Mitsubishi and DOCOMO hit 25 Gbps at 100m with 16x16 MIMO

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and NTT DOCOMO achieved two 5G throughput records: 27 Gbps at 10m and 25 Gbps at 100m.

The outdoor wireless transmission test was performed using a 28GHz-band massive-element antenna systems and 16-beam spatial-multiplexing technology with 500MHz bandwidth. The trial took place in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture Japan from September 10 to 28, 2018.

Base-station antennas installed on the wall of a building directed beams to mobile-terminal antennas installed on the rooftop of a vehicle. The achieved peak data rates correspond to spectral efficiency of 67bps/Hz5, believed to be the world's best performance for 28GHz-band mobile telecommunication.

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Anritsu releases 400GbE PAM4 BER Test

Anritsu announced the commercial release of its 64-Gbaud PAM4 Pulse Pattern Generator (PPG) and 32-Gbaud PAM4 Error Detector (ED) for use in 400GbE testing.

The new PAM4 BERT modules can be installed in the Anritsu Signal Quality Analyzer-R MP1900A series to implement a bit-error-rate test solution using either the 26.5625 Gbaud PAM4 x 8 lanes or 53.125- Gbaud PAM4 x 4 lanes methods. When using the PAM4 method to encode data as four amplitude levels, the gap between signal levels is one-third compared to the NRZ method, which reduces the unit time per symbol at higher baud rates, emphasizing the importance of signal quality in achieving high-speed transmissions.

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Hong Kong’s HKT builds all-fiber shared infrastructure on MTR line

Hong Kong's HKT is deploying an all-fiber mobile network architecture on a Mass Transit Railway (MTR) line to enable multiple operators sharing the network to provide ubiquitous high-quality mobile broadband to their

The DIS is deployed on the Shatin to Central Link (SCL) which is a new metro line of Mass Transit Railway under construction. The Central station is an important hub in the Golden Bay Area of Victoria Harbour. Connecting Hong Kong Island and the New Territories, this 17-kilometer line has a total of 10 train stations.

Huawei is supplying the innovative Digital Indoor System (DIS), which has the capability to evolve into future-oriented 5G networks without the need for additional cabling. Specifically, the shared indoor network is based on Huawei's LampSite Sharing solution, which allows multiple operators to share a common indoor network where radio headends of high, medium, and small power specifications can be co-deployed.

The indoor network for the SCL is constructed by HKT as the lead operator and will be shared by all mobile operators in Hong Kong.

Dr. Henry Wong, Head of Strategic Wireless Technology and Core Networks of HKT Engineering, said, "We are committed to providing users with high speed MMB service and wide network coverage for the best possible user experience. Large public venues and locations such as metro stations and lines, shopping malls, airport, etc. demand a large capacity to meet the diversified service requirements, creating the need for onward evolution into 5G for technological and economic reasons. Huawei's digital network sharing solution perfectly meets such requirements in many ways."

Mr. Ritchie Peng, President of Huawei Small Cell Product Line, said, "We are happy to open a new chapter of all-fiber architecture with HKT. Indoor places vary a lot and have diverse requirements, requiring differentiated solutions. The rapid MBB development also requires operators to focus on 5G in their network construction. Huawei is always a good advocate and exerciser of indoor digitalization. We are dedicated to offering more competitive indoor digital solutions to help our partners maximize the value of their networks."

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Cisco to acquire Ensoft

Cisco announced plans to acquire Ensoft, a privately-held company headquartered in Harpenden, England, that provides software solutions for service provider networks. Financial terms were not disclosed.

In a blog posting, Cisco's Rob Salvagno said the deal advances its strategy in unified transport and service layers with Segment Routing (SR) and Ethernet Virtual Private Networks (EVPN.

