NASA's Psyche mission to test Deep Space Optical Comms

This week NASA is slated to launch its Psyche asteroid mission on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The spacecraft will visit Psyche, which orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, to learn how Earth and other rocky planets formed. It is the first mission to an asteroid with substantial amounts of metal, as previous missions have explored asteroids made mostly of rock or ice. 

The mission will also host NASA's Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment, which will test the ability of lasers to transmit data at higher rates than traditional radio communications beyond the Moon. During the first two years of Psyche's journey to its namesake asteroid, DSOC will test high-bandwidth optical communications to Earth. The experiment will not be relaying Psyche mission data.

The near-infrared transceiver’s 22-centimeter aperture telescope is mounted on an isolation-and-pointing assembly that stabilizes the optics and isolates it from spacecraft vibrations. 

The data sent back by the DSOC transceiver on Psyche will be collected by the 200-inch (5.1-meter) Hale Telescope at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, using a sensitive superconducting nanowire photon-counting receiver to demonstrate high-rate data transfer.

Signals sent back to the spacecraft will be emitted by a high-power near-infrared laser transmitter at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Table Mountain facility near Wrightwood, California.

The key objectives of the experiment are to demonstrate:

• that flight laser transceiver and ground systems are able to lock onto each other’s laser signals during DSOC’s calibration and commissioning phase.
• that optical transmissions are feasible at a distance of 1 astronomical unit (equal to the distance from the sun to the Earth ~ 150 million km)
• that the system can operate for a duration of 2 years.

https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/deep-space-optical-communications-dsoc/

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Deutsche Telekom, AWS, VMware demo connectivity across distributed data centers

Deutsche Telekom with the support of AWS and VMware,  demonstrated a globally distributed enterprise network that combines Deutsche Telekom connectivity services in federation with third party connectivity, compute, and storage resources at campus locations in Prague, Seattle, and an OGA (Open Grid Alliance) grid node in Bonn, Germany.

The proof of concept (POC) showed the capability to federate, abstract and orchestrate geographically distributed compute and connectivity resources for hosting multi-national enterprise services on Cloud and OGA grid nodes, providing global reach with local autonomy. 

The setup integrates Deutsche Telekom private 5G wireless solutions, AWS services and infrastructure, VMware’s multi-cloud telco platform, OGA grid nodes, and Mavenir’s RAN/Core functions. It connects two 5G Standalone (SA) private wireless networks deployed in Prague and Seattle to a Mavenir 5G Core hosted on AWS Frankfurt Region. 

The 5G SA private wireless network with User Plane Function (UPF) and RAN hosted at the Seattle location is operating on the VMware Telco Cloud Platform to enable low latency services. The VMware Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) is also deployed in the same location and serves as the global orchestrator. The SMO framework helps to simplify, optimize, and automate the RAN, Core, and its applications in a multi-cloud environment.

“As AI gets engrained deeper in the ecosystem of our lives, it necessitates equitable access to compute and connectivity for everyone, everywhere across the globe. Multi-national enterprises are seeking trusted and sovereign compute & connectivity constructs that underpin an equitable and seamless access. Deutsche Telekom is excited to partner with the OGA ecosystem for co-creation on these essential constructs and the enablement of the Distributed Edge AI Networking applications of the future,” - Kaniz Mahdi, Group Chief Architect and SVP Technology Architecture and Innovation at Deutsche Telekom.  

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Windstream Wholesale delivers network intelligence via customer portal

Windstream Wholesale has upgraded its customer portal to provide map-based network intelligence.

iconnect is Windstream Wholesale's premier customer portal providing access to multi-layer network health data and self-service tools. These latest capabilities are part of an ongoing series of portal advancements offering superior network performance and transparency, giving customers an essential tool that reveals more about their network and enables them to confidently manage their operations. Customers can also access a range of data through the iconnect portal, from real-time updates on their circuits to historical insights to identify performance and trends.

• Real-time fiber outage visibility with location data: pinpoints the precise location of a fiber outage on the customer’s map to gain near real-time awareness and operational control over network issues. The  speed of isolation and resolution ensures minimal downtime for the customer.
• Fiber route map views and KMZs on-demand: Dark Fiber and Managed Spectrum customers can also now view their fiber route and download network KMZs on demand, enabling more efficiency and transparency to their operations.
• Proactive monitoring and ticketing for Dark Fiber and Managed Spectrum: this expanded feature, previously only available for Wave services, provides detection of network issues, maintaining the company’s commitment to keeping customers informed about any potential outages and enabling faster reaction and repair to maintain business continuity.

