Mobile infrastructure must catch up with user needs and demands. Ubiquitous mobile computing is all around us. Some time in the next six months, the number of smartphones on earth will pass the number of PCs. As the power and capability of many mobile devices increases, the increased demand on networks. We watch more videos, and listen to music on our phones. Mobile Data Traffic To Grow 300% Globally By 2017 Led By Video, Web Use. Mobile network operators would have had an easier life if it wasn’t for smartphones and the flood of data traffic they initiated, and soon there will be also very many Internet of Things devices. Businesses and consumers want more bandwidth for less money.
More and more network bandwidth is being used by video: Netflix And YouTube Account For Over 50% Of Peak Fixed Network Data In North America. Netflix remains the biggest pig in the broadband python, representing 31.6% of all downstream Internet traffic in North America during primetime. In other parts of the world, YouTube is the biggest consumer of bandwidth. In Europe, YouTube represented of 28.7% of downstream traffic.
Gartner: Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends For 2014 expects that Software Defined Anything is a new mega-trend in data centers. Software-defined anything (SDx) is defined by “improved standards for infrastructure programmability and data center interoperability driven by automation inherent to cloud computing, DevOps and fast infrastructure provisioning.” Dominant vendors in a given sector of an infrastructure-type may elect not to follow standards that increase competition and lower margins, but end-customer will benefit from simplicity, cost reduction opportunities, and the possibility for consolidation. More hype around Software-Defined-Everything will keep the marketeers and the marchitecture specialists well employed for the next twelve months but don’t expect anything radical.
Software defined technologies are coming quickly to telecom operator networks with Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV). Intel and rather a lot of telcos want networks to operate like data centres. Today’s networks are mostly based around proprietary boxes designed to do very specific jobs. It used to be that way in the server business too until cheap generic x86 boxes took most of the market. The idea in NFV is that low-cost x86 servers can successfully many of those those pricey proprietary boxes currently attached to base-stations and other parts of the network. This scents a shift in the mood of the telcos themselves. This change is one that they want, and rather a lot of them are working together to make it happen. So the future mobile network will have more and more x86 and ARM based generic computing boxes running on Linux.
With the introduction of Network Functions Virtualisation base stations will have new functions built into them. For example NSN has announced a mobile edge computing platform that enables mobile base stations to host data and run apps. Think of this as an internet cloud server that’s really close to the customer.
Hybrid Cloud and IT as Service Broker are talked about. Telecom companies and cloud service providers are selling together service packages that have both connectivity and cloud storage sold as single service. Gartner suggests that bringing together personal clouds and external private cloud services is essential.
The type of device one has will be less important, as the personal or public cloud takes over some of the role. The push for more personal cloud technologies will lead to a shift toward services and away from devices, but there are also cases where where there is a great incentive to exploit the intelligence and storage of the client device. Gartner suggests that now through 2018, a variety of devices, user contexts, and interaction paradigms will make “everything everywhere” strategies unachievable, although many would like to see this working.
“Internet of Things” gets more push. The Internet is expanding into enterprise assets and consumer items such as cars and televisions. The concept of “Internet of Things” will evolve a step toward The Internet of Everything. Gartner identifies four basic usage models that are emerging: Manage, Monetize, Operate, Extend. The Internet of Things (IoT) will evolve into the Web of Things, increasing the coordination between things in the real world and their counterparts on the Web. The Industrial Internet of Things will be talked about. IoT takes advantage of mobile devices’ and sensors’ ability to observe and monitor their environments
Car of the future is M2M-ready and has Ethernet. Many manufacturers taking an additional step to develop vehicle connectivity. One such example is the European Commission’s emergency eCall system, which is on target for installation in every new car by 2015.
Smart Home Systems Are on the Rise article tells that most automated technology is found in commercial buildings that feature automated lighting that changes in intensity depending on the amount of sunlight present. Some of these buildings have WiFi incorporated into their lighting systems. There will be new and affordable technology on the market, but people today are still reluctant to bring automation to their homes.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Cable VoIP – Next Gen is the Cloud
http://www.btreport.net/whitepapers/2014/09/cable-voip-next-gen-is-the-cloud.html
Voice remains an important part of the cable residential bundle and SMB VoIP opportunities abound. However, deploying voice the same old way is fraught with risk. The cloud can transform the way cable providers win in the $80 billion fixed voice market in North America.
This white paper reviews current voice market trends, challenges, and opportunities, and explains how cable providers can accelerate innovation and enhance product margins by leveraging the next-generation VoIP solution in the cloud.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comcast Wi-Fi serving self-promotional ads via JavaScript injection
The practice raises security, net neutrality issues as FCC mulls Internet reforms.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/09/why-comcasts-javascript-ad-injections-threaten-security-net-neutrality/
Tomi Engdahl says:
By | Neil McAllister 3rd September 2014 01:46
Internet of Things: Major players agree on goals, but little else
Everyone loves those Things, just not on each others’ terms
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2014/09/03/linuxcon_internet_of_things_talks/
The whole industry seems to be going wild about the Internet of Things (IoT), but the hard part about making this bold new vision happen is going to be as much about getting the vendors talking as getting the so-called things talking.
In their separate keynotes at the LinuxCon 2014 conference in Chicago last month, Cisco’s Michael Enescu and Intel’s Dirk Hohndel seemed to agree on one point right off the bat: a lot of companies don’t have the foggiest idea about where this whole Internet of Things (IoT) idea is going.
“fog computing,” Cisco’s way of trying to commandeer the conversation by coming up with a brand-new buzzword
“IoT is whatever you want, because any device connected to the internet is – last I checked – a thing,” Hohndel said. “So the internet was mostly made out of things before marketing people got hold of it.”
“The interesting thing is that everybody seems to agree that it is about connectivity,” he said. “It is about machine-to-machine interaction. And most importantly, it’s about new experiences, operating efficiencies, and new business models.”
“Data is an interesting thing,” Enescu said. “It’s very difficult, very expensive to move around.”
“Today the premise of a lot of people seems to be the solution is that you just connect to the cloud. I can give very a good reason why that is a dumb idea,” Hohndel quipped, “because your network is going to be even worse than the network at this conference, and that’s saying something.”
“In my company,” Cisco’s Enescu said, “I believe 80 per cent of our revenue is based on products and services shipped w/Linux and I believe that number not going down, the number is going to go up.”
Intel’s Hohndel spent part of his keynote presentation plugging the Open Interconnect Consortium – the industry group that Chipzilla founded in July along with Atmel, Broadcom, Dell, Samsung, and Wind River – the goal of which he said was to do IoT “the right way.”
“Let’s not add, to the 50 standards that are out there,”
The AllSeen Alliance now claims more than 60 member companies, including such prominent premier members as LG, Microsoft, Panasonic, Sharp, Sony, and Technicolor. And yet none of its members are also members of the Open Interconnect Consortium – or vice versa.
Both groups have their reasons why the other’s approach won’t work.
And then there are Apple and Google, both of which seem determined to go their own ways with HomeKit and Nest, respectively.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Logitech Aims To Control the Smart Home
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/09/17/1344241/logitech-aims-to-control-the-smart-home
Household devices are getting smarter these days: the so-called internet of things is bringing software-controlled thermostats, lighting, and other appliances into the mainstream. Many companies are fighting for a piece of the pie, but Logitech is taking a different approach. They’re mostly known for computer peripherals, but they also make multi-function remote controls, and now they’re trying to build remotes that will control all of a home’s smart devices.
“Logitech doesn’t want to own the device, it wants to own the app experience.”
So it’s offering a $100 hub that combines IR, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and RF that will let you use the Logitech Harmony app to control gear that uses those protocols.