Ensoft was established in 1997 and now has approximately 70 engineers and an annual turnover of 10 million pounds. Its areas of expertise include routing and switching (BGP, all the IGPs, MPLS, multicast etc), Carrier Ethernet (IEEE technologies, pseudowires and VPLS, E-OAM etc), and residential subscriber management (eg PPP/IP sessions, scalable wholesale access).

http://www.cisco.com
https://www.ensoft.co.uk/

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Nokia forms Access Networks business

Nokia is forming an Access Networks Division that will consist of its current Mobile Networks and Fixed Networks Business Groups.

The company said it is making this move to fully exploit opportunities of 5G.

"Nokia has a unique advantage in the 5G era with its end-to-end portfolio," said Nokia President and Chief Executive Officer, Rajeev Suri. "By creating a single Access Networks organization that includes both fixed and mobile, we can improve our customer focus, simplify our management structure, and more efficiently leverage our full portfolio."

Also, Nokia appointed Tommi Uitto as President of Mobile Networks, replacing Marc Rouanne, who is leaving the company. Uitto is a 23-year Nokia veteran and an expert in radio technologies. His most recent role has been leading Mobile Networks Product Sales since the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent.

Nokia plans to announce a President of Fixed Networks in due course.

Nokia's Group Leadership Team now consists of the following members: Rajeev Suri, Basil Alwan, Hans-Juergen Bill, Kathrin Buvac, Ashish Chowdary, Joerg Erlemeier, Barry French, Sanjay Goel, Bhaskar Gorti, Federico Guillén, Kristian Pullola, Sri Reddy, Maria Varsellona and Marcus Weldon. As announced earlier, Chowdary will step down and Ricky Corker will join as of January 1, 2019. The President of Access Networks will be appointed in due course and will also join the Nokia Group Leadership Team.

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WSJ: U.S puts more pressure on Huawei

The U.S. is seeking to persuade allies, including Germany, Italy and Japan, to limit or avoid Huawei Technologies, according to The Wall Street Journal.

According to the article, U.S. government officials are making a case on security grounds especially in countries that host U.S. military bases, and target includes government networks and commercial networks, especially 5G.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/washington-asks-allies-to-drop-huawei-1542965105

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Status update on Cisco ACI - 5th anniversary - 1 min video

Ish Limpakeng provides an update on Cisco ACI (application centric infrastructure) -- its SDN framework for the data center.

Cisco ACI has just passed its 5th anniversary.

https://youtu.be/3FtRxjOuWeM

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Intent-based networking and Cisco ACI

Ish Limpakeng talks about connecting Cisco's Intent-based networking with its Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) framework.  1 minute


https://youtu.be/g7UEZchvlkc

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Deutsche Telekom confirms 5G-ready LTE-M rollout

Deutsche Telekom confirmed plans to roll out 5G-ready LTE-M technology in 2019.

At a summit last week in Vienna, Deutsche Telekom announced the finalists of its hubraum LTE-M Prototyping program, its in-house tech incubator which is operated in partnership with T-Systems. It builds on already successfully implemented prototyping programs for NB-IoT solutions. Almost 150 start-ups and IoT-specialist companies from across Europe and the US submitted LTE-M-based proposals to the hubraum program. A total of 18 solution partners from 12 countries spanning various industries were selected for further cooperation in prototyping LTE-M use cases.

“The summit is the highlight of our prototyping activities and will provide most interesting insights into the business opportunities of LTE-M. We are concurrently working towards first LTE-M network launches in several of our European markets by mid-2019. These will enable our customers to develop and test their LTE-M-based devices and applications,” says Ingo Hofacker, Senior Vice President, responsible for the IoT business at Deutsche Telekom. “LTE-M is an exciting 5G-ready technology and a natural extension of Deutsche Telekom’s Mobile IoT strategy. It completes the IoT landscape as it offers a whole new set of possibilities where other technologies are limited.”

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Angola Cables partners with South Africa's Broadband Infraco

Angola Cables, the wholesale carrier that operates the SACS, Monet, and WACS subsea cable systems, announced a partnership with South Africa's Broadband Infraco, a state-owned entity developing connectivity infrastructure for underserved areas of the country.

