Ericsson introduces Packet Core Firewall powered by A10

 Ericsson introduced a Packet Core Firewall to help advance 5G core network security for communications service providers (CSPs).

The Ericsson Packet Core Firewall is powered by A10 Networks’ technology and is seamlessly integrated with Ericsson Packet Core Gateway in  Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core offering. The solution also supports end-to-end network slicing and edge computing.

Ericsson said the new cloud native offering is optimized to scale with user plane to the edge of the network to cater for secure core network 5G use cases. The company also claims the solution delivers more than 50 percent total cost of ownership reduction over dedicated user plane security solutions, while maintaining 5G latency. This is enabled through a single CNF (Cloud Native Network Function) solution with simplified maintenance and orchestration.

Folke Anger, Head of Packet Core Solutions, Ericsson, says: “Securing service availability in 5G requires a holistic view beyond dedicated security solutions. We are now launching the Ericsson Packet Core Firewall seamlessly integrated into our Packet Core Gateway. This will provide our customers with substantial total cost of ownership improvements while ensuring their 5G services to the edge.”

Dhrupad Trivedi, CEO and Board Chair, A10 Networks, says: “Mobile operators are transitioning to more cloud native and distributed architectures to support 5G. This increases the critical need for security and network availability. A10 is excited to expand our partnership with Ericsson to enable current and emerging 5G use cases. The Ericsson Packet Core Firewall powered by A10 Networks is ready for cloud native deployments and addresses the evolving business needs for operators.”

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Xilinx samples its own telco accelerator card

Xilinx has begun sampling its own T1 Telco Accelerator Card for O-RAN distributed units (O-DUs) and virtual baseband units (vBBUs) in 5G networks. 

The card, which uses the same field-proven Xilinx silicon and IP already being deployed in 5G networks, comes in a multi-function PCIe form factor card which performs both O-RAN fronthaul protocols and layer 1 offload. The card provides advanced workload offload capabilities, enabling a dramatic reduction in the number of CPU cores required in a system. The T1 card also enables the O-DU to deliver greater 5G performance and services while reducing overall system power consumption and cost compared to competitive offerings.

The T1 card is a small form factor, single-slot card that can be plugged into standard x86 or non-x86 servers to achieve the real-time protocol processing performance required for 5G virtualized O-DU platforms. In addition, it offloads line-rate and compute-intensive functions including: channel encoding/decoding using hardened LDPC and Turbo codecs, rate matching/de-matching, HARQ buffer management, and more, freeing the processor cores for running other services - the true promise of virtualization. The T1 card simplifies 5G deployments by offering a turnkey solution through ecosystem partners that includes both O-RAN fronthaul and 5G NR layer 1 reference designs, as well as pre-validated software to enable operators, system integrators, and OEMs to get to market quickly.

Xilinx says the offloading of critical channel coding functions from the CPU to the T1 card delivers up to 45x encoding and 23x decoding throughput improvement relative to the same server without acceleration. The T1 card enables the use of fewer CPU cores, driving down system cost and overall power consumption. Additionally, for O-RAN fronthaul termination, it can process multiple sectors of 5G NR 4TRX at 100 MHz OBW with its 50 Gbps of optical ports. The Fronthaul and L1 bandwidths are matched for optimal scalability; the more towers you want, the more cards you add to the server.

“The trend toward network virtualization and O-RAN has given us an opportunity with the Xilinx T1 Telco Accelerator Card to drive the next steps of disaggregation of standard networks, enabling our expansion into every corner of the 5G market,” said Dan Mansur, vice president of marketing, Wired and Wireless Group, Xilinx. “Working closely with our ecosystem partners, Xilinx hardware, IP and software are leading the innovation and realization of 5G O-RAN networks.”

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Telefónica Deutschland deploys Ciena's Blue Planet SDN for automation

Telefónica Deutschland will deploy Ciena's Blue Planet SDN software from Blue Planet to prepare its transport network in Germany to adapt to escalating data traffic and bandwidth demands from users.