Logitech invests in the smart home with Harmony remote and hub
https://gigaom.com/2014/09/17/logitech-invests-in-the-smart-home-with-harmony-remote-and-hub/
Logitech is getting into the home automation space with an upgrade to its universal remote and a hub. The hardware is typical, but the app is impressive.
Logitech, the company more famous for keyboards and mice, has upgraded its line of universal remotes with a smart home hub, a fancier remote and an app that will make managing the smart home a bit easier. At an event Tuesday night in San Francisco, the company’s CEO introduced the devices as well as a list of partners that includes SmartThings, Philips Hue, Lutron, Honeywell, Nest, August and more that will also work with the Logitech gear.
That’s right, now your hub can be managed by a hub if that’s your thing, because Logitech doesn’t want to own the device, it wants to own the app experience. But to do that, it had to build a software overlay and a controller that would convince people to put it in their homes. So it’s offering a $100 hub that combines IR, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and RF that will let you use the Logitech Harmony app to control gear that uses those protocols. This means if you have a SmartThings, a Peq or a Lutron hub, the Wi-Fi in the Logitech device will let you control the others’ gear from Logitech, which so far seems to have a much nicer interface.
For $149 you get the hub and a basic, button-only remote control that lets you program scenes to specific buttons. And if you are feeling really fancy you can shell out $349 for a hub and a swish remote that includes a 2.5-inch touch screen
If you are like me and are thinking, “Enough with the hubs already,” I feel your pain. And yet, the Logitech’s familiarity with existing audiovisual gear and the broad partnerships it has lined up with both older and new smart home providers is compelling.
As for scenes, there was the ubiquitous wake-up setting that involved a light gradually brightening, a coffee pot automatically turning on along with some lights and the television.
hub, then we’re stuck with them for a while yet
there’s still plenty of room in this market to build a successful connected device that can compete in the big leagues.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Proof of Concept Project for the ESP8266
http://hackaday.com/2014/09/17/a-proof-of-concept-project-for-the-esp8266/
It’s hardly been a month since we first heard of the impossibly cheap WiFi adapter for micros, the ESP8266.
Since the ESP8266 found its way into the storefronts of the usual distributors, a lot of effort has gone into translating the datasheets both on hackaday.io and the nurdspace wiki. The module does respond to simple AT commands, and with the right bit of code it’s possible to pull a few bits of data off of the Internet.
The code requests data from openweathermap.org and displays the current temperature, pressure, and humidity on a small TFT display.
ESP8266 weather display
http://zeflo.com/2014/esp8266-weather-display/
The wiring is quite simple. The wifi-module needs just two wires for power and two for the serial interface.
Tomi Engdahl says:
OpenWeatherMap
http://openweathermap.org/stations
Today we have more than 40,000 weather stations around the world. You can connect your weather station to OpenWeatherMap service and get convenient interface for gathering and monitoring data from your weather station. And you can embed your weather station data into your home page.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Technology That Knows Who You Are: The Nymi Wristband
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1323946&
One of the most critical ingredients in creating a connected world is making sure that our technology knows who we are. Once our smart car, our smart TV, and even our smart toaster confirm our identity, they can provide more meaningful experiences, like the perfect in-car temperature, our favorite TV channel, or how light or dark we like our toast. Right now, we mostly use passwords and PINs to help our technology tell us apart from others, but these mechanisms are frustrating and cumbersome, and they definitely don’t feel very futuristic. One wristband, the Nymi, is about to change all that.
The Nymi is a wristband that uses your cardiac rhythm or your unique heartbeat to identify who you are and then relays your identity to any connected thing via Bluetooth. Since the Nymi is something you wear, it offers persistent identity once you are authenticated, which means that you only need to confirm your identity once, rather than every time you want to get access to something.
Bionym, the company behind the Nymi, is getting ready to ship its first batch of wristbands out in the fall of this year to those that have pre-ordered.
Bionym is also focusing on building apps for the Nymi on every platform, including iOS, Android, PC, and Mac.
“Identity is not just about security but also about different profiles and different behaviors that depend on a person’s preferences,”
“Smart environments and hyper-personalization are something that excite people, but the whole thing about security, passwords, and unlocking devices is something they understand and is a pain point today,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
SDN, NFV, and open source: the operator’s view
http://research.gigaom.com/report/sdn-nfv-and-open-source-the-operators-view/
Software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) represent two of the more dramatic oncoming technology shifts in networking. Both will significantly alter network designs, deployments, operations, and future networking and computing systems. They also will determine supplier and operator success (or failure) over the next five to 10 years.
As has always been the case with successful networking technologies, industry standards and open systems will play a strong role in the timely widespread adoption and ultimate success of both SDN and NFV solutions. Open source is poised to play an even more critical role in delivering on the promise of standardized and open networking.
Key highlights
SDN and NFV deployment timelines are extremely aggressive. While these timelines will certainly move out as real-world pressures (financial, technical, and organizational) force delays, these results indicate the high level of hope for SDN and NFV solutions.
Security continues to be a major challenge in networking. While SDN stands to solve many problems, improvements to the security posture of the world’s networks remains a primary driver across all networking advancements, including SDN and NFV. After security, key drivers include improved network service levels and lower operating and capital costs.
near-term improvements in network operations are the primary focus for operators looking to deploy SDN and NFV solutions and take advantage of open source within their SDN and NFV environments
The application of SDN and NFV solutions is varied
As expected, the data center is a primary initial target for SDN and NFV solutions. However, for enterprise respondents, the wide area network (WAN) takes precedence over the data center.
For the service provider, the data center is far and away the No. 1 initial target. Interestingly, however, the LAN and the wireless WAN (WWAN) are targets two and three
Roadblocks that would push out the aggressive SDN and NFV deployment timelines planned by operators include migration costs, clear and consistent capabilities, and unproven performance and reliability.
Roadblocks that would push out the aggressive SDN and NFV deployment timelines planned by operators include migration costs, clear and consistent capabilities, and unproven performance and reliability.
Open systems and open source are tightly linked in operators’ minds, indicating that open source is the preferred delivery method for standardized open SDN and NFV solutions. However, operators strongly prefer that open source be delivered by commercial suppliers
Enterprise and service provider operators are closely aligned across all major areas of consideration and concern.
Operators see security and reliability as the biggest impediments to using open source when deploying SDN and NFV solutions.
Given that today’s open source is conceived and developed by teams of operators and suppliers and increasingly delivered via proven commercial integration, test, packaging, deployment, and support models, perhaps in this instance operators are more wrong than right.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Logitech Targets Home Automation Play with Harmony Living Home Lineup
by Ganesh T S on September 17, 2014 9:00 AM EST
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8540/logitech-targets-home-automation-play-with-harmony-living-home-lineup
Home Automation and Control – Setting the Stage
The increasing popularity of home automation (HA) equipment has fueled the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution. However, the low barrier to entry (there are innumerable crowdfunded projects in this space) has resulted in a very fragmented ecosystem. Interoperability is a major concern, and different devices use different protocols. In order to get a seamless experience across all home automation equipment, consumers have been forced to go the custom installation or integrated package route. These avenues tend to keep the joys of home automation and control out of reach of the average consumer.
The current market situation is ripe for someone to come in with a home automation gateway. Vendors such as Lowes (with the Iris product line) and Staples (with the Staples Connect initiative) have made interesting forays. However, the primary aim has been to sell more connected peripherals under the same brand. Interoperability with other HA devices is not given any importance.
On the other side, we have vendors such as Securifi trying to integrate a home automation gateway into a standard wireless router with their Almond+ product. All things considered, it would be best if the wireless router at home were to act as a home automation gateway. Consumers don’t need to buy yet another device to act as a gateway purely for their IoT clients.