“We’re committed to delivering leading technology and products to our customers and staying ahead of the curve,” said Joe Scattareggia, chief revenue officer for Windstream Wholesale. “As the industry leader, we are excited about this elevated insight and unmatched transparency truly setting us apart in the market.”

https://www.windstreamwholesale.com/network-expansion/

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Samsung's upcoming innovations including NB-IoT NTN satellite comms

At its inaugural Samsung System LSI Tech Day 2023 event in San Jose, Samsung previewed upcoming technological advancements, including:

• the Exynos 2400 flagship mobile processor with Xclipse 940 GPU, based on the latest AMD RDNA 3 architecture, with substantially enhanced ray tracing capability. The Exynos 2400 processor features a 1.7x increase in CPU performance and a remarkable 14.7x boost in AI performance compared to the previous Exynos 2200 product
• 
  a new AI tool for upcoming smartphones, demonstrating text-to-image AI generation using its Exynos 2400 reference board
• Zoom Anyplace technology based on its 200-million pixel image sensor, enabling up to 4x close-ups of moving objects without any image degradation
• Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) non-terrestrial networks (NTN) ready next-generation 5G modem; 
• A new vision sensor brand, the ISOCELL Vizion; 
• a Smart Health processor
• the Exynos Auto V920, an automotive processor slated for mass production in 2025 capable of running several applications across multiple displays;
• Video demo of NB-IoT NTN satellite communication in collaboration with Skylo Technologies, an NTN service provider, using Samsung’s next-gen modem reference device
• Live demo of wireless lighting control through its ultra-wideband (UWB) solution, the Exynos Connect U100

“Generative AI has quickly emerged as perhaps the most significant trend of the year, demanding more powerful foundational technologies to process data and bring AI to life,” said Yong-In Park, President and Head of System LSI Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are paving the path toward a new era of proactive AI, leveraging our Samsung System LSI Humanoid platform, which seamlessly converges our capabilities across a broad spectrum of logic semiconductors, from powerful computational IPs, connectivity solutions to sensors emulating the main five human senses.”

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Zayo updates network rollouts including 400G milestones

Zayo outlined its latest series of infrastructure upgrades in Q3, including 400G routes and enhancements to its global IP infrastructure.

“Next-generation technology is being deployed at never-before-seen rates. This has placed the communications infrastructure industry at a unique inflection point as all digital businesses—enterprises, carriers and hyperscalers alike—scramble to ensure they have enough capacity to support these technologies,” said Bill Long, Chief Product Officer at Zayo. “As this trend plays out, it will be a strong tailwind for those providers who can capitalize on the moment. As one of the newest and most modern networks on the market, Zayo is uniquely positioned to support this growing demand for global bandwidth.”

In Q3, Zayo added nine new 400G-enabled routes to its North American network to provide high-bandwidth options between key cities, including:

• Atlanta to DC
• Denver to Dallas (Direct)
• Montreal to Quebec City
• Clinton to Ponchatoula
• Indianapolis to Columbus
• Ashburn to Baltimore
• Bend to Umatilla
• Laurel to Denver

Additional 400G routes in progress include:

• Houston to New Orleans
• St. Louis to Chicago
• Buffalo to Albany
• Winnipeg to Toronto
• Toronto to Montreal
• Buffalo to Toronto
• Columbus to Ashburn
• Cleveland to Buffalo
• Houston to Ponchatoula
• Umatilla to Quincy

Zayo added eight new IP PoPs to its North American network in Q3, including:

• 45 Parliament St, Toronto, ON
• 250 Williams St NW, Atlanta, GA
• 6477 W Wells Park Rd, Salt Lake City, UT
• 2335 S Ellis St, Chandler, AZ
• 375 Pearl St, New York, NY
• 626 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
• 431 Horner Ave, Etobicoke, ON
• 1100 White St SW, Atlanta, GA

Zayo said its IP backbone, which runs on the company's wholly owned fiber infrastructure, makes up nearly 10% of the world's Internet capacity. Zayo currently manages 96Tb of core capacity and 34TB of peering capacity, and adds 1-2Tb of peering capacity every quarter.

In Q3 2023, Zayo completed the overbuild of its Omaha to Denver route, providing increased capacity on this highly sought-after route.