Broadband Infraco. currently has over 14,960 kilometres of fibre and 156 PoPs across South Africa.

Under a memorandum-of-understanding, the partnership will add significant amounts of international bandwidth for the retail providers who are served by the Broadband Infraco network.

https://www.angolacables.co.ao/angola-cables-and-broadband-infraco-mou-opens-a-gateway-to-improving-internet-connectivity-into-africa/?lang=en

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FCC grants approvals to four more next-gen satellite constellations

Earlier this month, the FCC approved the requests of four companies seeking to deploy next-gen satellite constellations:

Space Exploration Holdings (SpaceX) -- authorized to construct, deploy, and operate a new very-low-Earth orbit constellation of more than 7,000 satellites using V-band frequencies.  The FCC also granted SpaceX’s request to add the 37.5-42.0 GHz, and 47.2-50.2 GHz frequency bands to its previously authorized NGSO constellation.  SpaceX now has the flexibility to provide both diverse geographic coverage and the capacity to support a wide range of broadband and communications services for residential, commercial, institutional, governmental, and professional users in the United States and globally.
Kepler Communications -- has been granted a request for U.S. market access with certain conditions.  The FCC will allow Kepler to offer global connectivity for the Internet of Things, especially sensors and other intelligent devices as well as other FSS offerings using its proposed constellation of NGSO satellites in the 10.7-12.7 GHz and 14.0-14.5 GHz frequency bands.  Kepler’s proposed NGSO system, consisting of 140 satellites, is licensed by Canada.
Telesat Canada (Telesat) -- has been granted its request for U.S. market access with certain conditions in the 37.5-42.0 GHz, and 47.2- 50.2 GHz frequency bands. The Commission’s action enables Telesat to offer high-speed, low-latency communication services in the United States using its proposed constellation of NGSO satellites enhancing competition among existing and future FSS satellite systems.  Telesat’s proposed NGSO system, consisting of 117 satellites, is licensed by Canada. 

LeoSat -- has been granted its request for U.S. market access with certain conditions in the 17.8-18.6 GHz, 18.8-19.4 GHz, 19.6-20.2 GHz, 27.5-29.1 GHz, and 29.5-30.0 GHz frequency bands, using its proposed constellation of NGSO satellites.  Today’s action facilitates the provision of new and innovative satellite broadband services in the United States by LeoSat, including high-speed connectivity for enterprises and underserved communities.  LeoSat’s proposed NGSO system consists of 78 satellites, which will operate under the ITU filings of France and a planned authorization from the Netherlands. 

To date, the FCC has granted 13 market access requests and satellite applications to nine companies for NGSO FSS constellations seeking authority to provide next-generation connectivity across the country in the past 18 months.  The Commission continues to process additional requests.

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T-Mobile tests 5G on 600 MHz spectrum

T-Mobile completed a test of 5G data transmission on low-band spectrum (600 MHz) over its live commercial network. Nokia supported the test, which was performed in Spokane, Washington.  T-Mobile said the test proves that low-band airwaves will provide 5G coverage across hundreds of square miles from a single tower.

T-Mobile notes that it is the only wireless provider building 5G on multiple spectrum bands, including low-band and millimeter wave. The company said it is on track for delivering nationwide 5G in 2020.

“The Un-carrier is focused on delivering 5G for everyone everywhere, while the other guys focus on 5G for the few – reaching just a few people in small areas of a handful of cities,” said John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile. “We’re building truly mobile 5G so everyone can benefit from the 5G revolution. And with Sprint, we’ll be able to supercharge 5G with incredible capacity and speed!”

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Manatua subsea cable to link Samoa and Tahiti

A new "Manatua" South Pacific submarine cable system will be deployed to provide connections from Apia, Samoa to Toahotu, Tahiti, with branching units for landings to Niue; Aitutaki, Cook Island; Raratonga, Cook Island; and Vaitape, Bora Bora.