Blue Planet said its Multi-Domain Service Orchestration (MDSO) software is an important first step for Telefónica Deutschland's iFusion program, which aims to rapidly create, deploy and automate end-to-end service delivery across its new multi-vendor transport network.

Open Rest Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) from MDSO simplify integration with other components of Telefónica Deutschland’s Operations Support System (OSS) to align the network with needs of different applications. The upgraded network utilizes open standard models, including the transport application programming interface (T-API) and OpenConfig, with Blue Planet MDSO.

“Telefónica is moving away from legacy single-vendor platforms to a model combining best-of-breed solutions from multiple vendors, enabling us to maintain diversity in our network and avoid depending on one vendor. In Germany, Blue Planet’s software executes our SDN program to enable not only multivendor transport but also automation of our network,” states Cayetano Carbajo Martín, Global Director of Technology, Telefónica GCTIO.

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Dell'Oro: Cloud data center capex rises 17% yoy in Q2

 Cloud data center capex is 17% higher year-over-year (Y/Y) in 2Q 2020 as the Cloud service providers expanded server capacity, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group. Meanwhile, Enterprise IT spending remains depressed.

“The major U.S. and China-based Cloud service providers have accelerated expansion of server capacity to meet the demands of remote work and learning,”said Baron Fung, Research Director at Dell’Oro Group. “However, signs of a digestion cycle of lower growth in the second half 2020 may be imminent as the recent build-up is potentially leading to Cloud capacity and component inventories in excess of demand,” explained Fung.

Additional highlights from the 2Q 2020 Data Center Capex Quarterly Report:

The Top 10 Cloud service providers projected to return to double-digit Y/Y growth in 1H 2021.

Worldwide Server revenue grew 10 percent Y/Y, driven by 1.3 million units of white box servers to the Cloud.

https://www.delloro.com/news/server-capacity-expansion-drove-cloud-capex-17-percent-higher-y-y-in-2q-2020/

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Dell'Oro: Network security market flat again in Q2

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to reverberate in the network security market in Q2, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group. The pause in physical infrastructure projects persisted in 2Q20 as market revenue of $3.6 billion was flat year-on-year (Y/Y). The largest segment—firewalls—posted just a two percent Y/Y revenue increase. 

In contrast, the momentum to leverage cloud-based security to secure remote users and cloud applications continued in 2Q20 and drove Email Security to grow six percent Y/Y, and Secure Web Gateways to climb 14 percent Y/Y. 

“The network security market was still in the grips of the pandemic in 2Q20,” said Mauricio Sanchez, Research Director, Network Security and Data Center Appliances. “We foresee the current market dynamics to continue in 3Q20 and only begin shifting again late 2020 or early 2021, coinciding with effective therapies or vaccines for COVID-19. While we expect the overall market to shift back to stronger growth in 2021, we anticipate any recovery to be prolonged,” continued Sanchez.

Additional highlights from the 2Q20 Network Security & Data Center Appliance Quarterly Report:

• Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, and Fortinet were the top three vendors in terms of revenue share, respectively.
• Zscaler, Proofpoint, and Huawei had the strongest Y/Y revenue growth, at 43 percent, 21 percent, and 13 percent respectively.

https://www.delloro.com/

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Snowflake soars in IPO -- cloud data warehousing

 Snowflake, a start-up based in San Mateo, California, completed an initial public offering (IPO) of 28,000,000 shares of Class A common stock at a price to the public of $120.00 per share. Trading (Nasdaq: SNOW) closed on Wednesday at $253.93 per share.

Snowflake is known for its cloud data platform. The company says its customers currently have more than 250PB of data managed by the Snowflake cloud data platform, with more than 515 million data workloads that run each day. The company has more than 2,000 employees in 19 countries.

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JFrog soars in IPO -- Database of DevOps

 JFrog, which describes itself as "the “Database of DevOps” and de-facto standard in release and update management", raised $509 million in an initial public offering (IPO) of 11,568,218 ordinary shares at a price to the public of $44.00 per share. 