Zayo also has three new long-haul route builds and two additional route overbuilds in progress with scheduled completion by the end of 2023.

LATAM

In October 2022, Zayo announced its global low-latency route connecting the U.S. to South America’s financial hub of Sao Paulo. In Q3 2023, the company completed expansions to its connectivity infrastructure in Sao Paulo including a new key terrestrial route that will provide connectivity throughout the metro ring and to four key data centers.

New Sao Paulo Points of Presence (PoPs):

• Alameda Araguaia, 3641, Alphaville, Barueri, SP, 06455 000, Brazil
• Av. Marcos Penteado de Ulhoa Rodrigues, 249, Santana de Parnaiba, SP, 06543 001, Brazil
• Avenida Ceci, 1900, Tambore, Barueri, SP, 06460 120, Brazil

Rua Ricardo Prudente de Aquino, 85 Santan de Parnaiba, Brazil

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FCC Chairwoman proposes to restore oversight of broadband services

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is calling for a restoration of FCC oversight of broadband services, similar to its authority over voice communication. 

Specifically, in the interest of national security and public safety, Rosenworcel is proposing to reclassifying Internet Access as a Title II service, thereby require broaband providers to report and address internet outages.

Highlights: 

Secure Broadband Networks – Ensure the FCC can deny companies controlled by hostile foreign governments access to our broadband networks. 

Internet Outage Oversight – Bolster the FCC’s authority to require internet service providers to report and fix internet outages like it does for legacy voice providers. 

Resilient Broadband Networks – Support the agency’s ongoing work to enhance the resiliency of broadband networks, helping them withstand and recover from natural disasters and mitigate other network vulnerabilities. 

Public Outage Information – Allow the FCC to ensure consumers, local public safety officials, and other partners have access to public safety resources and information. 

Supporting Public Safety Officials – Enable the Commission to support and oversee the adequate provision of broadband services to first responders for public safety purposes and prevent throttling of their emergency communications.

Enhance Emergency Alerts – Ensure the agency can require broadband service providers to transmit emergency alerts to their subscribers, improving the effectiveness of these life-saving notices. 

https://www.fcc.gov/document/national-security-public-safety-restoring-broadband-oversight

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Nokia opens 6G Lab in Bangalore

Nokia inaugurated a 6G Lab at its Global R&D center in Bangalore, India. 

Nokia said its 6G lab supports the Government of India’s ‘Bharat 6G Vision,’ introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that envisions a key global role for India in the standardization, development, and implementation of 6G technology. The Lab will function as a platform for collaboration for industry stakeholders and facilitate the testing of innovative solutions while establishing their potential for commercialization.

The Lab includes a setup to research ‘Network as a Sensor’ technology that enables the network to sense objects, people and movement without the need for on-board sensors. In the 6G era, ’Network as a Sensor’ has been identified as a key enabling technology that supports the vision of bringing the digital and physical worlds together. Sensing will be fully integrated into the wireless network and operate simultaneously with communication services. This has the potential to enable people to see around corners, gather information about their surroundings and even interact with objects at a distance. The Lab will also provide an experimental platform for researching algorithms, privacy, and sustainable system design.

Nokia is a pioneer in 6G work and is engaged in several global projects and regional initiatives with industry peers, customers, academia, and research institutions. This work aims to form a common view and direction for 6G, including 6G Hexa-X and Hexa-X-II, the first and second phase of the European 6G Flagship. Nokia is also a founding member of the Next G Alliance which is helping to drive the 6G ecosystem in North America and coordinating the German Lighthouse project 6G ANNA.

The Hon’ble Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics & IT, Government of India, Mr Ashwini Vaishnaw, said: “The inauguration of the Nokia 6G research lab in Bengaluru today is another step towards PM Narendra Modi’s vision of making India an innovation hub. Interesting use cases coming out of this lab will be related to transportation safety, health care and education which will be another big contribution in the entire Digital India suite.”

Nishant Batra, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer of Nokia, said: “Nokia is honored to contribute towards the realization of the Indian government’s ‘Bharat 6G vision’. We look forward to collaborating with key stakeholders to help India become a major player in 6G technology development and adoption; and take its place in the global arena as a leading developer and supplier of advanced telecom technologies and solutions.”

https://www.nokia.com/

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Vantage Data Centers raises US$1.35 billion

Vantage Data Centers has raised USD$1.35 billion in securitized notes to be used to refinance existing financings in place for three data centers on the company’s flagship Northern Virginia campus and five data centers in the province of Quebec, Canada, as well as to fund general corporate needs.

