OCP and JEDEC advance chiplet design

The Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) and JEDEC announced a collaboration to revolutionize chiplet design, manufacturing and integration.

In a significant development, the integration of OCP CDXML into JEP30 has reached a critical milestone, enabling chiplet builders to provide standardized chiplet part descriptions to their customers electronically. This advancement opens the door to automating System in Package (SiP) design and assembly using chiplets. The chiplet descriptions encompass crucial information for SiP builders, including thermal properties, physical and mechanical requirements, behavior specifications, power and signal integrity properties, testing in-package and security parameters.

The Chiplet Design Exchange (CDX), an open-source working group operating in the Open Domain-Specific Architecture (ODSA) sub-project within the Open Compute Project, comprises a team of experts from diverse fields, including EDA, system design, IC and SiP design, OSAT, IC fabrication and material supply. Their collective mission, and that of the OCP ODSA Project, revolves around nurturing a flourishing open chiplet economy. The CDX group presented a whitepaper at the IEEE 3DIC 2021 conference in October 2021, introducing standardized chiplet models designed for development and validation of 3D IC designs. While many of these models drew from established standards, a standout innovation emerged in the form of machine-readable models for electrical and mechanical properties, which have since evolved into the JEDEC JEP30 PartModels. These models form the foundation of a Chiplet Design Kit (CDK).

“The integration of JEDEC JEP30 and OCP CDXML is truly a groundbreaking endeavor, creating a unified platform that revolutionizes chiplet and electronic part integration,” said Michael Durkan, JEDEC Task Group Chair and PartModel Sponsor. He continued: “Enabling component manufacturers to create standardized digital part models that can be easily used by designers and engineers in all varieties of electronic systems will help propel the industry forward with next-level digitalization and automation.”

“By uniting the power of OCP CDXML and JEDEC JEP30 standards, we are forging a new era of collaboration and innovation in the chiplet industry. This integration empowers engineers, manufacturers and designers with a comprehensive framework that enhances efficiency, compatibility and customization,” said Cliff Grossner, Ph.D., Chief Innovation Officer with OCP. He added: “The OCP CDXML-JEDEC JEP30 collaboration embodies OCP’s value proposition and its commitment to driving progress and elevating the industry as a whole.”

https://www.opencompute.org/summit/global-summit

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Nokia carries 800G single wavelength over 7865 km

Nokia announced two new world records in submarine optical transmission: 

• 800 Gbps on a single optical wavelength at a distance of 7865 km – the distance between Tokyo and Seattle. Nokia Bell Labs achieved this milestone at its optical research testbed in Paris-Saclay, France.
• a net throughput of 41 Tbps over 291 km via a C-band unrepeated transmission system. This record was achieved by both Nokia Bell Labs and Nokia subsidiary Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN).  C-band unrepeated systems are commonly used to connect islands and offshore platforms to each other and the mainland proper. The previous record for these kinds of systems is 35 Tbps over the same distance. Nokia Bell Labs and ASN broke the record at ASN’s research testbed facility, also in Paris-Saclay.

Nokia said the achievements were made possible by higher-baud-rate technologies. The research behind these two records will have significant impact on the next generation of submarine optical transmission systems. While future deployments of submarine fiber will take advantage of new fiber technologies like multimode and multicore, the existing undersea fiber networks can take advantage of next-generation higher-baud-rate transceivers to boost their performance and increase their long-term viability.  

Sylvain Almonacil, Research Engineer at Nokia Bell Labs, said: “With these higher baud rates, we can directly link most of the world’s continents with 800 Gbps of capacity over individual wavelengths. Previously, these distances were inconceivable for that capacity. Furthermore, we’re not resting on our achievement. This world record is the next step toward next-generation Terabit-per-second submarine transmissions over individual wavelengths.”

Hans Bissessur, Unrepeated Systems Group leader at ASN, said: “These research advances show that that we can achieve better performance over the existing fiber infrastructure. Whether these optical systems are crisscrossing the world or linking the islands of an archipelago, we can extend their lifespans.”

