NTT teams with Qualcomm on AI at the edge

NTT announced a strategic engagement with Qualcomm to invest in and accelerate the development of the 5G device ecosystem.

The companies will use their combined expertise to meet the need for 5G-enabled devices that support use cases, such as push-to-talk devices, augmented reality headsets, computer vision cameras and sensors at the edge across the manufacturing, automotive, logistics and other industries. The 5G-ready devices will leverage Qualcomm Technologies’ 5G chipsets with AI models built in to enhance AI at the edge through various applications, such as image recognition, with capabilities ranging from counting items and identifying object characteristics to verifying workers wearing safety masks or hardhats (PPE). 

As part of NTT’s end-to-end Edge as a Service offering, NTT is now offering Device as a Service to make it easy for customers to access, upgrade, and recycle 5G and edge devices and simplify device lifecycle management as well as reduce IT maintenance and costs. 

“This collaboration is truly an exciting one because we are answering the demand we’re hearing from our clients. Together with Qualcomm Technologies, we will strengthen the 5G ecosystem delivering the devices our customers require in a simple and cost-effective way, empowering them as they continue along their digital transformation journey,” said Shahid Ahmed, Executive Vice President, New Ventures & Innovation at NTT Ltd. 

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Dell’Oro: Generative AI drives accelerator market

Accelerators led all server semiconductors and components with triple-digit year-over-year growth in 2Q 2023, according to a recent report from Dell’Oro Group. While Intel still maintains a majority share of the server CPU market, AMD’s revenue share now exceeds 20 percent. ARM is also poised to gain share with new cloud server deployments in 2023.

“NVIDIA has benefited from the surge in demand for accelerated computing for generative AI applications, and has displaced Intel as the largest server component manufacturer since the beginning of this year,” said Baron Fung, Sr. Research Director at Dell’Oro Group. “Meanwhile, over the past four quarters, the rest of the server semiconductor and component market has witnessed a contraction, as system vendors and hyperscale cloud service providers reduce component inventory levels and pause purchases in response to a slowdown in general-purpose computing deployments. We project a recovery in the component market starting in the second half of 2023, as system vendors and hyperscale cloud service providers resume component purchases in anticipation of the next investment cycle in 2024. Accelerators will continue to drive long-term growth, and new server platforms with 5th-generation CPUs will lead to an upside in IT spending,” explained Fung.

Additional highlights from the new 2Q 2023 Data Center IT Semiconductors and Components Quarterly Report:

• Server and storage systems component market is forecast to grow 1 percent in 2023.
• NVIDIA led all vendors in server component revenue in 2Q 2023, followed by Intel, Samsung, and Western Digital.
• GPU shipments are projected for 59 percent growth in 2023 mainly from NVIDIA H100 deployments. Higher volumes for AMD and Intel GPU-based systems are expected later this year. 

Dell’Oro Group’s Data Center IT Semiconductors and Components Quarterly Report tracks revenue, unit and capacity shipments, unit and capacity pricing, and market share of major semiconductor and component manufacturers supplying the data center server and storage system markets since 2018. The report focuses on significant server and storage semiconductors and components, including CPUs; accelerators such as GPUs, FPGAs, and custom AI ASICs; memory; Ethernet and InfiniBand NICs and Smart NICs/DPUs; HDDs and NAND/SSDs.

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Airgain intros 5G FWA antenna

Airgain introduced its new Lumos 5G Fixed Wireless Access Antenna to boost the performance of connected devices. 

With a multiband, directional antenna design as well as 2x2 and 4x4 MIMO configurations for both LTE and 5G, Lumos can maximize the performance of enterprise routers, indoor fixed wireless access (FWA) devices, customer premises equipment (CPE), and a myriad of other cellular-based devices.

The specifications of the new Lumos FWA antenna include:

• Options for 2x2 or 4x4 MIMO LTE/5G (617 - 4200 MHz)
• Optimized for bands N41 and N77
• High peak gain
• 617 - 960 MHz, 3.6 dBi
• 1700 - 2700 MHz, 8.2 dBi
• 3300 - 4200 MHz, 10.9 dBi

“As 5G becomes more ubiquitous, the market is constantly searching for solutions that can power an ‘always connected’ environment,” said Brian Critchfield, Vice President of Global Marketing for Airgain. “With the high gain and easy-to-install configuration of our new Lumos™️ 5G Fixed Wireless Access Antenna, users can augment existing installations or bundle it as part of new installations and achieve often better performance than with wired solutions. We believe its versatility combined with performance can be a game changer.”

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Google's Nuvem cable to connect Portugal, Bermuda, South Carolina

Google announced plans to build a new transatlantic subsea cable system to connect Portugal, Bermuda, and the United States. 

The Nuvem cable, which is expected to be ready for service in 2026, will have its U.S. landing in South Carolina, following in the footsteps of Google's Firmina cable. Firmina landed in South Carolina earlier this year and that will ultimately connect with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Nuvem is "cloud" in Portuguese.

In Portugal, Nuvem will join Google's Equiano cable, the recently-completed system that connects Portugal with Togo, Nigeria, Namibia, South Africa, and St. Helena. 

https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/infrastructure/introducing-the-nuvem-subsea-cable

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Asia Direct Cable Consortium picks Infinera’s ICE6 800G

Asia Direct Cable (ADC) Consortium has selected Infinera’s ICE6 800G coherent solution on the GX Series Compact Modular Platform to power ADC’s advanced cable system. 

