirScale 5G RAN solution on 26 GHz mmWave spectrum, 800 MHz bandwidth and a single user device.

The testing, which occurred in Ankara, connected Nokia’s AirScale Base Station with a mobile device across Turk Telekom’s 26Ghz mmWave spectrum at a peak speed of 4.5 Gbps. Nokia was selected by Turk Telekom to deliver the ultra-low latency, connectivity and capacity required to test the full range of 5G connectivity in the scope of this trial.

Yusuf Kıraç, Chief Technology Officer at Turk Telekom, said: “During the trial, we solely used mmWave spectrum over the 5G test network which reached record speeds above 4.5 Gbps. Thanks to this technology, which provides numerous benefits for users and operators, we achieved the high speeds and large capacity targets promised by 5G. These technologies also act as a bridge to develop and pave the way for "Terahertz" systems that provide ultra-high-speed and capacity, which are planned to be used in 6G.”

Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said: “Despite the launch of commercial 5G networks in many countries, 5G trials still play an important role in the development of faster and better networks. This record speed achieved together with our long-term partner, shows that we are constantly refining and improving how we build and manage 5G networks, and this is in no small part thanks to the nearly 200 5G trials, live operator networks and private wireless deployments we have delivered globally.”

Read More

Sierra Wireless hit by ransomware, knocking manufacturing offline

Sierra Wireless was hit by a ransomware attack on its internal IT systems on March 20, 2021. The attack has caused the company to halt production at its manufacturing sites. The company’s website and other internal operations have also been disrupted by the attack.

Sierra Wireless is asking its customers and partners for their patience as it seeks to recover. The company has its withdrawn its First Quarter 2021 guidance it provided on February 23, 2021.

https://www.sierrawireless.com/

Read More

Lumentum again raises bid for Coherent Inc.

On March 22, Lumentum increased its bid to acquire Coherent.

Under the terms of the revised proposal, Coherent stockholders would receive $230.00 per share in cash and 0.6724 shares of Lumentum common stock for each Coherent share they own. Based on Lumentum's closing stock price on March 22, 2021, this equates to a consideration of $287.50 per Coherent share.

Lumentum intends to finance the cash portion of the transaction through a combination of cash on hand from the combined company's balance sheet, $3.25 billion in new debt financing from a fully committed Term Loan B and the previously announced $1 billion equity investment from Silver Lake.

https://www.lumentum.com/en/media-room/news-releases/lumentum-announces-revised-proposal-coherent-2

Read More

Helios Towers to acquire mobile towers from Airtel Africa

Helios Towers plc reached an agreement with Airtel Africa to acquire its passive infrastructure operating companies in Madagascar and Malawi and enter into exclusive memorandum of understanding arrangements for the potential acquisition of its passive infrastructure assets in Chad and Gabon. The total price for the passive infrastructure companies in Madagascar and Malawi is $108 million. 

This represents 2,227 existing mobile tower sites across Madagascar, Malawi, Chad and Gabon. The deals are expected to make Helios Towers the largest independent telecommunications infrastructure company in each of Malawi, Chad and Gabon with strong market share in Madagascar.

Helios Towers said all four nations - Madagascar, Malawi, Chad and Gabon - represent compelling markets for telecoms with a combination of a young, growing and increasingly urbanised populations plus high GDP growth.

https://www.heliostowers.com/

Read More

Inphi ramps shipments of 400ZR and ZR+ QSFP-DD transceivers

Inphi announced the commercial availability and production ramp of its COLORZ II 400ZR QSFP-DD pluggable coherent transceivers for cloud data center interconnects (DCIs). Inphi also confirmed that a longer reach variant, COLORZ II 400G ZR+, which extends the reach of COLORZ II from 120km to about 400km, is in final stages of qualification and expected to be commercially available starting next month.

COLORZ II 400ZR and 400ZR+ enable a dramatic increase in switch rack capacity while reducing power consumption by up to 80%. COLORZ II delivers up to 14.4Tb of capacity per rack unit, compared to 2.4Tb or 3.6Tb per RU for competing solutions, representing a 4-6x increase in throughput per chassis. COLORZ II ZR and ZR+ achieve drastically improved density through higher levels of silicon photonics integration as well as much lower power consumption across all coherent transceiver elements.

“COLORZ II 400G ZR and ZR+ are the enabling technology for next-gen data center interconnects,” said Josef Berger, AVP, Product Marketing, Optical Interconnect at Inphi. “This is an important step in realizing our vision of 'The Cloud is the Network™'. The commercial availability and production ramp of COLORZ II 400G ZR and ZR+ demonstrates Inphi's industry leadership as we continue to create solutions that dramatically increase the speed of data movement, while keeping the power and cost low.”

According to market research firm Cignal AI, shipments of 400G ZR and ZR+ modules will expand at a >100% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) and provide one-third of worldwide WDM connectivity in 2025.

“The commercial availability of COLORZ II 400ZR makes IP over DWDM viable for network operators,” said Andrew Schmitt, Directing Analyst. “This enables an entirely new type of distributed data center architecture for the cloud and is the first step towards broad adoption in both cloud and traditional service provider networks.”