The Manatua Cable will be a new two/three fiber pair trunk that connects Apia and Toahotu with a two-fiber pair branch to Avatele, a three-fiber pair branch to Raratonga and one-fiber pair branches to both Aitutaki and Vaitape. The cable will cover more than 3166 kilometers in total.

SubCom has been engaged for the supply and installation of the subsea system.

The Manatua Consortium is composed of: The Office des Postes et Télécommunications (OPT), the telecoms operator of French Polynesia; Avaroa Cables Limited (ACL), the cable operator of Cook Islands, Telecom Niue Limited (TNL), the telecoms operator of Niue; and Samoa Submarine Cable Company (SSCC), the cable operator of the Independent State of Samoa.

“The Manatua cable system will provide reliable, high-capacity connectivity to the South Pacific.  And we’re pleased to have a role in making it a reality,” said Thomas Sorensen, managing director, Oceania and maintenance strategy, SubCom. “The cable will strengthen the connections between islands and create a reliable information pipeline to help further connect the South Pacific to the world.”

“The Manatua Cable is the first cable system owned by a consortium in the Pacific Region shared by four parties from four different countries. Manatua will enhance significantly the international communications connectivity for our communities at reasonable and affordable costs. This is a further step for our countries aim to continue to improve access to information and services that are migrating to digital formats,” said Jean-François Martin, management committee chair of the Manatua Consortium.

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MEF18: Infinera talks cognitive networking - 4 min video

Complexity is an increasing problem in service provider networks, says Vikash Rungta, Product Marketing Manager, Infinera, especially as new applications such as IoT and virtual reality lead to rapid changes in traffic patterns.

At the recent MEF18 event in Los Angeles, Infinera and CenturyLink conducted a Proof-of-Concept demonstration of cognitive networking, showing how machine learning can detect changes in traffic patterns and then automate changes at the optical layer. (4 minutes)

https://youtu.be/qKqmdu9e1q0

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Researchers at Duke test photonic crystal waveguide

Researchers at Duke University have demonstrated a photonic crystal waveguide capable of directing photons of light around sharp corners with virtually no losses due to backscattering.

The photonic crystal waveguide was built on the concept of topological insulators. A research paper on the topic was published in the November 12 issue of Nature Nanotechnology and an overview is posted on the university's website.

The smaller the device the better, but of course we’re trying to minimize losses as well,” said Wiktor Walasik, a postdoctoral associate in electrical and computer engineering at Duke. “There are a lot of people working to make an all-optical computing system possible. We’re not there yet, but I think that’s the direction we’re going.”

https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/optical-waveguide

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Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson deliver private LTE for OSRAM

Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson have deployed a dedicated LTE based campus network for OSRAM, a multinational lighting manufacturer headquartered in Munich, Germany.

OSRAM and Deutsche Telekom are prototyping and testing a mobile robotics solution at the OSRAM factory in Schwabmünchen. Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) will be used to transport goods across the OSRAM shop floor in the more flexible production environment.

“In line with Industry 4.0 requirements, our customers want extremely reliable and high-performance network solutions tailored to their specific demands,” says Alex Jinsung Choi, SVP Research & Technology Innovation, Deutsche Telekom “Working together with our partner Ericsson, we will provide dedicated campus solutions that allow customers such as Osram to develop and optimize their production processes.”

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Huawei ships its first 10,000 5G base stations

Huawei announced the shipment of its first 10,000 5G base stations to carriers worldwide.