The shares (Nasdaq: FROG) began trading on Wednesday and closed at $64.79, up 47%.

JFrog products are available as open-source, self-managed, and SaaS services on AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. JFrog claims more than 5,800 customers.

JFrog has headquarters in both Netanya, Israel and Sunnyvale, California. 

https://jfrog.com/

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Champion ONE names Michael Rapp as its new CEO

 Champion ONE, a leading designer, marketer, and supplier of optical networking components worldwide, named Michael Rapp as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. As part of this transition, Pete Kirchof, C1's acting CEO, will return to his primary role of Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.

 Rapp's extensive executive experience ranges from serving as Chief Revenue Officer at En Pointe IT Solutions to heading integration and growth strategy at Insight. He has also held key senior leadership positions at PCM, En Pointe Technologies, Software Spectrum, and Admor Memory.

"I am thrilled to be taking the helm of C1 at such an exciting time," said Mr. Rapp. "Over the last few years, the management team and employees have propelled C1 forward, achieving record-level performance and expanding C1's capabilities to serve its customers.  C1 is an industry leader with respected brands and exponential growth potential. I am humbled to be entrusted with leading this team and look forward to continuing C1's established history of recruiting top-tier talent and driving operational excellence while servicing customers at the highest levels.

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T-Mobile US signs 15-year lease with American Tower

 T-Mobile announced a 15-year agreement to lease sites from American Tower across the United States. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The companies said the new agreement allows T-Mobile to increase momentum on its rapid 5G deployment, adding coverage and enhancing speed in thousands of cities and towns across the country.

“Wireless mobility has never been more critical for consumers and businesses alike, and as technology continues to advance into 5G and beyond, that will only increase,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “Through our multiyear agreement with American Tower, we’ve secured T-Mobile’s ability not only to accelerate our aggressive 5G build, but also to continue to deliver connectivity for our customers well into the future.”

“We look forward to strengthening our valued partnership with T-Mobile through this mutually beneficial, long-term agreement,” said Tom Bartlett, CEO, American Tower Corporation. “We’re excited to help T-Mobile deploy next-generation 5G service across the country quickly and efficiently by utilizing our extensive nationwide portfolio of communications sites.”

https://www.americantower.com/investor-relations/investor-presentations/

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Google Fiber to offer 2 Gig service for $100/month

 Google Fiber plans to introduce a 2 Gig performance tier for residential broadband customers.

The 2 Gig service will be priced at $100 per month and will come with a new Wi-Fi 6 router and mesh extender.

The new 2 Gig service will begin rolling out in Nashville, Tennessee, and Huntsville, Alabama beginning in October. The company expects to extend 2 Gig to other Google Fiber and Google Fiber Webpass cities in early 2021.

• Google Fiber is available in parts of the following cities: 
• Atlanta, GA 
• Austin, TX 
• Charlotte, NC 
• Chicago, IL 
• Denver, CO 
• Huntsville, AL 
• Kansas City, KS/MO 
• Miami, FL 
• Nashville, TN 
• Oakland, CA 
• Orange County, CA 
• Provo, UT 
• San Antonio, TX 
• San Diego, CA 
• San Francisco, CA 
• Salt Lake Valley, UT 
• Seattle, WA 
• The Triangle, NC 
• West Des Moines, IA

https://fiber.google.com/blog/2020/the-next-step-in-speed-experience-2-gig-now-with-the-google-fiber-trusted-tester-program/

• Google Fiber first introduced its 1 Gig residential broadband service in 2010

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Silicon photonics pioneer Michal Lipson elected by The Optical Society

 Dr. Michal Lipson, Eugene Higgins Professor at Columbia University, has been elected members of The Optical Society (OSA) to serve as the society’s 2021 Vice President. Lipson’s four-year commitment to OSA’s Board of Directors consists of serving one year as vice president in 2021, followed by one year as president-elect in 2022, president in 2023 and past president in 2024.