Logitech Harmony – A Brief Background
Logitech’s Harmony lineup is very well respected in the universal remote control market. The ability of a single remote / hub device to control multiple home entertainment devices (AVR / TV / media players) coupled with one-touch control and simple setup has been well-received by the consumers. In fact, Harmony’s database of over 200K devices (which is also frequently updated) is unparalleled in the industry. The only downside of the units is the pricing aspect.
Prior to today’s launch, the scope of the Harmony lineup didn’t go beyond control of entertainment devices in the living room. However, the current popularity of home automation devices and the IoT ecosystem (coupled with the rapid rise of mobile devices that enable easy control via apps) make the next stop for the Harmony lineup quite obvious. Logitech is launching four new product SKUs centered around a home automation gateway hub under the Harmony Living Home category:
Consumers can purchase the hub alone for $100 and use the full functionality with just the mobile app. As with any home automation setup, scenes can be programmed involving multiple devices from different vendors. Logitech terms these scenes as experiences.
The Living Home lineup is a welcome addition to the home automation market. However, Logitech faces a few challenges.
Tomi Engdahl says:
World’s smallest bluetooth circuit
Dialog Semiconductor (sales will grow this year for the more than one billion dollar mark) has released the world’s small bluetooth chipset. It has a size of 2.5 x 2.5 mm.
Bluetooth Smart is one of today’s hottest technologies, praises the dialogue strategies, Senior Vice President Mark Tyndall. According to him, the company’s advantage is that the ble-circuit (Bluetooth low energy) began to develop from virtually zero.
Dialog DA14580 chipset has hit records in many indicators. It is a perfect ble on the radio, which is integrated into the 32–bit ARM M0 controller. In addition to the need for only five external component.
DA14580-measuring circuit is less than half the competitors. Its power consumption is also less than half the corresponding circuits found in the market reading: 4.9 milliamps for three volts.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1794:maailman-pieni-bluetooth-piiri&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Power free Wi-Fi connectivity
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/power-free-wi-fi-connectivity/4b6f221fe8291261269a7b00249f7ce5.html
Imagine a world in which your wristwatch or other wearable device communicates directly with your online profiles, storing information about your daily activities where you can best access it – all without requiring batteries.
Imagine battery-free sensors embedded around your home that could track minute-by-minute temperature changes and send that information to your thermostat to help conserve energy.
This not-so-distant Internet of Things reality could extend connectivity to billions of devices. Sensors could end up embedded in everyday objects to help monitor and track everything from the structural safety of bridges to the health of your heart. Having a way to cheaply power and connect these devices to the Internet has kept this from taking off.
University of Washington engineers now have in development a new communication system that uses radio frequency signals as a power source and reuses existing Wi-Fi infrastructure to provide Internet connectivity to these devices.
Called Wi-Fi backscatter, this technology is the first that can connect battery-free devices to Wi-Fi infrastructure.
“If Internet of Things devices are going to take off, we must provide connectivity to the potentially billions of battery-free devices that will be embedded in everyday objects,
The team plans to start a company based on the technology.
They encode data by either reflecting or not reflecting the Wi-Fi router’s signals, slightly changing the wireless signal. Wi-Fi-enabled devices like laptops and smartphones would detect these minute changes and receive data from the tag.
In this way, a smart watch could download emails or offload workout data onto a Google spreadsheet.
“You might think, how could this possibly work when you have a low-power device making such a tiny change in the wireless signal? But the point is, if you’re looking for specific patterns, you can find it among all the other Wi-Fi reflections in an environment,”
The UW’s Wi-Fi backscatter tag has communicated with a Wi-Fi device at rates of 1 kilobit per second with about 2 meters between the devices. They plan to extend the range to about 20 meters and have patents filed on the technology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
In industrial settings, two-way radios still a smart choice
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/in-industrial-settings-two-way-radios-still-a-smart-choice/e69f11074c25f77c4e619067512dfa84.html
Consumer technology versus digital radios. Which one makes the most sense for manufacturing and industrial communications? Interestingly, Motorola Solutions’ recent survey of the state of plant communications reveals that two-way radios and cell phones remain in a dead heat as the primary means of communications in plants nationwide. Yet critical differences between the two are worth careful consideration before making technology investments.
As failure rates for smartphones exceed 20%, failure rates for rugged devices, such as two-way radios, continue to plummet.
They are designed to handle shocks, slips, vibration, and drops, and operate for the entire shift on a single charge. In contrast, consumer technology is designed to meet mass demand, and will never provide the security features or durability to stand up to the rigors of continuous use. And shoehorning those into your operation will end up costing you more money in the long run-up to 51% more.
Seems pretty straightforward, but in an enterprise or industrial setting, it’s anything but. Private voice technology has enjoyed many advancements over the last decade
Digital two-way radios are designed to be fully customizable providing you control over what your workers can access or, more importantly, cannot access in order to keep focused on the job. In addition, supervisory control features in digital radio systems ensure that critical messages will be heard, even when workers are busy on noncritical calls.
Enterprise digital radios are built tough. They are rugged, durable, and designed to work reliably in the toughest environments.
Smartphone technology is cool, but one drop on a concrete floor and business critical work would come to a complete stop. Enterprise-class devices are built to last longer, don’t break as often, and are easier to repair.
Tomi Engdahl says:
45 Degree Angled Ethernet Cables Released by L-com
http://www.l-com.com/content/Article.aspx?Type=P&ID=10468
L-com, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of wired and wireless connectivity products, announced today that they will be offering 45 degree angled Cat5e and Cat6 Ethernet cables in both shielded and non-shielded versions. These cables complement L-com’s existing 90 degree Ethernet cables, adding a professional look with efficiently organized cable exits.
The new Ethernet cables will be particularly beneficial for IT departments that utilize high density patching of Ethernet cables.
“This product is simply the neatest data center cabling solution I’ve seen,”
“When used with the high density Ethernet ports that are common on switching gear and patch panels, these cables will be easy to latch or unlatch. This will help to eliminate human error when removing plugs from ports.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Connecticut cities combine to issue Gigabit broadband RFQ
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/ct-gigabit-rfq.html?cmpid=EnlContractorSeptember182014
The mayors of New Haven, Stamford, and West Hartford, CT, along with state officials, have announced a joint request for qualifications (RFQ) for the development and provisioning of Gigabit broadband networks. As reported by Cablininstall.com’s sister site Lightwave, they’ve also invited other state communities to join the party.
The RFQ seeks to promote the deployment of gigabit broadband access infrastructure in “targeted commercial corridors” as well as residential areas “with demonstrated demand.” The group is open to both wired and wireless approaches, with the expectation that underserved and disadvantaged areas would receive free or at least heavily discounted 10 to 100 Mbps services at a minimum. The price for the gigabit services should be commensurate with what other gigabit communities in the U.S. have on offer, adds the group.
“Not only will businesses and universities thrive, but consumers will benefit from the lower prices and wider access that this initiative will create.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
A potpourri of standards under development in TIA
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/print/volume-22/issue-9/features/standards/a-potpourri-of-standards-under-development-in-tia.html
Specifications for distributed antenna systems, grounding in large horizontal networks, automated management and sustainability are all in the works.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Planning, partners and products enable day-one performance at medical center
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/print/volume-22/issue-9/features/technology/planning-partners-and-products-enable-day-one-performance-at-medical-center.html
The new MaineGeneral Medical Center was constructed using an integrated project delivery approach that included the cabling infrastructure.
Through an agreement with architects SMRT Inc. of Portland, ME and TRO Jung Brannen (TRO JB) of Boston, MA, and general contractor H.P. Cummings, MaineGeneral set out to construct the new medical center using a collaborative IPD approach, which is fast becoming a new trend in construction management for large, complex projects. Established in 2007 by the American Institute of Architects’ California Council, IPD requires all stakeholders to collaborate throughout the entire planning, design and build process rather than handing off responsibility once their part of the work is done.