Inphi said its COLORZ II represents the culmination of several important industry firsts:

• First 400G single-chip, coherent silicon PIC to include all transmit and receive functions
• First low-cost, passive alignment of fiber to the PIC using traditional optics, eliminating the need for complex active alignment
• First low-power, high-performance 7nm CMOS-based coherent DSP enabling 400ZR and 400ZR+ extended reach 100/200/300/400G modes
• First integrated, industry-standard firmware management interface enabling full performance monitoring of DCI or transport systems without direct optical module support

https://www.inphi.com/media-center/press-releases/inphi-announces-commercial-availability-and-production-ramp-of-colorz-ii-400zr-and-zr-qsfp-dd-transceivers/

Wednesday, April 29, 2020  400ZR, OIF  

OIF published the Implementation Agreement (IA) for a low-cost, 400ZR coherent optical interface. OIF launched the 400ZR project in response to requests from large-scale data center operators and their suppliers for an interoperable coherent interface that transports 400 Gigabit Ethernet over longer distances. Traditional network operators also became interested in 400ZR for their metro needs. Based on their different requirements, OIF developed...

READ MORE

 

Read More

NeoPhotonics cover 800km reach with 400ZR+ QSFP-DD transceiver

NeoPhotonics demonstrated that its 400ZR+ QSFP-DD coherent pluggable transceiver can effectively transmit at a 400 Gbps data rate over a distance of 800 km in a 75GHz-spaced DWDM system with more than 3.5 dB of OSNR margin in the optical signal. 

This 400ZR+ coherent pluggable transceiver module is based on NeoPhotonics high performance coherent optics and its ultra-pure color tunable laser, and achieves a reach of 800 km while staying within the power consumption envelope of the QSFP-DD module’s power specification. 

Highlights:

• This 800 km transmission demonstration was carried out on NeoPhotonics Transmission System Testbed and utilized 75 GHz spaced channels. 
• The QSFP-DD uses NeoPhotonics Silicon Photonics based Coherent Optical Subassembly (COSA) and its ultra-narrow linewidth Nano-ITLA tunable laser. 

NeoPhotonics said the longer reach was enabled by the superior performance of these optical components along with a commercial digital signal processor (DSP) using proprietary forward error correction (FEC). The COSA exhibits low insertion loss and low impairments, making efficient use of the optical signal. The Nano-ITLA tunable laser exhibits ultra-low phase noise and low power consumption. Additionally, these components allow NeoPhotonics 400ZR+ QSFP-DD transceiver module to operate at a case temperature of up to 80 degrees Celsius, which is ten degrees higher than conventional telecom modules, thereby reducing air flow requirements resulting in lower fan speeds and reduced power for cooling in data centers.

NeoPhotonics QSFP-DD modules are in the final stages of qualification and have passed 2000 hours of High Temperature Operating Life (HTOL) and other critical tests per Telcordia requirements. The Company expects these modules to be at General Availability (GA) within the second quarter of 2021.

NeoPhotonics 400ZR+ QSFP-DD transceivers are designed to operate in 75 GHz spaced DWDM systems using 64 Channel Arrayed Waveguide Grating MUX and DMUX filters, such as those made by NeoPhotonics. In this case, a fully loaded fiber operating in the C-Band would provide a total of 25.6 Terabits per second (Tbps) capacity. To further maximize the data capacity of optical fibers, NeoPhotonics has developed an enhanced version of its ultra-low noise laser in a C++ LASERTM module, which has a tuning range of 6 THz, enabling a total fiber capacity of 32 Tbps using 400Gbps transceivers and 75 GHz channel spacing.

“We are excited to extend the operation of our QSFP-DD Coherent transceiver into metro and regional applications in this 400ZR+ configuration,” said Tim Jenks, Chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. “Advances in our ultra-pure light tunable laser, our silicon photonics integrated COSA and electronic DSPs have inexorably decreased the size, power and cost of coherent transmission such that a coherent transceiver capable of up to long haul distances can fit in the same form factor as a current generation high density client side pluggable module, such as a QSFP-DD. This has been a sea change for Data Center Interconnect networks, and we believe it will also bring fundamental changes to metro and regional networks,” concluded Mr. Jenks.

https://www.neophotonics.com/press-releases/?newsId=12251

NeoPhotonics ships QSFP-DD 400G ZR modules

Thursday, February 25, 2021  400ZR, Neophotonics  

NeoPhotonics announced the availability of its extended case temperature QSFP-DD 400G ZR modules.

NeoPhotonics said the new 400G ZR modules leverage its Silicon Photonics Coherent Optical Subassembly (COSA) and low power consumption, ultra-narrow linewidth Nano-ITLA tunable laser.  Each of these components can be operated over a wide module case temperature range up to 80C. This enables the Neophotonics 400G ZR modules to be deployed in extended temperature data center environments while reducing cooling requirements and fan power.

“The ability of 400G ZR vendors to offer thermally-optimized designs capable of supporting higher case temperatures will significantly help reduce system cooling requirements,” said Dr. Hacene Chaouch, Distinguished Engineer at Arista Networks. “This is an important consideration for implementing power efficient data center interconnect architectures.” 

“We are pleased to support customers with high-performance 400G ZR modules that operate across a wide thermal envelope, without sacrificing optical performance.” said Tim Jenks, Chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics.  “By utilizing our leading high-speed coherent components technology and optimizing the entire optics suite through in-house design, we are able to favorably benefit data centers need to reduce power consumption and improve environmental sustainability,” concluded Mr. Jenks.

https://www.neophotonics.com/press-releases/?newsId=12221

Read More