“In the field of silicon photonics, Lipson is a pioneer whose work in tailoring the electro-optic properties of silicon and advancing research and development is world-renowned,” said OSA CEO Elizabeth Rogan. “Her contributions to OSA and the optics and photonics community have been extraordinary and the society will continue to benefit from her serving in this key leadership role.”

Dr. Lipson pioneered critical building blocks in the field of silicon photonics, which today is recognized as one of the most promising directions for solving the major bottlenecks in microelectronics. In 2004, she showed the ability to tailor the electro-optic properties of silicon (Almeida, et al., Nature 2004 with more than 1300 citations and Xu et al Nature 2005 with more than 2000 citations) which represented critical advances that led to the explosion of silicon photonics research and development. The number of publications related to silicon photonic devices and systems is now more than 50,000 a year. Many of these publications are based on Lipson’s original papers published since 2001. 

OSA members also elected two directors-at-large to serve on the OSA Board of Directors for the 2021-2023 term:

• Dr. Joyce Poon is a Director of the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Toronto, Canada and an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany. She and her team specialize in integrated photonics on silicon. She currently serves as an Associate Editor for Optics Express. Poon founded the OSA Student Chapter at the California Institute of Technology, USA where she earned her Ph.D. She subsequently built a research program centered on silicon integrated photonics for telecom applications at the University of Toronto, Canada. 
• Dr. Ulrike Woggon is Professor of Experimental Physics, in particular Nonlinear Optics, at the Institute for Optics and Atomic Physics of the Technical University Berlin (TUB).  In 1985, she received her Ph.D. from Humboldt University in the field of nonlinear optics in semiconductors. Her research interests, documented by more than 200 refereed publications and approximately 7,500 citations, several book chapters and numerous invited lectures as well as third-party funding, are in the field of nanophotonics, ultrafast spectroscopy, solid-state optics and photonic materials. Woggon is one of the founding members of the Berlin School of Optical Sciences and Quantum Technology (BOS.QT). She became an OSA Fellow in 2010, and has served as chair or member on several OSA program committees. 

Lipson and the new directors-at-large will begin their terms on 1 January 2021.

https://www.osa.org/en-us/about_osa/newsroom/news_releases/2020/silicon_photonics_pioneer_michal_lipson_elected_20/

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VIAVI validates the performance of Nokia's CFP2 modules

 Nokia has validated its coherent optical modules using the VIAVI Solutions' ONT 800G FLEX DCO Module, which tests pluggable (CFP2) Digital Coherent Optics (DCO) modules. Nokia utilized this test capability as a beta customer, providing valuable feedback, and ultimately purchased the first ONT 800G FLEX DCO Module upon release.

Nokia collaborated with VIAVI to test its CFP2 DCO module against the different technologies with the 800G FLEX DCO Module. In particular, Nokia sought a solution which had coherent interfaces on the optical as well as the electrical sides, a capability not available from other vendors.

VIAVI said the 800G FLEX DCO Module for its optical network test platform offers native support for both 400G class CFP2 DCO and QSFP-DD 400ZR modules. Electrical adapters allow testing on prototype boards and integrated circuits before module integration, greatly accelerating product development.

"Carriers worldwide are investing in optical transport upgrades as they prepare for next-generation communications, and are entrusting us to drive more efficient operation while enhancing service quality," said Andreas Leven, Head of Engineering, High Speed Optical Networks, Nokia. 

"We are honored to work with industry leaders such as Nokia, allowing us to anticipate and respond to network technology evolution," said Tom Fawcett, Vice President and General Manager, Lab and Production Business Unit, VIAVI. "Thanks to that partnership, VIAVI has blazed yet another trail with the first coherent test solution to support the multiservice market at 400G, accelerating high-speed network test to ensure performance and interoperability."

https://www.viavisolutions.com/en-us/news-releases/nokia-selects-viavi-validate-performance-coherent-optical-modules

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PacketLight supplies data center interconnect in Santiago

 PIT Chile, a major Internet Exchange Point (IXP) for major CDNs including Facebook, Fastly, Google, and Microsoft, and local Chilean ISPs businesses, has deployed PacketLight's PL-2000T transponder to connect two of its data centers in Santiago, Chile.