With a strong focus on communication, the goal of IPD is to eliminate waste early in the design process and allow for sharing of information across a variety of trades to ultimately maximize efficiency and reduce cost
Chuck Hays, president and chief executive officer of MaineGeneral, credits the IPD approach with putting the new hospital well under budget and ahead of schedule.
Chuck Hays, president and chief executive officer of MaineGeneral, credits the IPD approach with putting the new hospital well under budget and ahead of schedule. “While IPD is still in its infancy, it has really shown a lot of promise from both a schedule and cost perspective. By having all contractors in on the design process, they can immediately tell you a better or cheaper way to do something,” he says.
“We built the first mock telecom room as designed but ended up not liking some of the cable-management and tray layouts,” says Hallee. “We spent several weeks getting the space exactly how we liked it, even working with Belden to make some customized product modifications for fiber patch panels. The finalized telecom room became a template that we used to build out 20 identical telecom rooms, and the detailed rack layouts let the contractors know exactly where every network component needed to be located and how it was connected.”
nother key aspect of the IPD approach to construction management is that it requires all stakeholders to pool their risk, eliminating conflict between trades and the tendency to pass the buck.
“All the major contractors who are part of the IPD contract have all of their profit at risk,” says Hays. “If a project comes in on budget, they get the budgeted amount; if it’s under budget, they split the difference and 50 percent goes into their profit pool. If it’s over budget, it comes 100-percent out of their profits.”
For the network cabling infrastructure, MaineGeneral partnered with Belden for the end-to-end fiber and copper cable and connectivity system
Following analysis of the mock TR, Whitaker’s crews realized that while the rack-mount fiber patch panels offered several ideal features, they also wanted to have rear access to dress the fiber in without removing the panel. After Whitaker provided pictures and worked closely with his Belden representative to communicate what they wanted, Belden redesigned the FiberExpress 3U rack-mount patch panels with an optional removable rear panel to provide easy access to the rear-side connectivity. Belden was also quick to tweak copper patch panels to accommodate the need for higher bandwidth in some areas of the data center.
“We had already made the decision to go with Category 6 performance for copper connectivity in the data center when some of the server guys asked for Category 6A to support 10 Gigabit Ethernet required by some applications,” says Hallee. “Belden came through and told us that they could tweak the patch panels to accommodate six Category 6A ports out of the 48 ports. That was an ‘a-ha moment’ for us.”
“It always surprises me when patch cords get overlooked,”
The network at MaineGeneral’s previous facilities was somewhat limited with a traditional PBX-based voice system and cramped telecom spaces that did not allow for additional power and cooling capacity. To deliver superior reliability and support a wide range of advanced hospital systems, including nurse call, patient monitoring, wireless, audio-visual, security, building automation and others, MaineGeneral designed the new network to ensure scalability, redundancy and capacity with 40-Gigabit speeds in the data center backbone and to the 20 TRs.
Within each of the two main distribution areas-one located in the 3,000-square-foot data center and the other at the opposite side of the facility-MaineGeneral deployed Cisco Nexus series 7010 core switches. From the core, 72 strands of Belden FiberExpress Om4 cable connect to Cisco Catalyst 3750 PoE-enabled switches in each TR via the customized Belden FX rack-mount patch panels with integrated rear access.
Within the data center that uses underfloor power and cooling and overhead cabling, a switch fabric architecture was deployed using Cisco Nexus 5000 series switches and Nexus 2000 series fabric extenders to deliver high-density 10-Gigabit Ethernet to servers housed in more than 70 cabinets
All fiber connectivity within the data center was accomplished at crossconnects using the Belden FiberExpress Ultra High-Density (UHD) System
Hallee also notes that the network is designed and built for maximum resiliency-from the switch fabric and in-row cooling, to centralized management and complete redundancy via two demarcs. “Everything is monitored and racks have power distribution units powered by both our electrical system and uninterruptible power supplies,” he says. “The switches in each telecommunications room are also all PoE enabled with power-sharing features so that all power supplies are shared and if any fail, the others pick up the slack.”
“For the copper crossconnects within each rack, we deployed 1U blank panels above and below 48-port patch panels and then used one-foot patch cords as our standard throughout,”
“Our telecommunications rooms are flexible and modular to support multiple services over the Category 6 cabling-all of which run in the same pathways but are segregated into bundles and color-coded for various dedicated systems,” says Hallee. “I can remember getting excited when more and more systems started to converge and migrate to Ethernet. It’s incredible how many services can now run over Category 6 cabling-this facility brought all of that together for us.”
“The use of cellphones used to be a fear factor due to frequencies potentially being close to those of medical technology, but that’s no longer the case and virtually everyone has a smartphone,” says Hallee. “That’s why we decided to install DAS. Our hospital is located in a valley, and we had poor reception before the service providers added a cell tower to the area, which we now use to feed our DAS.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Moore’s Law death does not touch most designers
Rowe believes that the new IoT time to change the design of the rules. Sure, the transistor amount of slowdown in the growth of interest to Intel types of businesses, but almost all the other terms of the SoC circuits is that millions of small design of which requires just the right amount of performance.
Power consumption has always been an important parameter in the design, but the Internet of Things becomes an even more important factor. Another factor affecting power consumption is the cloud, Rowe says.
Moving, say, 64-bit NAND circuit inside does not take much electricity. – The same amount of data, removal or applying for a cloud server means that the operation is 1 W of power.
- In order bits must be moved as little as possible, keep as much of the calculation to be local. IoT world have to be smart, Rowen requires.
Rowen and Cadence’s vision, this intelligence will, of course, tailor-made, efficient, and very low power consuming processors.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1797:suurinta-osaa-mooren-lain-kuolema-ei-kosketa&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT change the business models
Today, when you listen to the electronics business presentations, everyone has at least a few slides on the Internet of Things. Cell phone circuits the dominant British ARM’s founder and CTO Mike Muller says that the IoT in the most important thing is not the technical development. – Interestingly IoT in is the fact that it changes the fundamental way business models.
In this sense, the IoT will do the same as the internet once. The Internet started in business solutions. AOL and Compuserve were the names of others online, particularly in the United States annexed.
- But these were limited networks, which are discussed with each other. Only when the internet became open, the birthplace of the possibility of a new kind of business. Transparency made possible with Facebook, Muller says.
The Internet of Things requires a good, open architecture.
- Transparency is, however, an absolute must. Without it, the IoT can not scale to tens of billions of devices networked systems.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1799:iot-muuttaa-bisnesmallit&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Study: Cities with super fast Internet speeds are more productive
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/09/18/study-cities-with-super-fast-internet-speeds-are-more-productive/
It’s become an article of faith among politicians, investors and entrepreneurs that the Internet — and access to it — is an economic engine. It helps connect Americans to education and government services. It serves as a platform for new ideas and companies that wind up changing the world. And it reduces costs for consumers and businesses everywhere.
With that in mind, a new study finds that access to next-generation Internet speeds may be connected to better economic growth. According to a report by the Boston-based Analysis Group, cities that offer broadband at 1 gigabit per second — roughly 100 times the national average of 10 megabits per second — report higher per-capita GDP compared to cities that lack those Internet speeds. Of course, all the normal caveats apply: It’s hard to draw a causal inference from the study, and it’s possible there’s something else about the 14 gigabit cities that made them better off to begin with. Still, the paper’s methodology seems relatively straightforward
Cities with gigabit connections reported 1.1 percent higher per-capita GDP than their slower counterparts, the study found. That might not sound like much, but consider that per-capita GDP in the entire United States has been growing at a pace of one to two percent a year since the recession, according to the World Bank.