Deutsche Bank Securities acted as Sole Structuring Advisor. In addition to Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale, Truist Securities and Wells Fargo Securities acted as Joint Active Bookrunning Managers on the transaction.

“This transaction is Vantage’s ninth securitization financing since 2018. It’s also our fourth green financing bringing our total green loan financings to more than $2 billion,” said Sharif Metwalli, Vantage’s chief financial officer. “This financing provides an even stronger financial position for our North American platform and enables us to continue scaling the business to meet customer demand in an environmentally friendly way. We appreciate the ongoing support and partnership from our lead investor, DigitalBridge, and their confidence in us to grow the business to not only meet our customers’ IT requirements but also to align with our customers’ sustainability goals.”

“Vantage is delivering on its growth strategy, and despite inflation and the challenging capital markets, investors continue to be confident in Vantage’s ability to execute as evidenced by this securitization,” said Jon Mauck, senior managing director at DigitalBridge. “We look forward to further building on this momentum to drive value for our stakeholders, not only in North America, but around the world. Vantage is uniquely positioned for long-term growth with a leading digital infrastructure platform designed for the world’s preeminent hyperscalers and cloud providers.”

• Vantage recently announced that AustralianSuper, Australia’s largest pension fund, will invest €1.5 billion to acquire a significant minority stake in Vantage’s EMEA business, joining DigitalBridge as a key shareholder. 

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POET expands production with Xiamen JV

 POET Technologies’ joint venture, Super Photonics Xiamen (SPX), is expanding production capacity to support anticipated customer demand for 2024 and beyond.

SPX expects to ramp production of POET’s Optical InterposerTM -based optical engines for 100G CWDM4, POET ONE (a 100G single chip TxRx engine), 100G LR4, 200G FR4, 400G FR4 and 800G 2xFR4 solutions. Compared to modules built with conventional chip-on-board and silicon photonics-based components, POET’s optical engines are highly differentiated, hybrid-integrated products. POET’s wafer-scale assembly process and passive alignment techniques result in chip scale optical engines that offer superior performance and lower assembly cost for makers of pluggable transceivers.

“SPX has received purchase orders from customers, and we are excited about the strong demand for the POET engines in 2024 and beyond. Our team has placed orders for additional precision die bonders, testers and additional equipment that will expand production capacity to fulfill the customer orders on hand and expected in the near future,” said Xiaozhong Zheng, CEO of SPX. “Our team is working to improve production efficiencies that will expand capacity well beyond what the equipment itself will provide.”

“Some of our transmit and receive optical engines are already in low-volume production and we expect to add a few more products to the production list by end of the year. Our 100G CWDM and LR4 transmit and receive engines and the 400G/800G receive engines are quite popular with module customers because of the simplicity of the solution and the elimination of active alignments that are required by conventional assembly methods,” said Raju Kankipati, SVP & GM of POET North America. “We expect to capitalize on the steady market demand in China for our legacy products as POET further develops our high-speed products for next-generation networks and AI applications.”

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MEF sets sights on Network-as-a-Service

MEF published a Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) Industry Blueprint designed to help service providers develop, market, and deliver the next generation of NaaS offerings. The blueprint leverages MEF’s existing body of work, while providing a common framework for understanding and defining NaaS for enterprises as well as Service Providers.

"The MEF NaaS Industry Blueprint provides a foundation for the industry to build on as it develops the NaaS ecosystem," said Nan Chen, President, MEF. "By providing a common framework for understanding and defining NaaS, the blueprint will help service providers develop and deliver innovative offerings and enable enterprises to make informed decisions about which are right for them. We are confident that the MEF NaaS Industry Blueprint will play a major role in driving the growth of the NaaS market and helping businesses achieve their digital transformation goals."

MEF defines NaaS as on-demand connectivity, application assurance, cybersecurity, and multi-cloud-based services across a standards-based automated ecosystem.

Specifically, the blueprint will:

• Define NaaS and its core components and capabilities,
• Propose primary building blocks of NaaS solutions, including services, automation platforms, ecosystem, and certifications,
• Reference available MEF service and Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) automation API standards and other industry tools for building and delivering NaaS services,
• Present initial NaaS use cases in the areas of on-demand transport, SD-WAN, SASE, and multi-cloud.