The solution supports a 200G protected DCI link between two data centers in El Bosque and Santa Marta on three nodes of dark fiber. 

PacketLight's PL-2000T enables the high capacity transport of up to 8 x 100Gbs Ethernet with integrated EDFA and optical switch, as well as optional embedded physical layer encryption to support future requirements. 

"The link between El Bosque and Santa Marta sites ensures more capacity, more resilience, and lower latency between the data center nodes so we can operate at full capacity without any service degradation to our customers," said Ivan Žilić Schmidt, Director of Technology at PIT Chile. "Our experience with PacketLight Networks has exceeded expectations from the simplicity of installation to the quality of the DCI link."

"We are thrilled to provide PIT Chile an intuitive solution capable of meeting their needs for high capacity DCI while being simple enough to install amidst the challenges created by the pandemic," said Koby Reshef, CEO of PacketLight Networks. "The PL-2000T is an excellent representation of PacketLight's carrier-grade solutions that are simple, cost-effective, and easily scalable to support pay-as-you-grow architecture."

https://www.packetlight.com

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Nokia updates Self-Organizing Network software for zero-touch 5G automation

 Nokia introduced upgraded cognitive Self-Organizing Networks software to drive zero-touch operations for 5G.

Instead of the traditional operator console, the software provides an objective driven dashboard that helps operations stakeholders – from chief experience officers to market engineers – to  decipher how their objectives are realized by SON.

Nokia said its updated SON software increased operational efficiency by 80 percent in a proof of concept exercise conducted with a leading North American operator.

Nokia cognitive SON has a vendor-agnostic network slice management function to automate the radio slice life cycle and resource optimization. Leveraging ML and automation capabilities, Nokia cognitive SON will be able to optimize each slice separately to ensure better network availability and quality.

Brian McCann, Chief Product Officer of Nokia Software, said: “This cognitive upgrade to our Nokia SON solution massively reduces the need for manual work and technical expertise when optimizing radio networks, allowing us to deliver our promise for a much more efficient and error-free process that will ultimately result in better network quality and reliability. It is a timely product and one that reinforces Nokia’s software innovation leadership.”

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ZenFi brings Telia Carrier to carrier and enterprises in NYC metro

ZenFi Networks will offer connectivity to Telia Carrier's global IP backbone to its wholesale and enterprise customers throughout the New York and New Jersey metro region.

The collaboration enhances ZenFi Networks’ footprint outside of the New York City and New Jersey metro region, empowering customers to expand their reach to more than 300 Points of Presence in 120 global markets. The partnership also gives Telia Carrier access to ZenFi Networks’ expansive fiber footprint, spanning more than 1,100 route miles, to provide diverse access to enterprise destinations across New York and New Jersey, a market with one of the world’s densest concentrations of commercial business.

“Like Telia Carrier, ZenFi Networks is focused on the customer experience,” said Rob Pulkownik, Telia Carrier’s Head of Channel Sales. “We’ve found that the core values of the two companies are in alignment. Both organizations focus on the customer with rapid delivery, collaboration and transparency as guiding principles. The complementary nature of ZenFi Networks’ metro NYC footprint and Telia Carrier’s #1 Global IP backbone adds up to a consistently positive experience for our shared customer base.”