If you add it all up, that amounts to $1.4 billion in extra growth, the study says. The findings are consistent with predictions from economists that Internet access will enhance U.S. productivity.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comcast Wi-Fi serving self-promotional ads via JavaScript injection
The practice raises security, net neutrality issues as FCC mulls Internet reforms.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/09/why-comcasts-javascript-ad-injections-threaten-security-net-neutrality/
Comcast has begun serving Comcast ads to devices connected to one of its 3.5 million publicly accessible Wi-Fi hotspots across the US. Comcast’s decision to inject data into websites raises security concerns and arguably cuts to the core of the ongoing net neutrality debate.
The Comcast advertising campaign came to Ars’ attention after Ryan Singel, the co-founder of startup Contextly, was reading Mediagazer at a café in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco on Labor Day.
A small red advertisement saying “XFINITY WiFi Peppy” scooted across the bottom of the Mediagazer page and disappeared into the ether. It happened a few times, he said. Singel took screen shots of the advertisement loading and as it appeared on his screen. He captured some code, too.
“When a user requests to view a page, Comcast injects its JavaScript into the packets being returned by the real server,” Singel said during an instant-message chat.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Architecture of the Industrial IoT
https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1042399
The Internet of Things is creating tremendous hype, sometimes with seemingly little substance. There is real power and value to the concept, but it requires a new approach to make it work.
Traditional client-server network protocols and master-slave industrial protocols don’t scale to the IoT
Existing network infrastructures aren’t ready for the numbers of connections that are forecast
And the best kept secret of the industrial IoT, over 85% of the billions of new connections that are forecasted are devices and assets that are already deployed
Tomi Engdahl says:
Toshiba is pushing to IoT:
The company will also move ahead with actively promoting the IoT (Internet of Things). By fully utilizing its differentiating strengths in PC technologies, including BIOS, security, wireless and high density mounting, Toshiba will offer innovative and appealing IoT products and services in such areas as social infrastructure, the cloud, healthcare and home appliances.
Source: Press Release: Toshiba to Restructure PC Business to Secure Consistent Profit
http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2014_09/pr1801.htm
Tomi Engdahl says:
ISPs’ post-net-neutrality world is built on ‘bribes’ says Tim Berners-Lee
Father of the worldwide web is extremely peeved over pay-per-packet-type plans
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/20/father_of_web_says_isps_are_perverting_the_internet_with_content_bribery/
In a chat with the Washington Post Sir Tim railed against the telecommunications companies’ push to introduce differential pricing for internet content – such as charging subscribers more to watch YouTube. Such practices were counter-intuitive to the idea of an open internet, and would mean internet firms would shun the US as a market, he warned.
“If businesses are to move here and start here, rather than start in Europe or Brazil or Australia, they’re going to look around and make sure, ‘Oh, does the power stay up?’ And they’ll look for other things.’Is the Internet open?’ Will they have to effectively bribe their ISPs to start a new service? That’s what it looks like from the outside. It’s bribery,” he said.
He pointed out that in 1991 he didn’t have to ask ISPs for permission to add new features when he plugged his NeXT cube into a phone line and made it the first web server. Trying to bolt on commercial restrictions after the fact is anti-competitive, he argued, and would only harm the internet in the long term.
“The technical bit – all the deals about peering all that – is really complicated and difficult,” said Berners-Lee. “That is something normal people in the street aren’t going to understand, and they shouldn’t have to! If you have to start understanding what’s happening inside, then the internet has failed already.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ericsson to roll Ciena kit into Telstra
Carrier preps core for SDN
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/18/ericsson_to_roll_ciena_kit_into_telstra/
Ericsson’s February 2014 agreement with Ciena has paid off in Australia, with the two to work on a major optical network upgrade for incumbent Telstra.
Beyond Ericsson’s canned announcement, details of the upgrade are sketchy, but the carrier is keen to get its hands on Ciena’s 100 Gbps packet-optical system which Ericsson resells under the partnership.
As well as the product resale arrangement, the two companies are working together on a multilayer WAN controller, and are crafting IP-over-WDM (wavelength division multiplexing) kit.
The latest announcement includes the obligatory hat-tip in the direction of software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualisation (NFV)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Putin To Discuss Plans For Disconnecting Russia From the Internet
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/09/19/1752208/putin-to-discuss-plans-for-disconnecting-russia-from-the-internet
According to various reports, the officials will make a number of decisions about regulating the use of the Internet in Russia. This includes the ability to cut off the Russian Internet, known as Runet, from the outside world, in case of emergency.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Simultaneous Voice/Data, HD Voice Now Available to Verizon iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Users
http://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/19/verizon-volte-now-enabled/
Verizon began rolling out its Advanced Calling service earlier this week, enabling voice over LTE (VoLTE) capabilities for select devices that support the service, which includes the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus.
Numerous iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users are reporting that the VoLTE service is now functional, allowing Verizon iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users to use simultaneous voice and data capabilities for the first time when connected to a 4G LTE network.
Tomi Engdahl says:
World Wide Web inventor slams Internet fast lanes: ‘It’s bribery.’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/09/19/world-wide-web-inventor-lashes-out-at-internet-fast-lanes-its-bribery
A quarter-century ago, Timothy Berners-Lee designed the world’s first Web browser and server, kicking off a thing that people started calling the World Wide Web.
In a visit to The Washington Post, on Thursday, Berners-Lee said that system is now in danger from Internet service providers (ISPs) who stand to amass too much power over what was intentionally built as a decentralized network — one where no single actor could dictate outcomes to everyone else.
Berners-Lee pushed back against opponents of net neutrality regulation who argue that applying new rules on ISPs is tantamount to regulating the Internet. There’s a difference between regulating providers of broadband and the services that run on top of it, said Berners-Lee. Strong net neutrality rules would help preserve that line dividing the two and limit the incentive of ISPs to meddle in the market for services.
“A lot of congressmen say, ‘Well, sign up for the free market’ and feel that it’s just something you should leave to go by itself,” said Berners-Lee.
But the rules currently being deliberated by the Federal Communications Commission, which would tacitly allow ISPs to charge content companies for priority access to consumers, would change how easily inventors can spread their ideas. In such a future, Berners-Lee warned, new technologies and companies might crop up faster in other countries if services were forced to “bribe” their way to success.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Belkin’s WeMo Smart LED Bulbs now on sale in US and Canada
http://www.connectedly.com/belkins-wemo-smart-led-bulbs-now-sale-us-and-canada
Belkin has announced that its WeMo Smart LED Bulbs, which can be controlled by iOS or Android apps, are now on sale in the US and Canada, both as individual bulbs as well as in a Starter Kit that includes a WeMo Link which can control up to 50 of those lights.
The WeMo app can be used to create custom lighting schedules for the Smart LED Bulbs, along with many other features. The individual bulbs are priced at $29.99 while the Starter Kit, with two bulbs and the WeMo Link, is on sale for $99.99.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Drop-in Bluetooth 4.0 module-on-module for control systems
http://edn.com/electronics-products/other/4434767/Drop-in-Bluetooth-4-0-module-on-module-for-control-systems
Toshiba has a development module-on-module (or “Module2″) that combines a Bluetooth 4.0 module with an MCU to shorten development times. The Module2 enables simple integration into sensor control systems, lighting and heating systems, PC peripheral systems and legacy host control systems.
The Module2 measures 25 x 17 mm and is suited for battery driven applications. It comprises a Toshiba TMPM395FWAXBG ARM Cortex M3 core MCU along with a Panasonic PAN1026 Bluetooth 4.0 dual mode module, with antenna, that incorporates a Toshiba TC35661-501 Bluetooth LSI with embedded Bluetooth stack and SPP and BLE Gatt profiles.