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2023/10/10/nokia-bell-labs-sets-a-new-world-record-of-800-gbps-for-transoceanic-optical-transmission/

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CoreSite enables 50G between data centers and Google Cloud

CoreSite is now providing its colocation customers with the ability to create 20G and 50G virtual connections to Google Cloud and between CoreSite data centers.

These enhancements to the Open Cloud Exchange (OCX), CoreSite’s leading software-defined networking platform, also reduce the time required for organizations to augment network capacity and support the next wave of high-bandwidth, low-latency hybrid applications such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and digital media production.

CoreSite launched the new OCX capabilities as part of an initiative to support a global streaming media and entertainment (M&E) client, which will leverage the enhanced functionality to support its burst operations in peak production season – improving operational agility to meet stringent movie launch schedules.

“Businesses are looking for innovative ways to improve agility and optimize their operations,” said Juan Font, President and CEO of CoreSite, SVP of U.S. Tower. “By providing enhanced connection capabilities through our proprietary Open Cloud Exchange with Google Partner Interconnect, CoreSite is delivering the platform customers require to meet the growing need to access and manage their data effectively.”

https://www.coresite.com/newsroom/coresite-launches-enhanced-open-cloud-exchange-r-bandwidth-connections-up-to-50g-with-google-cloud

• CoreSite currently operates 28 data centers in 10 U.S. markets.

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DC BLOX opens Cable Landing Station in South Carolina

DC BLOX inaugurated its Cable Landing Station (CLS) in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 

The new facility will offer a design capacity at full build-out of 125,000 sq. ft. and 19 MW of power. It can host up to five subsea cables and colocation space for network and cable operators, communications providers, local enterprises, and partners.

Google has announced two subsea cables that will land at the DC BLOX Cable Landing Station including the Firmina cable connecting Myrtle Beach to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, and the Nuvem cable to connect to Portugal and Bermuda. Edge Holdings (a subsidiary of Meta) has announced that it plans to land its Anjana cable connecting to Spain.

DC BLOX is also building a dark fiber route from their Myrtle Beach Cable Landing Station to Atlanta’s communications hub, the first direct east-to-west route enabling high-capacity direct access to hundreds of communications providers and to a rapidly growing population of regional data centers. The dark fiber route also enables diversity for core fiber routes connecting Northern Virginia to Atlanta.

“South Carolina is a growing innovation hub, bringing in new economic opportunities through digital infrastructure and other technology investments,” says Lee Livingston, Director of Partnerships at Google. “We look forward to the continued partnership with our neighbors in Myrtle Beach, and are committed to making sure the Firmina and Nuvem subsea cables deliver lasting benefits to the state.”

“South Carolina is a crucial part of the U.S. and global economy, so Meta is proud to join DC BLOX in partnering with the state of South Carolina to bring this crucial connectivity project to Myrtle Beach”, notes Meta’s Boh DuPree, Director of Network Investments – Americas. “This cable landing station serves as an important investment that Meta believes will benefit millions of people, communities and businesses in South Carolina and beyond.” 

“As we embarked on this journey, we saw the opportunity to redefine what a cable landing station could be by creating a pivotal hub where companies could colocate and connect, and to fundamentally change the digital landscape of the Southeast,” remarks Jeff Uphues, CEO of DC BLOX. “The grand opening of our new facility opens up opportunities for global and regional communications providers, hyperscalers, and enterprises to more easily participate in the global economy and to leverage this infrastructure to create an AI-driven future. Together, we’re not just meeting today’s needs; we’re pioneering the infrastructure of tomorrow.”

https://www.dcblox.com/dc-blox-opens-myrtle-beach-cable-landing-station/

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Nokia supplies nationwide optical backbone for du in UAE

Nokia has supplied a 400G national optical backbone network for du from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC). 

du's new optical backbone network will leverage Nokia’s fifth-generation super-coherent Photonic Service Engine (PSE-Vs) and CDC-F ROADM technology to ensure efficient delivery of 400G wavelengths throughout the UAE. The Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) feature of the new network will help du to dramatically enhance the service level agreements by enabling automatic rerouting through alternate paths. The innovative network will also enable Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) capabilities to monetize wholesale service.