At the 9th Global Mobile Broadband Forum  this week in London, Huawei's Rotating Chairman, Ken Hu, outlined the five fundamental changes that 5G will bring:

• 5G will turn connectivity into a platform. With 5G, wireless access networks will go beyond pipe, providing seamless, ubiquitous, and limitless connectivity for all people and all things.
• Everything will go online. Right now, most things are offline by default, and most electronic devices are not connected. With 5G, being online and connected will become the default for everything.
• The world will go all cloud. Supercharged with 5G, the cloud will provide massive computing power with instant transfer speeds and near-zero lag. This will make intelligence on demand available for everyone, everywhere. New business models like Cloud X – where devices are boosted by inexhaustible cloud-based resources – will begin to emerge.
• Devices will be redefined. With AI support across devices, network, and the cloud, devices will go from plug and play to plug and think. They will understand users better – able to actively predict our needs, not just passively respond to commands – and interact with us in more natural ways.
• Experience will flow seamlessly. With existing networks, our online experience is fragmented from one scenario to another. When all things are online and cloud-based, experience and content will flow seamlessly through time, space, and devices for a truly holistic experience across all scenarios.

"From all angles, 5G is ready," Hu said. "It's ready to use, it's affordable, and
most importantly, demand is real. Of course, there are still some barriers to 5G deployment."

https://www.huawei.com/en/press-events/news/2018/11/huawei-commercial-5g-era

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Google plans EUR 600 million data center in Denmark

Google confirmed plans for a new data center in western Denmark, just outside Fredericia.

The new facility represents an investment of EUR 600 million. Google is securing Power Purchase Agreements with renewable energy sources in Denmark. Construction is expected to be completed in late 2021. This will be Google's fifth data center in Europe, joining sites in Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands and Belgium.

https://www.blog.google/inside-google/infrastructure/breaking-ground-googles-first-data-center-denmark/

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Telia activates 5G in Oulu, Finland

Telia, in partnership with Nokia, is launching a pre-commercial 5G network in the city of Oulu, Finland.

A 5G ecosystem will be built in the Nuottasaari industrial area in Oulu. The area will be one of the world's first industrial 5G environments.

"Oulu is one of the key locations for research and development of Nokia 5G technology and mobile network products globally. The strong start-up culture of the Oulu region and close cooperation between the city, the university and the businesses in the region have enabled a unique ecosystem to be created in Oulu. Among other things, the ecosystem built an open 5G test network where companies in the area collaborate to generate new products and services," says Rauno Jokelainen, VP, Smart Radio Development Unit, Mobile Networks at Nokia.

• In September, Telia activated its first 5G base stations in Helsinki. Telia's 5G network operates on test frequencies issued by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority. Full-scale commercial operation will be possible in 2019, after the 3,5 GHz 5G frequency auction has been conducted in Finland.

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ADTRAN claims lead in 10G PON

A new global service provider survey by Broadbandtrends has named ADTRAN as the top source in all categories for delivering the next-generation technology, products, services and solutions needed to help network operators build their best 10G fiber access networks. The “Global Service Provider Survey” analyzed the results from interviews with incumbent and competitive operators in all major regions, ADTRAN placed first in every category for its 10G fiber access solutions and services.

ADTRAN’s fiber access portfolio includes XGS-PON, NG-PON2 or 10G-EPON.

According to its “Global Service Provider Survey: 2018 10G PON Deployment Strategies & Vendor Leadership” report, 79% of carriers worldwide plan to deploy 10G PON by 2020.

“10G PON is the next wave that network operators worldwide will ride as they look to meet and exceed the needs of business and residential customers eager for higher-speed services,” ADTRAN’s Director of Portfolio Management Ryan McCowan said. “10G PON provides the infrastructure our customers will leverage as they look to deploy high-value business services along with multi-gigabit residential services, prepare for 5G applications and increase the overall ROI of broadband service delivery.”

“10G PON is a clear market priority for service providers for its ability to enable carriers to simplify network architecture and expand their addressable markets. ADTRAN’s dedication to delivering the products and solutions the market wants has clearly been recognized by service providers worldwide,” said Teresa Mastrangelo, Broadbandtrends Principal Analyst.

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