The MCU is based on an ARM Cortex M3 CPU core with an operating frequency of 20 MHz, 128 MB of internal ROM and 8 kB of internal RAM.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Freescale and Texas Instruments Goodies and World Maker Faire
http://hackaday.com/2014/09/22/freescale-and-texas-instruments-goodies-and-world-maker-faire/
The Hummingboard from SolidRun comes in an oddly familiar form factor to anyone who has ever handled a Raspberry Pi. It also has an interesting feature: the CPU is on a small module, allowing anyone to upgrade the chipset to something significantly more powerful
Also in the Freescale booth was the pcDuino, a dual core ARM Cortex A7 with Ethernet, WiFi, and a SATA, with Arduino form factor pinouts.
[Trey German] from Texas Instruments showed off some very cool stuff, including a quadcopter board for a Launchpad microcontroller.
Also from TI was their CC3200 dev board. This is a single chip with an ARM Cortex M4 and a WiFi radio that we’ve seen before. The CC3200 runs TI’s Wiring/Arduino inspired development environment Energia, and at about $30 for the CC3200 Launchpad board, it’s an easy and cheap way to build an Internet of Things thing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM and the Internet of Things (IoT)
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/the-workbench/4434918/ARM-and-the-Internet-of-Things–IoT-
ARM is perfectly positioned for the Internet of Things that will have such a beneficial effect on our lives. At the most basic level, ARM cores for embedded microcontrollers are 32-bit machines. The Internet is built on Ethernet. Communications across the Internet depend on the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) stack. Internet pioneers developed this software stack as a 32-bit application that built up packets for transmission. Sure you can implement a TCP/IP stack on a 16-bit or even an 8-bit Atmel AVR.
Heck my friend over at Google tells me they have a complete Linux with a file system that boots on an Atmel AVR. But it takes a long time to boot, so you are better off sticking to ARM-based processors for anything that needs to talk over the Internet. And if you want to connect to a gigabit Ethernet, you will need a 32-bit processor to just keep up.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IEEE-SA issues standard for IEEE 802 wireless coexistence in TV White Space
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/ieee-tv-white-space-wireless.html
The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) has announced the availability of the IEEE 802.19.1 Standard for TV White Space (TVWS) Coexistence Methods. “The IEEE 802.19.1 standard enables the family of IEEE 802 wireless standards to effectively utilize the TV White Space,” explains Steve Shellhammer, chair of the IEEE 802.19 Wireless Coexistence Working Group.
He continues, “This is accomplished by providing standardized coexistence methods among dissimilar or independently operated TVWS networks. The TVWS is made up of vacant frequencies made available for unlicensed use and provides good RF propagation characteristics for unlicensed wireless communications. The IEEE 802.19.1 standard is intended to help achieve fair and efficient spectrum sharing.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fiber-optic serial data links for utility substations
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/comnet-rlfdx.html
ComNet recently introduced the RLFDX series of substation-related, fiber-optic RS-232, RS-422, RS-485 2/4 wire, and TTL Logic Data Link/Repeater. These introductions expand the company’s Reliance product line. The company said the products “are used in electric-utility substations and switchyards, manufacturing plants, roadside/trackside equipment installations and other severe-duty conditions.” The product series’ primary benefit is to extend transmission distances using optics; the products can transmit serial data up to 30 kilometers. A secondary benefit is their high level of electrical isolation, ComNet explained, as well as enhanced reliability and protection for peripheral equipment.
“There is still a very strong demand for serial data over optical fiber in the power-transmission and utility market,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix and Liberty Global clash over net neutrality
http://www.digitaltveurope.net/245582/netflix-and-liberty-global-clash-over-net-neutrality/?
The CEOs of Netflix and Liberty Global have clashed over the topic of net neutrality, arguing over who should meet the costs and what regulation is required for video internet traffic.
All of our peering arrangements for the last decade are handshake deals. We make deals with other peering companies, and we get the content to the consumers when they need it,” said Fries.
Hastings responded by saying: “There’s a legitimate argument, which is: ‘Hey Netflix, you’re using 30% of the internet, you ought to pay some of the cost’. It’s a good sound bite. But on the other hand, with TCP and consumer firewalls, we look at it and say ‘we aren’t using anything’.
“Consumers are choosing Netflix and if we’re supposed to pay some of the cost of the network, maybe we should get some of the broadband revenue. So we say playfully to Mike, we’ll pay 10% of your network costs if we get 10% of broadband revenue. Or we’ll pay 10% of your network costs if you want to pay 10% of our content costs.”
The two agreed that the issue was important for the future of the industry
Netflix: Maybe ISPs Should Pay Some of Our Content Costs
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Netflix-Maybe-ISPs-Should-Pay-Some-of-Our-Content-Costs-130540
Ever since former AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre’s “pipes for free” comment in 2005, large ISPs have insisted that they’re somehow owed more money simply because content touches their network, and that companies like Google and Netflix somehow use far more than their fair share of network resources. This is nonsensical argument pops up often when ISPs try to get Google and Netflix to subsidize their network upgrades and maintenance.
Of course in reality Netflix and Google pay plenty for bandwidth (not to mention own massive networks of their own), and consumers using these services pay for bandwidth on their end as well. In fact here in the States consumers already pay some of the highest rates among all developed countries.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comms Alliance preps vectored VDSL2 connection rules
Getting ready for the brand-new, old-copper NBN
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/23/comms_alliance_preps_vectored_vdsl2_connection_rules/
The Communications Alliance has published drafts two key standards associated with the introduction of vectored VDSL2 services to the Australian market.
Once the standards are formally adopted, they will provide the specs permitting vectored VDSL2 modems to be connected to the network; and requires that line filters support the extended frequency band used for vectored VDSL2 services.
To allow vectored VDSL2 modems to connect to the network, the modem standard will now support equipment classes 9r, 9s and 9t to support ITU recommendation G.991.2 and equipment class 10v for G.993.2 and G.993.5.
As Comms Alliance CEO John Stanton notes, vectored VDSL2 services won’t operate at the speeds people expect if there’s interference between lines or inadequate kit.
“In each area migrating to the NBN there will be an 18 month window during which new and legacy services need to co-exist without undue interference to one another, until eventually all fixed terrestrial services end up being migrated to the NBN.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
MediaTek takes aim at Arduino with IoT wearables project
SoC, SDK, breadboards
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/23/mediatek_takes_aim_at_arduino_with_iot_wearables_project/
MediaTek is dipping its toe in the murky waters of the Internet of Things, announcing a lab initiative with software and hardware development kits targeting the wearables market.
The MediaTek Labs program is based on the Linkit Developer Platform, which puts the Aster MT2502 system-on-chip together with an operating system (LinkIt OS), the LinkIt One developer board, and the SDK.
The SDK, MediaTek says, is designed to help users port existing Arduino code to LinkIt OS, with APIs providing access to the hardware’s GSM, GPRS, Bluetooth and WiFi communications.
LinkIt OS is a realtime kernel overlaid with drivers, middleware and protocol stacks that expose the chipsets features. Developers can create applications as Arduino sketches, and APIs in the OS provide access to third-party hardware.
The MT2502 SoC provides a 260 MHz ARM CPU
Tomi Engdahl says:
Beyond Wi-Fi: Direct brain-to-brain communication via Internet demonstrated in human subjects
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/brain-to-brain-internet.html
As recorded at ScienceDaily, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has revealed that in a first-of-its-kind study, an international team of neuroscientists and robotics engineers have demonstrated the viability of direct brain-to-brain communication in humans via Internet technology.
“We wanted to find out if one could communicate directly between two people by reading out the brain activity from one person and injecting brain activity into the second person, and do so across great physical distances by leveraging existing communication pathways,”
‘Could we develop an experiment that would bypass the talking or typing part of Internet and establish direct brain-to-brain communication between subjects located far away from each other in India and France?’”