ADC is a 9,400-kilometer submarine cable connecting China, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. ADC is built and operated by a global consortium comprising China Telecom, China Unicom, PLDT, National Telecom, Singtel, SoftBank Corp., Tata Communications, and Viettel Group.

Infinera said that by providing more than 21 Tbps per fiber pair, ots’s ICE6 solution extends the commercial life of the fiber cable, maximizing the return on investment of this critical cable system.

“With the substantial investment in this cable link and the importance of connecting Asia Pacific, it was important to the consortium that we selected the best technology,” said Koji Ishii, SoftBank Corp. and MC Co-Chair of ADC Consortium. “ADC Consortium selected Infinera’s ICE6 based on its superior performance and highest spectral efficiency, which will enable us to provide a greater number of higher-quality services to our customers.”

“The ADC system is a great example of an open cable system that allows independent selection of industry-leading submarine solutions to ensure the ability to provide the highest level of services. We look forward to utilizing the agile solution to carry traffic across the ADC system cost effectively,” said Chang Weiguo, China Telecom Global Ltd. and MC Co-Chair of ADC Consortium.  

"Uncompromising quality is critical in today’s submarine networks as subsea operators scale to support ever-increasing amounts of customer traffic," said Peter Zwinkels, Vice President, Global Submarine Network, Infinera. “We are pleased to provide Infinera’s industry-leading ICE6 solution to ADC Consortium members to seamlessly manage high-quality services across subsea network segments while accelerating time to revenue with end-to-end point-and-click provisioning and full-service visibility and control.”

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Kinetic tests Coherent's 100G ZR QSFP28 transceiver

Kinetic by Windstream, which serves an 18-state footprint, completed testing of a 100G ZR QSFP28 digital coherent optical (DCO) transceiver over a live, DWDM transport network in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Kinetic is partnering with Coherent Corp. to deploy the new pluggable transceiver. The successful trial of the 100G DCO validates the ability to use this new technology across a large percentage of Kinetic's footprint. The module is currently a prototype and is set to be released in 2024.

“Kinetic is committed to bringing fiber connectivity to businesses and homes across rural America. This innovation will accelerate the scale of our network in a sustainable way,” said Jeff Austin, chief technology officer at Kinetic. “Not only does its small form factor reduce our carbon footprint, but it is also interoperable with legacy networks, eliminating the need to rebuild costly network infrastructures.”

“We’re proud to partner with Kinetic on the development of the 100G DCO,” said Matthias Berger, vice president, Coherent Corp. “Validating the transceiver’s performance over more than 800 km across an existing transport system gives our industry a definitive conclusion to the questions surrounding achievable performance at low cost, lower power dissipation and small form factor of the transceiver. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Kinetic and continuing to define world-first technology with this industry leader.”

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Amazon bets on Anthropic's Claude 2

Amazon will invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic and will become Anthropic’s primary cloud provider.

Anthropic will use AWS Trainium and Inferentia chips, which will be used in addition to existing solutions for model training and deployment. The company also will collaborate on the development of future Trainium and Inferentia technology.

Anthropic says its Claude 2 is being used for a wide range of tasks, from sophisticated dialogue and creative content generation to complex reasoning and detailed instruction. Significantly, Claude 2 has a 100,000 token context window for processing extensive amounts of information—including technical, domain-specific documents for use cases across finance, legal, coding, etc.

https://www.anthropic.com/index/anthropic-amazon

• In May 2023, Anthropic raised $450 million in Series C funding led by Spark Capital with participation from Google, Salesforce Ventures, Sound Ventures, Zoom Ventures, and others. 

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GlobalFoundries bids for CHIPS funding

GlobalFoundries has applied for U.S. CHIPS and Science Act Funding for capacity expansion and modernization of GF’s U.S. manufacturing facilities.

“As the leading manufacturer of essential semiconductors for the U.S. government, and a vital supplier to the automotive, aerospace and defense, IoT and other markets, GF has submitted our applications to the CHIPS Program Office to participate in the federal grants and investment tax credits enabled by the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act,” said Steven Grasso, senior director of global government affairs at GF. “This federal support is critical for GF to continue growing its U.S. manufacturing footprint, strengthening U.S economic security, supply chain resiliency, and national defense.”

GF is a longstanding supplier of essential chips for the U.S. aerospace and defense industry.

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TELUS offers 3.0 Gbps symmetrical in western Canada

TELUS introduced a 3.0 Gbps tier of home symmetrical Internet for its PureFibre X customers in Alberta and British Columbia.

The PureFibre X 3.0 gigabit Internet plan includes  Wi-Fi 6 hardware.1 By combining Wi-Fi 6 technology with PureFibre X, households will experience even faster Internet speeds on more devices, allowing individuals and families to seamlessly enjoy gaming, surfing the web, video calling, working and learning from home, and streaming in 4K.

“As a company with deep roots in Western Canada, we’re incredibly proud of our proven track record of putting customers and communities here first," said Zainul Mawji, Executive Vice-president and President of TELUS Consumer Solutions. "With PureFibre X 3.0 gigabit Internet, TELUS is continuing to provide leading Internet speeds and a seamless Wi-Fi experience so more of our valued customers can stay connected to the people and information that matters most.”

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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

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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."

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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!

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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." 

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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. 

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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

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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/

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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!

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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

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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.”

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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

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