The blueprint was shared this at MEF’s inaugural Global Network-as-a-Service Event in Arlington, Texas. It can be downloaded from the MEF website.

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ECOC23: Coherent unveils 140 GBaud optical subassembly for 800G

Coherent unveiled  its 140 GBaud integrated coherent transmitter-receiver optical subassembly (IC-TROSA), the industry’s first to enable 800G QSFP-DD and OSFP digital coherent optics (DCO) pluggable transceivers for high-speed datacenter interconnects and metro networks. The IC‑TROSA is a highly integrated coherent optics subassembly with embedded optical amplification that can deliver high transmitter output power with low power dissipation, enabling DCO modules that can plug directly into routers.

Coherent’s IC-TROSA was combined with the Orion digital signal processor (DSP) from Marvell to successfully demonstrate the performance capabilities of a complete transceiver solution for 800 Gbps transmission. 

The 140 GBaud IC-TROSA is a complete coherent optical engine that includes a wavelength-tunable laser, optical amplifiers, modulators, drivers, a coherent mixer, a photodiode array, and transimpedance amplifiers. It features an embedded microcontroller, DAC/ADCs, and a simple digital communication interface for all control and monitoring. The module supports symbol rates of up to 140 GBaud and multiple modulation formats, including QPSK, 8QAM, 16QAM, 32QAM, and 64QAM. It is designed to meet the requirements of the OIF IC-TROSA Implementation Agreement (Type-2 version). Alpha samples of the 140 GBaud IC-TROSA are available now and the product will be generally available in mid-2024.

This solution lowers the total cost of network ownership for hyperscalers and service providers by eliminating an entire layer of transponder equipment.

“This 140 GBaud IC-TROSA follows the 64 GBaud IC-TROSA introduced in March 2020, which was also an industry first,” said Matthias Berger, Vice President, Coherent Technology, at Coherent Corp. “We continue to advance the state of the art of optical transmission in core networks by leveraging the inherent capabilities of our indium phosphide technology platform. Indium phosphide photonic integrated circuits are differentiated by their high output power, which enables disruptive use cases such as IP-over-DWDM in metro networks.”

“Marvell’s close collaboration with Coherent has enabled us to showcase the power of the combination of technologies from two leading companies,” said Samuel Liu, Sr. Director, Product Line Management, Coherent DSP at Marvell. “Together, the 140 GBaud IC-TROSA and the Orion coherent DSP enable pluggable transceivers for 800 Gbps with more than 500 km reach, allowing datacenter interconnects to scale network capacity quickly and economically so as to accommodate the surging traffic from AI/ML and other distributed, data-intensive workloads.”

https://www.coherent.com/news/press-releases/coherent-unveils-industry-first-140-gbaud-optical-subassembly

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ECOC23: Source Photonics, Broadcom, Keysight demo 800G 4x200G LR4 OSFP

Source Photonics, along with Keysight and Broadcom, demonstrated 800G 4x200G LR4 OSFP transceivers ,marking a critical milestone for the development of next generation 200G/lambda based 800G and 1.6T optical transceivers.

The 800G LR4 OSFP optical modules incorporate the high power single lambda 200G PAM4 EML lasers assisted with 3D hybrid electro-optical on-board packaging for superior RF characteristics and with a LAN-WDM grid, low-loss package interconnect design and a WDM multiplexer, exceeding the wavelength requirements for the telecom-grade LAN-WDM. The receiving end consists of a highly integrated PIN+TIA receiver array combined with the high-performance start-of-the-art 5nm CMOS DSP equalization algorithm, and the transmission distance can reach up to 10km.

Compared with the first generation using a single lambda 100G PAM4 EML lasers, the 800G LR4 optical modules reduce the number of lasers by 50%, effectively reducing costs, simplifying manufacturing processes, and improving production yield.