It turned out the answer was “yes.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Siemon to educate on data center storage evolution
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/siemon-storage-evolution.html
“Storage solutions are plentiful, and there is no one size fits all for today’s data centers,” says Higbie. “While Fibre Channel remains the predominate SAN technology, Ethernet has some advantages such as speed, support for switched fabric topologies, interoperability and management. As a result, newer storage technologies like Fiber Channel over Ethernet and SCSI over IP are worth examining.”
As 10 Gigabit Ethernet becomes increasingly popular for providing an open, standards-based data center infrastructure to support multiple technologies, leveraging IP and Ethernet for storage is a potential progression that is driving evolving storage technologies. It’s important for data center managers to understand the variety of storage architectures available, allowing them to make an informed choice depending on their specific needs.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
25GBase-T on Ethernet Alliance’s ‘rate debate’ agenda
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/ethernet-alliance-tef2014.html
The Ethernet Alliance recently announced the agenda for its Technology Exploration Forum 2014 (TEF 2014), which will be held October 16 at the Santa Clara, CA Convention Center and is themed “The Rate Debate.” According to the organization, the event “will gather industry leaders, technology developers and end users together … to discuss the span of Ethernet technologies including new efforts underway in 25G and 400G.
“TEF 2014 presents a timely, much-needed opportunity for consensus-building between all of the diverse constituencies within the Ethernet ecosystem, especially given new 25GbE and 400GbE standards efforts already underway”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Analyst sees data center, enterprise SDN market soar 192% year-over-year
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/infonetics-datacenter-sdn-soars.html
Infonetics Research has issued findings from its 2014 Data Center and Enterprise SDN Hardware and Software report, which defines and sizes the market for software-defined networks (SDN).
“There is no longer any question about software-defined networking (SDN) playing a role in data center and enterprise networks. Data center and enterprise SDN revenue, including SDN capable Ethernet switches and SDN controllers, was up 192% year-over-year (2013 over 2012),” reveals Cliff Grossner, Ph.D., directing analyst for data center, cloud, and SDN at Infonetics Research.
The new report sees vendors seeding the market with SDN-capable Ethernet switches in the data center and enterprise LAN spaces. The leaders in the SDN market will be solidified during the next 2 years, predicts Infonetics, as 2014 lab trials give way to live production deployments.
Grossner adds, “The early SDN explorers — NEC in Japan and pure-play SDN startups in North America — were joined in 2013 by the majority of traditional switch vendors and server virtualization vendors offering a wide selection of SDN products.”
Bare metal switches are the top in-use for SDN-capable switch use case in the data center and are anticipated to account for 31% of total SDN-capable switch revenue by 2018,
Tomi Engdahl says:
Initial specs issued for 4x25G 100GBE data center transceivers
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/cwdm4-msa-spec-release.html
The CWDM4 MSA consortium, one of several groups launched this year to create 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100GbE) optical transceivers for data center links up to 2 km, has released Revision 1.0 of its specifications.
The specifications, available on the MSA’s website, detail an optical module architecture based on four lanes of 25 Gbps combined via CWDM for transmission over duplex singlemode fiber (SMF). The optical transmission is expected to leverage IEEE 802.3bj KR4 RS forward error correction (FEC) on the host port.
The MSA launched this past March with Avago Technologies, Finisar, JDSU, Oclaro, and Sumitomo Electric as founding members. Those five optical transceiver vendors have since added Brocade, ColorChip, Hitachi Metals, Juniper Networks, Kaiam, Mitsubishi Electric, Neophotonics, Oplink, Skorpios Technologies, and SiFotonics to the consortium’s ranks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Testing for 400G and Terabit speeds at device level
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/anritsu-400g-testing.html
Communications test and measurement equipment developer Anritsu has added a 32-channel synchronization function for 32-Gbps data signals to its popular MP1800A signal quality analyzer. The new function enables the configuration of highly accurate test systems for the measurement of the next generation of ultra-fast communications technologies operating at speeds of 400 Gbps and communications up to 1 Terabit.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The flattening of data center networks
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/print/volume-22/issue-9/features/data-center/the-flattening-of-data-center-networks.html?cmpid=Enl_CIM_Sep-23-2014&cmpid=EnlDataCentersSeptember232014
The ToR-EoR discussion is just one consideration in a changing landscape for the design of data center networks and cabling systems.
Over the past several months the concepts of top-of-rack (ToR) and end-of-row (EoR) data center network layouts have been the source of many seminar presentations, articles in this magazine and others, and technical papers in the cabling industry as well as the wider networking industry. Considerations of when and where to use each approach include management of network moves, adds and changes; cooling the data center facility; network scalability and, of course, cost among others. But the question of whether to use ToR or EoR-while very close to the heart of professionals in the cabling industry-is one part of a broader shift taking place in networking.
Specifically, data center networks are getting flatter in terms of their switching architectures.
In essence, the flattening of data center network architectures eliminates at least one “hop” that data makes when moving from one server to another server. The traditional switching architecture is commonly called “three-tier.” Working backward from the servers, those switch tiers include access switches, aggregation switches, and core switches.
Higbie points out that the well-intentioned three-tier architecture has been shown to have flaws, including the latency and energy-use issues that Bernstein also discusses, as well as others. “Three-tier was supposed to be a big problem-solver,” Higbie says, “but most data centers have found there is a lot of wasteful port spend.” Among that inefficient spend is the necessity to establish inactive links, particularly between the access and aggregation switches. “As you set out primary and secondary networks, only one of these can be active at a time,”
Alternative architectures-network fabrics-are now regularly being deployed rather than three-tier architectures.
In a fat-tree architecture, the volume of north-south traffic flow is significantly reduced compared to what takes place in three-tier architectures. Fat-tree achieves more-efficient east-west, server-to-server communication.
Ties to virtualization
The architecture comprises two layers of switching-access switches, which connect to servers, then interconnection switches, which connect to the access switches. Within a TIA-942-A-based data center arrangement, servers reside in the equipment distribution area (EDA), while access switches can reside in either the horizontal distribution area (HDA) for end-of-row setups or in the EDA for top-of-rack setups. Interconnection switches reside in the main distribution area (MDA), or potentially in the intermediate distribution area (IDA) when an IDA exists.
Many data centers deployed a spine-leaf/fat-tree architecture before Cisco did so using its own equipment this summer. And many more are destined to do so in the future.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Bluetooth Thingies at Maker Faire
http://hackaday.com/2014/09/23/bluetooth-thingies-at-maker-faire/
In case you haven’t noticed, one of the more popular themes for new dev boards is Bluetooth. Slap a Bluetooth 4.0 module on a board, and you really have something: just about every phone out there has it, and the Low Energy label is great for battery-powered Internets of Things.
Hour Creations is bucking that trend with their Tah board. Basically, it’s your standard Arduino compatible board with a btle module. What they’ve done is add the software for iOS and Android that makes building stuff easy.
http://tah.io/
Putting Bluetooth on a single board is one thing, but how about putting Bluetooth on everything. SAM Labs showed off their system of things at Maker Faire with LEDs, buttons, fans, motors, sensors, and just about every electrical component you can imagine.
All of these little boards come with a Bluetooth module and a battery. The software for the system is a graphical interface that allows you to draw virtual wires between everything.
http://www.samlabs.me/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smartphone controlled light bulb that will last 25 years and even match its color to your mood launches after successful Kickstarter campaign
LIFX raised $1.3 million on Kickstarter and was fully funded in 2012
Features multiple colors, LED lighting, and is Wi-Fi enabled
Easily replaces normal household bulbs by simply screwing it in
Single bulb retails for $99
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2764461/Smartphone-controlled-light-bulb-25-years-match-color-mood-launches-successful-Kickstarter-campaign.html#ixzz3EBAEQMc8
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM and the Internet of Things (IoT)
http://edn.com/electronics-blogs/the-workbench/4434918/ARM-and-the-Internet-of-Things–IoT-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20140923&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20140923&elq=81107abddc3f4ed99123ddb271a7c90e&elqCampaignId=19277
ARM is perfectly positioned for the Internet of Things that will have such a beneficial effect on our lives. At the most basic level, ARM cores for embedded microcontrollers are 32-bit machines. The Internet is built on Ethernet. Communications across the Internet depend on the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) stack. Internet pioneers developed this software stack as a 32-bit application that built up packets for transmission. Sure you can implement a TCP/IP stack on a 16-bit or even an 8-bit Atmel AVR.
