Tag Archives: Broadband

Building the Adaptive Network – starting with silicon
The journey to the Adaptive Network for network operators is not a linear path and involves managing the deployment of a range of new technologies. Key to this journey is the deployment of a programmable infrastructure. Patricia Bower explores coherent DSP design – one of the primary tools network equipment designers have in order to enable programmability and flexibility – and its significance for network transformations.
By Patricia Bower – New bandwidth-intensive content and applications, along with a massive proliferation of connected devices, will place heavy demands on communications networks going forward. To prepare for this, providers must transform their networks though the implementation of new hardware and software solutions. The Adaptive Network^TM is the ultimate goal and consists of three main elements – a programmable packet and optical infrastructure to connect network elements; an analytics and intelligence layer to analyze and predict network behavior; and software control and automation to simplify end-to-end management across multi-vendor, multi-domain networks.

A programmable infrastructure is based on network systems which can support multiple operating modes, allow for optimization of network paths through tunability, provide for scalability and support intelligence through real-time link monitoring. These capabilities contribute to a network that can adapt and scale according to demand.

High-speed global communications networks are based on the manipulation of photons (light), but over the last ten years semiconductor electronics has been the foundation for significant advances in the delivery of lower cost per bit and greater flexibility. Semiconductor integrated circuits (IC) have continued to increase in complexity, with each new generation of manufacturing process technology offering greater functionality, smaller area and lower power.

Fabricated primarily in silicon, IC processing technology – also referred to as CMOS – is based on large-scale integration of transistor gates as a primary building block. Each process node is notionally identified by a gate size expressed in micrometers or nanometers, although the names are typically no longer related directly. Volume manufacturing for the majority of semiconductor products is currently in “7nm” (or equivalent) from various CMOS foundries. Today’s Application Specific-ICs (ASICs) can integrate several hundred million transistors in a chip area of only few hundred mm². more>

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• Cable MSOs and edge compute: what are executives thinking?
• Improving universal edge access with flexible and pluggable 10G PON, Wayne Hickey

The closed and proprietary mobile networks of the past aren’t welcome any longer. Find out how Ciena is helping customers benefit from a more open, automated, and adaptable 5G wireline network.
By Joe Marsella – After years of hype, I think it’s fair to say that 5G is here. Initial deployments are underway around the world. There’s genuine excitement for a new generation of applications that exploit the massive end-to-end performance gains that 5G will provide across the mobile network. From AR/VR to IoT to gaming to streaming, our industry will push 5G technology to its limits to give consumers and businesses rich and rewarding digital experiences.

But here’s the problem. I’ve traveled the world and spoken to network operators of every size, mobile and wholesale operators alike. They all say the same thing. If the full promise of 5G is to be commercially realized, this time it must be different. We’ll need to challenge the traditional, closed way of building end-to-end mobile networks.

The world is changing. Digital disruption, virtualization, and openness are all driving a change in how networks are built. Look, we don’t shop the way we used to 30 years ago. We order transportation services with the push of a button, and many kids don’t know what it feels like to wait until 8:00 pm for their favorite show to be on (or even worse, wait through commercials!) – because of digital disruption.

It’s time for that change to come to wireless networks. For the past 30 years, successive generations of wireless networks were built a certain way: closed. Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and wholesale operators alike had to rely on very few vendors and their proprietary architectures, interfaces, and protocols. What if your locked-in vendor wasn’t innovating at the pace you needed to successfully compete? Well – you were stuck until the next generation network was upon us and hoped this time for open, standards-based solutions. more>

Related>

• Destination 5G
• Automation: Take the fast lane on the path to 5G, Kailem Anderson

Uncovering the path to 5G connectivity
The race to deliver new, high-value 5G services is all about how quickly you can evolve your existing 4G infrastructure into a scalable, ultra-reliable, high-performance 5G network. This is the first post in a three-part series from Dave Parsons, Ethernet & IP Solutions and Enablement Director for EMEA at Ciena, where he covers key strategies to accelerate and de-risk the path towards 5G, deliver new services, and stay ahead of your competitors.
By Dave Parsons – We’ve all heard it. In the 5G era, the number of mobile devices are expected to significantly increase and support as high as 100x faster data rates, and 10x lower latency, when compared to today’s 4G LTE. This combination of capacity and latency improvements will unleash a lucrative new range of augmented/virtual reality, IoT, gaming, trading, and industrial applications (such as manufacturing applications and control and monitoring applications for utilities companies).

The race has already begun to migrate existing 4G networks to 5G-capable networks, initially based on the 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) infrastructure, where 5G New Radio (NR) will leverage existing 4G Evolved Packet Core (EPC) infrastructure until the 5G Core network is fully standardized and rolled out.

To keep pace with your competitors, and embrace emerging 5G services, you need to accelerate and de-risk your planned network evolution and bring profitable new services to market as fast as possible. The question is, how?

There are various strategies you can adopt for a successful 4G to 5G network migration. In this series, we’ll explore the paths you can choose from.

1. Unlock bandwidth-on-demand with scalable cell-site infrastructure: Networks that backhaul 5G traffic must scale by an order of magnitude – typically from 1G to 10G – and even higher in some cases. Backhaul networks are expected to carry existing 4G traffic as well for improved economies of scale via a simpler, converged transport network where high capacity backhaul links can benefit from the very latest in coherent pluggable optics.
2. Accelerate your 5G infrastructure rollout with Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP): Slow, manual, and error-prone installation and configuration of network infrastructure can significantly delay an operator’s 4G to 5G evolution, and increase costs. Solutions offering ZTP overcome these challenges by automating network equipment deployments in a rapid, reliable, and error-free manner, providing a faster 5G service rollouts for significant competitive advantage as the race to 5G intensifies.

more>

• Predictions: Ciena CTO Steve Alexander looks at the future of networks in 2020 and beyond, Bo Gowan [AUDIO]
• Uncovering the path to 5G connectivity: part 2, Dave Parsons
• Disruptive Innovation Possible Even in the Most Mature Economies, Rick Seeto
• A Self-Optimizing Fabric for the 5G era, Kaniz Mahdi