800G optical modules as the default configuration of choice for the latest generation of optical transmission systems, have projected huge market application potential. At the same time, in order to satisfy the strong desire for low-cost, low-latency and low-power consumption by next-generation telecom metro applications, the 800G 4x200G LR4 10km direct detection solution has attracted more attention from operators, equipment manufacturers and optical module vendors over the corresponding coherent solutions.  The industrial supply chain of single-lambda 226Gb/s high-speed optical chips, DSPs and electrical chips, and RF packaging technologies related to the direct detection solutions has gradually matured.

https://www.sourcephotonics.com/news/source-photonics-demonstrates-industrys-first-800g-4x200g-lr4-osfp-transceivers-at-ecoc2023/

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ECOC23 Award winners

At ECOC23 Exhibition in Glasgow, the following award winners were announced:

Most innovative Product – Hybrid PIC/Optical Integration Platform Award finalists: Lightwave Logic

Data Centre Innovation/Best Product Award finalists: Marvell for Marvell Nova PAM4 electro-optics Digital Signal Processor (DSP) platform

Best Fibre/Fiber Component Product Award winner: RAM photonics for Medusa

Most innovative Product Award – Innovative Test Equipment finalists: Keysight for Keysight G800GE-02: 800GE Layer1 BERT, KP4 FEC and Layer 2 Packet Blast multiport test solution

Most innovative Product Award – Chip-Scale Packaging/Optical Sub Assembly finalists: Infinera for ICTR-64 TROSA

Most Innovative PON/5G/FTTx Product Award finalists: Huawei Technologies for Huawei FTTR Solution

Most innovative Product Award – Innovative Test Equipment finalists: Keysight for Keysight G800GE-02: 800GE Layer1 BERT, KP4 FEC and Layer 2 Packet Blast multiport test solution

Most innovative Product Award – Innovative Photonics Component finalists:  Coherent for Coherent’s new 200Gbps PAM4 DFB-MZ chip

Most innovative product Award – Pluggable Transceiver/Co-Packaged Module finalists: Ciena for WaveLogic 6

Optical Transport Award finalists: China Mobile for Single-carrier 138-GBd DP-QPSK 32Tb/s DWDM System Covering 12-THz C+L Band

https://www.ecocexhibition.com/home/2023-highlights/

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Vertical Systems: Mid-2023 U.S. SD-WAN Technology LEADERBOARD

 Cisco tops Vertical Systems Group’ first U.S. SD-WAN Technology LEADERBOARD, which ranks Technology Suppliers based on share of total Carrier Managed SD-WAN sites in the U.S. powered by their SD-WAN equipment. The following five Technology Suppliers have attained a position on this initial benchmark (in rank order based on site share): Cisco, VMware, Fortinet, Versa Networks, and HPE Aruba. Each of these Technology Suppliers has 5% or more of the total number of U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN customer sites installed and billable as of June 30, 2023. For this analysis a site is counted once per supplier, regardless of the amount of SD-WAN equipment installed at the customer location.

“Our new benchmark measures market presence across the technology suppliers empowering enterprise-grade SD-WAN solutions in the U.S. Carrier Managed segment. As migration to managed SD-WAN solutions accelerates, technology suppliers are actively enhancing their products to keep pace, while vying to integrate SASE and SSE capabilities,” states Rosemary Cochran, Principal of Vertical Systems Group.

These leading technology companies and others are the key suppliers of SD-WAN equipment deployed by the service providers ranked on Vertical Systems Group’s Mid-2023 U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN LEADERBOARD - AT&T, Comcast Business, Verizon, Hughes, Lumen, and Windstream - as well as to service providers cited in the Challenge and Market Player tiers.

SD-WAN Technology Research Highlights

• Vertical projects that the number of Carrier Managed SD-WAN sites in the U.S. will surpass one million by 2027. These sites are managed by a network operator, utilize an SDN architecture, enable dynamic optimization of site connectivity, and provide centralized network control with visibility end-to-end.
• For this analysis, SD-WAN solutions for Cisco include Meraki MX and Cisco SD-WAN. VMware offers SD-WAN by VeloCloud, and Fortinet offers FortiGate. Versa’s solution is Secure SD-WAN, and HPE Aruba offers EdgeConnect SD-WAN.
• Technology suppliers providing SD-WAN equipment to service providers may also supply SASE and SSE solutions. A SASE Service Framework (MEF 117) was finalized by MEF in October 2022. There is no accepted industry standard for SSE.
• Some service providers deploy SD-WAN with their own internally developed SD-WAN platforms, including Hughes and Aryaka.
• Security integration was cited as a top challenge in 2022 for Managed SD-WAN service providers offering two or more different SD-WAN platforms. Based on our mid-2023 research, this challenge is more problematic both technically and operationally, with some providers now integrating security across as many as five or more different SD-WAN solutions.
• MEF 3.0 SD-WAN Technology Certification has been attained by the following four LEADERBOARD companies: Cisco, Fortinet, VMware and Versa.