Saleem Alblooshi, CTO at du, said: “Our partnership with Nokia represents a key step forward in fulfilling du's commitment to shaping 'Today for Tomorrow.' Leveraging Nokia's cutting-edge optical technology solutions is a game-changer, not just for us, but for the entire UAE. It not only enhances our subscribers' experiences but also ensures the creation of a national optical backbone that is energy-efficient, sustainable, and ready to face the future. Through this initiative, du reasserts its commitment of building ‘Today for Tomorrow’ in line with the UAE’s vision of sustainability.”

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Aliro Quantum attracts investment from Accenture

Aliro Quantum, a start-up based in Boston developing entanglement-based secure quantum networks, has attracted an equity investment from Accenture. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Aliro, spun out of NarangLab at Harvard University, includes world-class experts in quantum and classical networking and is leading the charge in quantum network development by offering the foundational technologies needed for organizations around the world to build scalable and powerful distributed quantum systems.

Solutions from Aliro enable businesses to automate the orchestration and control of quantum networks for use cases including with quantum secure communications, scaling quantum computing, distributed quantum sensing, and the quantum internet. Aliro uses entanglement-based quantum cryptography to allow senders and receivers to produce shared knowledge and outcomes, while also minimizing risk of a third party maliciously gaining access.

“The speed and security of quantum networking means that its impact on everything from telecommunications to cybersecurity to research will be more transformative and impactful than anything we can dream of today,” said Tom Lounibos, managing director, Accenture Ventures. “We will continue to support Aliro as the company moves towards its mission to build the world's first scalable quantum networks.”

Dr. Prineha Narang, founder and CTO with Aliro Quantum, said "I am deeply grateful for the confidence and trust placed in our team by Accenture Ventures. We believe this additional funding reinforces the significance that quantum networking has in shaping the future of secure communications and validates our approach to designing and building scalable and commercial entanglement-based quantum networks. We are excited to collaborate with Accenture to propel our business growth, nurture partnerships, and drive innovation in quantum information science."

https://www.aliroquantum.com

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Commscope debuts enterprise-class Wi-Fi 7 by Ruckus

CommScope introduced an enterprise-class Wi-Fi 7 access point (AP)—the R770 from its RUCKUS Networks division.

The RUCKUS R770 platform is driven by RUCKUS AI, a cloud service for network assurance and business intelligence to enhance Wi-Fi 7 network resilience. RUCKUS AI simplifies network management by presenting key information to operators, improving network visibility, speeding up problem solving, meeting service level agreements (SLAs) and ensuring a seamless user experience.

The RUCKUS R770 is a high-end Wi-Fi 7, tri-band concurrent indoor AP that delivers 8 spatial streams (2x2:2 in 2.4GHz, 4x4:4 in 5GHz, 2x2:2 in 6GHz) and supports Wi-Fi 7 features such as, Multi-Link-Operation (MLO), Preamble Puncturing, 4K QAM Modulation and 320MHz channels. It delivers industry-leading performance environments with a combined data rate of 12.22 Gbps. Furthermore, 10Gbps Ethernet port eliminates wired backhaul bottleneck for full use of available Wi-Fi capacity.