My software guru buddy John Haggis taught me the allure of the TCP/IP stack. “It makes it look like the remote computer is right on your machine, like a printer or serial port.” The programmer does not have to worry about how the packets get to the other computer. Wires, optical fiber, even carrier pigeons can carry the packets.
There are a lot of proprietary 32-bit processors out there, but ARM has advantages over them.
While there are a few competitors chips out there, ARM cores are also very low power, based on their success in the cell phone market where everything is powered off a battery.
Look at this instruction set map for ARM Cortex. You can see that if you learned on a Cortex-M4, you already know the instructions for the Cortex-M3 and -M0+. If you learned on the smaller processors, you only have to learn the incremental added instructions, the basic ones all stay the same.
So even though the ARM core is low power, it is even better if you use our Sleepwalking technology so you can read a sensor, make a comparison, and write something to memory without even waking the CPU core up. In addition to the similitude to all the ARM cores, there is similarity to the Atmel peripherals, so once you learn about one, it will apply to many of our ARM-based chips.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Volume and Velocity are Driving Advances in Data Center Network Technology
http://ph.mouser.com/applications/communications-network-technology-advances/?utm_source=eeweb&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=eeweb_2013?utm_source=EEWeb&utm_medium=TechCommunity&utm_term=2014&utm_content=Content&utm_campaign=Mouser
The Ethernet was developed as a system for connecting computers within a building using hardware running from machine to machine. It has evolved into a family of networking technologies and its latest iteration, the 40/100 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) standard known as IEEE 802.3ba, was written with data center communications in mind.
To minister to a high-speed world of constant connectivity, today’s data center is home to thousands of host servers allocated as clusters. Each host consists of one or more processors, memory, network interface, and local high-speed I/O all tightly connected with a high-bandwidth network. The Ethernet serves as a cluster interconnect in the majority of cases (with InfiniBand in second place).
The data center industry is constantly growing, and at an accelerating rate as more of the world comes online and more businesses turn to the cloud for their data infrastructure. But perhaps more than any other factor, the IoT will have a potential transformational effect on the data center market, as well as its providers and technologies. The research firm Gartner, Inc. estimates that by 2020 the IoT will include 26 billion units installed generating an almost unfathomably large quantity of Big Data that needs to be processed and analyzed in real time. This data will represent an ever-larger proportion of the workloads of data centers, leaving providers facing new capacity, speed, analytics, and security challenges.
The IEEE 802.3ba standard allows multiple 10-Gbit/s channels to run in parallel or via wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), depending on whether they are single or multi-mode fiber (MMF) cables. The 10-Gbit/s channels are stacked to become 4x (40Gbps) or 10x (100 Gbit/s) faster. In most cases, MMF cables are used to provide the additional fiber strands needed for 40 to 100- Gbit/s connections.
WDM splits multiple wavelengths into separate fibers for single-mode transfer. This allows more data to be transferred on a single cable by using different wavelengths (i.e., colors) of laser light for different pieces of information. A multiplexer and de-multiplexer, placed at either end of the cable, joins or splits this mixed-light signal.
Data centers are becoming massive in scale, occupying millions of square feet, requiring longer and longer reaches for connectivity. A typical cluster has several kilometers of fiber-optic cable acting as a highway system interconnecting racks of servers on the data center floor. The main barrier to adoption for 100-Gbit/s Ethernet connectivity has been not only the expense, but the lack of switch density. The distance between switches in modern data centers often is greater than 100 m; in many cases it can be 500 m and in some cases it can be up to a kilometer or more.
Intel and Arista (along with eBay, Altera, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and others) earlier this year formed an open industry group and a specification that addresses the up to 2km data center reach over a duplex, multimode fiber with 4 lanes of 25-Gbits/s light paths. The CLR4 100G alliance is designing an affordable, low-power optical interface for a Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (abbreviated as QFSP or QFSP+) transceiver. Today’s standard optics support 10 lanes of 10 Gbits/s, which leads to thicker, more expensive cables. The CLR4 100G group says its standard will reduce fiber count by 75 percent.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Lays Out Its Roadmap for Creating Internet-Connected Drones
http://www.wired.com/2014/09/facebook-drones-2/
If companies like Facebook and Google have their way, everyone in the world will have access to the internet within the next few decades. But while these tech giants seem to have all the money, expertise, and resolve they need to accomplish that goal—vowing to offer internet connections via things like high-altitude balloons and flying drones—Yael Maguire makes one thing clear: it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
“We’re going to have to push the edge of solar technology, battery technology, composite technology,” Maguire, the engineering director of Facebook’s new Connectivity Lab, said on Monday during a talk at the Social Good Summit in New York City, referring to the lab’s work on drones. “There are a whole bunch of challenges.”
Facebook formed its Connectivity Lab earlier this year. Dovetailing with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s new venture, Internet.org, its goal is to build and launch a fleet of solar-powered drones that can connect the billions of people currently living off the grid to the internet.1 It arrived just a month before Google agreed to acquire Titan Aerospace, a startup that makes its own solar-powered drones, and according to Maguire, such projects are a long way from success. There are substantial operational, technical, and regulatory hurdles these companies with have to overcome before any of their technologies can, well, take flight.
Tomi Engdahl says:
M2M & IoT Meet Asset Tracking
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1324029&
The Internet of Things (IoT) has been the subject of numerous articles and presentations, and it has also been the driving force behind many startup companies, so it is somewhat surprising that there is no standardization of either the protocols or communications to be used.
The IoT was formerly known as machine-to-machine (M2M) communications — this was before engineers had the idea of connecting all sorts of domestic, commercial, and industrial “things” — first to the Internet and then into the cloud. Companies such as Cisco predict 25 billion IoT connections by 2015, rising to close on 50 billion by 2020, which will drive the need for many more routers.
Some of the applications that are proposed for the IoT are extensions of existing M2M applications, while others may struggle to find a viable commercial application.
At the other end of the spectrum in terms of complexity and sophistication are M2M applications, such as Asset Tracking, which stretch the limits of what is technically possible. Commercial realities underpin the use of IoT for asset tracking. A typical application is in a delivery truck. An active asset tracking system for fleet management combines a wireless transceiver with GPS positioning. It allows the head office to know at all times the location of the vehicle, engine statistics and status, and be warned of any attempted robbery or tampering with the truck. It also supports greater efficiency, because the controller in the head office can reroute the truck to a new pick-up point or to avoid traffic jams. This can justify the equipment and operating costs. Add to this the reduction in risk and lower insurance costs, and the financial argument is vindicated.
Staying with the example of a delivery truck is useful because it highlights some of the problems inherent in this application in particular and the IoT in general. Some form of wireless communication is obviously mandatory, but which connection type is the most suitable?
A link to an array of satellites would seem very attractive
signal may easily be lost
Cellular connection is a possibility.
The ideal wireless system would be capable of identifying what services are available and connecting to the most reliable or lowest cost link. This demands a very flexible and intelligent wireless system, which is only now becoming an economic possibility.
The latest field programmable products are enabling many new innovative ideas that are now commercially viable. Both Lime Microsystems and Altera are fully supporting open-source as the route to bring concepts and designs to the design community. For more information on open-source wireless innovations visit MyriadRF.org.