Market Players in this U.S. SD-WAN Technology segment include all other companies with site share below five percent (5%) of total U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN customer sites. For mid-2023, the Market Player tier includes the following companies (in alphabetical order): Adaptiv Networks, Arista, Barracuda, Cradlepoint, Ecessa, Extreme Networks, FatPipe, Forcepoint, GFI Software, Huawei, Juniper Networks, Lavelle Networks, Mushroom Networks, Netscaler, Nuage Networks from Nokia, Oracle, Palo Alto Networks, Riverbed, Teldat, WatchGuard, and others.

https://www.verticalsystems.com/

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ECOC23: Quantifi presents Oscilloscope for testing optical interconnects

Quantifi Photonics introduced a new line of digital sampling oscilloscopes to launch in 2024 for manufacturers of next-gen optical interconnects.

The new DSO-1000 Series targets applications across 100-800G and 1.6T Ethernet, emerging Co-Packaged Optics and In-package Optical I/O, and computer interfaces such as PCI Express and USB.  

Quantifi says its DSO-1000 Series will enable high density, parallel testing for high-volume manufacturing, and can be easily integrated into existing assembly and alignment equipment used to manufacture next-generation interconnects.

Dr. Andy Stevens, CEO of Quantifi Photonics says, “The missing link in high-volume testing and manufacturing for optical and electrical interconnects has been an accurate oscilloscope platform that is scalable. This class of instruments needs to meet a strict set of requirements and we believe Quantifi Photonics is the first company to deliver this with the DSO-1000 Series. We are working closely with lead customers on final specifications and will be releasing our first models with additional capabilities in 2024. These products have the potential to be a true game changer for the industry by substantially reducing the total cost of ownership for oscilloscopes.”

Dr. Klaus Engenhardt, Director of Broadband Products at Quantifi Photonics says, “Testing presents significant cost and technical obstacles for high-volume manufacturers of modern interconnect devices with few commercially attractive test solutions available to the industry. We have been working hard to develop a robust and high-performance platform that helps our customers design and implement efficient test systems that fundamentally change the throughput versus cost ratio, and we are very excited to provide a preview of the capabilities of our new oscilloscope platform at ECOC.”

https://www.quantifiphotonics.com/

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ECOC23: Openlight samples its 2x FR4 Photonic ASIC

OpenLight announced sampling of a fully integrated 2x FR4 Photonic Application Specific Integrated Circuit (2xFR4 PASIC). 

The 2xFR4 PASIC, an 800G photonic integrated circuit (PIC) is designed for data center and AI cluster connections. It harnesses the power of heterogeneous integration, seamlessly combining lasers and electro-absorption modulators for unparalleled performance and versatility with the cost and reliability of traditional silicon photonics. 

OpenLight says one of the standout features of the 2xFR4 PASIC is its integration of all essential components into a single chip, replacing up to 16 individual components that would otherwise require assembly steps with disparate parts and complex back end manufacturing processes adding cost and large capital equipment expenditures. This results in simplified supply chain logistics and straightforward manufacturing processes that drastically reduce power consumption and overall costs compared to other solutions.

“With our revolutionary integration of lasers and electro-absorption modulators, 2xFR4 PASIC epitomizes our dedication to simplifying complexity, reducing costs, and setting new standards in efficiency,” said Dr. Adam Carter, CEO of OpenLight. “We're providing our customers with a validated reference design that not only accelerates their time to market but also empowers them to take control of their destiny in the supply chain.”

https://openlightphotonics.com

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ECOC23: OpenLight teams with Spark Photonics on design layout

OpenLight has formed a strategic partnership with Spark Photonics, an end-to-end integrated photonics design services firm. 

Spark Photonics will now offer design and layout services using the OpenLight process design kit (PDK) with the Luceda IPKISS design layout and simulation software suite. The expansion of design services increases the number of designs OpenLight can support at any one time on the Tower Semiconductor PH18DA process, reducing time to market for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and expanding the silicon photonics industry’s reach to drive advancements across applications.

“Today marks an important step forward in our company’s journey. With the integration of industry-leading expertise and resources from OpenLight and Luceda coupled with best-in-class design services from Spark, we are fostering a new era for customers to tape in MPW engineering and production wafer run designs directly to Tower,” said Dr. Adam Carter, CEO of OpenLight. “This partnership empowers our customers to address distinct design needs, diversify their design portfolio, and resolve compatibility challenges.”