“In the broader technology space, we constantly hear about ‘the next big thing’ that’s barreling down the pipeline—in our world, this is it,” stated Bart Giordano, senior vice president, RUCKUS Networks, CommScope. “Wi-Fi 7 is a quantum leap forward, the best way to fully utilize the capacity and performance offered by the 6 GHz band, and we’re privileged to take our place once again as a leader in this Wi-Fi revolution with the RUCKUS R770 platform. When ‘good enough’ networking just isn’t good enough, organizations turn to RUCKUS Networks. Emerging use cases in many challenging environments will benefit tremendously from Wi-Fi 7 in coming years. With the launch of the automatic frequency coordination (AFC)-ready R770 AP, we look to transform our entire AP portfolio to enable the industries we serve to benefit from the tremendous advancements in Wi-Fi 7.”

https://www.ruckusnetworks.com/products/wireless-access-points/r770/

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NTT DATA and IP Infusion offer disaggregation for network operators

NTT DATA and IP Infusion are collaborating for go-to-market open networking solutions to bring enhanced disaggregation, scalability, and choices to network operators.

Specifically, NTT DATA will offer IP Infusion Cell Site Routers, Routed Optical Networking, Aggregation Router and Data Center software products, including bundled solutions, on a broad portfolio of white box hardware.

This collaboration for expanding broad connectivity was initiated by the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), including TIP solutions for Disaggregated Cell Site Gateways (DCSG) or Cell Site Routers and Cassini for Routed Optical Networking projects. Both NTT DATA and IP Infusion are members of TIP, which is driving development and deployment of open, disaggregated, and standards-based technology solutions to advance global connectivity.

“We are deeply committed to accelerating network disaggregation throughout our global ecosystem of customers and partners,” said Teodoro López Palacios, Partner, Telecom Sector at NTT DATA Europe & LATAM. “IP Infusion is a proven leader in open networking, providing award-winning and field-tested solutions that reduce total cost of ownership while expanding services. We are excited to help propel innovation, greater access, and better network outcomes to more users.”

“The systems integrator role is important for the TIP community, and the IP Infusion and NTT DATA alliance is a big step forward for bringing disaggregated solutions to a diverse range of use cases,” said Kristian Toivo, Executive Director of Telecom Infra Project. “NTT DATA and IP Infusion have long demonstrated deep expertise in open network solutions and this collaboration will help create a stronger, more flexible supply chain, supporting high-quality connectivity.”

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Mitsubishi Electric to Invest in Coherent's new silicon carbide business

Mitsubishi Electric will invest US$500 million (approx. 75 billion yen) in Coherent Corp.'s new silicon carbide (SiC) spin-off.

Mitsubishi Electric said it is aiming to expand its SiC power device business by strengthening vertical collaboration with Coherent, who has been one of its suppliers of SiC substrates.

The electric vehicle market is expanding worldwide and is one of several emerging applications driving the exponential growth of SiC power devices, which offer lower energy loss, higher operating temperatures and faster switching speeds than conventional silicon power devices. The high efficiency of SiC power devices is expected to contribute significantly to global decarbonization and green transformation.

Mitsubishi Electric has been a leader in SiC power modules for high-speed trains, high-voltage industrial applications, and home appliances for many years. The company made history by launching the world’s first SiC power modules for air conditioners in 2010, and became the first supplier of a full SiC power module for Shinkansen high-speed trains in 2015. 

https://www.MitsubishiElectric.com/news/

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NTT forms new company for Photonics-Electronics Convergence

A new company has been established by NTT Group to manufacture Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices that are indispensable for the realization of its next-generation "IOWN (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network)" concept. 

Specifically, the new company will accelerate the development of low-power short-distance optical transmission products in the mid- to long-term and expand into the computing area.

NTT Innovative Devices Corporation, which was established on June 12, 2023, will market Photonics-Electronics Convergence technologies developed at NTT Laboratories. 

NTT said the reason for making a new operating company is that, unlike the conventional network-centered solutions business, "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology" is a business that involves hardware. To further accelerate this business, on August 1 the company integrated with NTT Electronics, a leading-edge component manufacturer with development and manufacturing know-how as an optoelectronic component manufacturer. As a result, NTT Electronics has taken a new step forward as a specialized manufacturer with a full scope of functions including design, development, manufacturing, and sales of Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices.

https://group.ntt/en/magazine/blog/photonics_electronics_convergence_pressconference/

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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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