“We have had a long-standing relationship with Telia Carrier and are excited for the evolution of our partnership.  Our mutual customer-centric values create a collaboration that better serves our customers,” said Walter Cannon, Vice President of Business Development at ZenFi Networks. “Telia Carrier’s expanded global reach compliments ZenFi Networks’ ability to offer enhanced solutions and services to our channel partners, our wholesale customers, and enterprise businesses within and beyond our regional footprint.”

http://www.teliacarrier.com

http://www.zenfi.com

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Co-founder of ARM urges UK to block sale to NVIDIA

 Hermann Hauser, co-founder of Arm, published an open letter to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom urging that the sale of Arm to Nvidia be blocked.

Hauser presents three arguments:

• the impact on jobs in Cambridge, Manchester, Belfast, Glasgow, Sheffield and Warwick once the company's headquarters are moved out of the UK;
• the inevitable destruction of Arm's open licensing business model 
• national economic sovereignty.

As an alternative to the sale, Hauser urges a public listing on the London Stock Exchange, with the UK government investing £1-2bn and getting a Golden Share to ensure the public interest.

https://savearm.co.uk/

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Tencent to build digital hub in Singapore

Tencent announced plans to build a digital hub of operations in Singapore to serve customers throughout southeast Asia.

In August, Tencent reported 1H2020 revenue of RMB222.948 billion (US$31.492 billion), an increase of 28% over the first half of 2019.

• Bytedance and Alibaba have also recently announced plans to invest in Singapore. These announcements follow the recent decision by India to ban Chinese applications.

https://www.tencent.com/en-us/investors.html

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Silicon Photonics Copackaging Webinar - September 16

Silicon photonics is advancing rapidly with new approaches in manufacturing. 

On Weds., September 16 at 10:00am (Pacific) we will host a webinar on Silicon Photonics Co-Packaging and Manufacturing Techniques with IBM's B. Alexander Janta-Polczynski and Vikas Gupta of GLOBALFOUNDRIES.

The manufacturing techniques for silicon photonics being developed by these partners have the potential to significantly reduce packaging costs for datacom, LiDAR & photonic computing applications — including at very high data rates of 800G. 

This is a free webinar and everyone is welcome to attend.  If you can’t make it at that time on September. 16, we will post a replay soon.  Thanks!

To Register: https://lnkd.in/g7qtZvb

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DISH picks Nokia for cloud-native, 5G standalone core

DISH Network selected Nokia’s cloud-native, standalone Core software products to help it build the most advanced, disruptive, fully-automated, cloud-native 5G network in the U.S..

The deal, which follows months of joint testing, includes subscriber data management, device management, packet core, voice and data core, as well as integration services. Nokia will also deliver additional cloud-native products that will provide 4G, 5G standalone and Voice over Wi-Fi access to core network functions. Financial terms were not disclosed

Marc Rouanne, DISH Chief Network Officer, said: “This is an important step in bringing to life DISH’s plans to deliver the first open, agile, virtualized 5G network in the U.S. Nokia’s new release is cloud-native, standalone and ready for full automation, providing DISH the software capabilities required to deliver thousands of network slices with low latency and SLA on demand.”

Bhaskar Gorti, President of Nokia Software and Nokia Chief Digital Officer, said: “The benefits of Nokia’s industry-leading, cloud-native standalone 5G Core products built on our proven Common Software Foundation -- near-zero-touch automation capabilities, high-level operational efficiencies, scale and performance – continue to set us apart from the competition. DISH has great ambition and we are both excited and laser-focused on helping them deliver on that.”

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AT&T and NTT DOCOMO enter 5G roaming pact

AT&T announced a 5G international roaming agreement with NTT DOCOMO.

“As a longtime industry leader providing global connectivity, we’re evolving the breadth and depth of our global coverage with 5G,” said Susan A. Johnson, executive vice president – Global Connections & Supply Chain, AT&T. “This marks a significant milestone for AT&T and our customers.”

“We’re excited to launch 5G roaming in Japan on NTT DOCOMO, Inc.’s network because of what it means for our customers,” said JR Wilson, vice president – Tower Strategy & Roaming, AT&T. “Our teams never stop innovating, developing and deploying the latest technology to provide our customers with access to a next-generation network – at home and abroad.”

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