The OpenLight PDK incorporates both active and passive components, enabling advanced access to silicon photonics with heterogeneous integration. Mutual customers now have an array of choices from an EDA tool perspective to ensure first-time success in design verification and implementation.

https://openlightphotonics.com

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ECOC23: MACOM extends copper cable reach for 1.6T with 227 Gbps Equalizers

MACOM expanded its portfolio of active copper cable equalizers, with the first 227 Gbps per lane copper cable equalizer device that extends twinax copper cable reach. 

Traditionally, Direct Attach passive copper Cable (DAC) transmission at 227 Gbps per lane has been limited to about one meter in length. MACOM’s new linear equalizers more than double the reach of copper cables, enabling longer 1.6 Tbit copper cable assemblies used in intra-rack connectivity for high-performance Ethernet, InfiniBand, Fibre Channel and proprietary interconnect applications.

Emerging AI and high-performance computing clusters demand high bandwidth and low latency connectivity serviced by eight-lane octal small form factor pluggable (OSFP) and quad small form factor double density (QSFP-DD-based) cables. By utilizing un-retimed, linear equalization techniques, lower power and lower link latency is achieved compared to DSP retimed copper cables. These are critical parameters in high-performance computing and AI high density cluster applications. 

The two MACOM products supporting this solution are MAEQ-40904, a small form-factor die solution and MAEQ-40914, the packaged version of the part. The devices’ small size and low power consumption make them ideal for implementation in small form factor cable connectors, such as two channel DSFP, four channel QSFP and eight channel QSFP-DD and OSFP.

https://ir.macom.com/news-releases/news-release-details/macom-extends-copper-cable-reach-16-terabit-applications-new-227

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Teledyne to acquire Xena Networks for Ethernet test tools

Teledyne Technologies agreed to acquire Xena Networks ApS, a provider of high-speed Terabit Ethernet validation, quality assurance, and production test solutions based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Xena Networks test tools offer in-depth Ethernet link training and auto negotiation test capabilities, which next generation Terabit Ethernet products need to ensure that expected performance is achieved.

“The Xena Networks acquisition will further establish our leadership in the protocol test market, extending our reach to Ethernet system validation engineers, quality assurance labs, and production lines for test, evaluation, and acceptance of Ethernet components and systems,” said Robert Mehrabian, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Teledyne. 

“The acquisition of LeCroy in 2012 provided a healthy and growing portfolio of protocol test businesses focused on PCI Express, USB as well as storage and networking technologies. Since then, we expanded Teledyne LeCroy’s protocol test business with multiple acquisitions, including Quantum Data (for video), Frontline (for Bluetooth and WiFi) and OakGate (for storage devices test solutions). Xena Networks will be a powerful addition to this strong and growing protocol test portfolio.”

 “Combining the traffic generation and network emulation capabilities of Xena Networks with the protocol analysis functionality of Teledyne LeCroy will deliver a unique value proposition in support of semiconductor and network equipment manufacturers, network service providers, and hyperscale and cloud computing providers,” said Kevin Prusso, Vice President and General Manager of Teledyne LeCroy.

Jacob Vestergaard Nielsen, Xena Networks Chief Executive Officer, said, “We’re excited to join Teledyne LeCroy and leverage its wide coverage of protocols technologies. In particular, Teledyne’s network protocol analysis solutions complement well our traffic generation, physical layer, and network emulation products with support of up to 800Gbps Terabit Ethernet data rates, to the benefit of our customers.”

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Ciena announces two executive promotions

 Ciena announced the promotion of Dino DiPerna and Brodie Gage to its Executive Leadership Team, reporting to President and CEO Gary Smith. 

DiPerna becomes Ciena’s Senior Vice President of Global Research & Development (R&D). In this role, he will direct the development of the company’s portfolio of Converged Packet Optical, Network Control and Planning, and Routing and Switching products and solutions. DiPerna most recently served as Ciena’s Vice President of R&D for the company’s optical product portfolio.

Gage becomes Ciena’s Senior Vice President of Global Products and Supply Chain. He will oversee several critical functions, including Product Line Management, Global Supply Chain, and Solutions, Engineering, and Introduction (SE&I). Gage most recently served as Ciena’s Vice President of Product Line Management and Solutions.

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