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:
Verizon Wireless Caves To FCC Pressure, Says It Won’t Throttle 4G Users
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/10/01/2231202/verizon-wireless-caves-to-fcc-pressure-says-it-wont-throttle-4g-users
Verizon Wireless was scheduled to begin throttling certain LTE users today as part of an expanded “network optimization” program, but has decided not to follow through with the controversial plan after criticism from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler.
Verizon Wireless caves to FCC pressure, says it won’t throttle 4G users
Verizon kills “network optimization” policy that was set to take effect today.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/10/verizon-wireless-caves-to-fcc-pressure-says-it-wont-throttle-4g-users/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Low-cost Arduino Wi-Fi shield provides security & intelligence needed for IoT apps
http://edn.com/electronics-products/electronic-product-reviews/other/4435361/Low-cost-Arduino-Wi-Fi-shield-provides-security—intelligence-needed-for-IoT-apps?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20141001&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20141001&elq=c769946e6bc245ff8dd321b948fe4693&elqCampaignId=19406
Arduino and Atmel have collaborated to create a secure version of Arduino’s Wi-Fi Shield 101 and it looks like a great tool for both hackers and commercial developers interested in rapid prototyping of smart lighting, or any other Arduino-based Internet of Things (IoT) application.
Arduino’s secure Wi-Fi shield adds secure Internet connectivity to nearly any modern R3-style Arduino board, including the Arduino Uno or Zero boards
In the end, we all agreed that the sub-$40 board was a must-have for most “serious” Arduino developers because it delivered many of the capabilities of a “professional” development platform for a tiny fraction of the cost.
Arduino’s secure Wi-Fi Shield 101 is based on the Wi-Fi 101 802.11.a/g/b/n shield introduced earlier in the month. Like the ’101, SecureShield is based on Atmel’s recently-introduced WINC1500 SmartConnect Wi-Fi SoC and an on-board firmware library which includes a complete 802.11 protocol stack from the Arduino board’s main processor. The processor can also implement a complete Wi-Fi access point by running a SoftAP stack, also available in the firmware.
The new SecureShield also includes one of Atmel’s Crypto-Authentication devices that is used by the on-board TLS security stack for storing keys, passwords or secret data, enabling users to easily incorporate hardware authentication capability in their design.
The new shield can add secure Wi-Fi connectivity to any modern R3-style Arduino board (like the Uno) but it’s been especially tailored to take advantage of the Arduino Zero, a board based on the Uno form factor which incorporates Atmel’s powerful SAMD-21, based on a 32-bit ARM M0 MCU which has been enhanced with all the cool bells and whistles that Atmel is famous for.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Imagining a trillion sensor world
http://www.edn.com/design/sensors/4423522/Imagining-a-trillion-sensor-world
The Internet of Things can’t come fast enough for Janusz Bryzek.
The Fairchild executive wants to create a consortium of companies and governments that develops a road map and pools funding to drive towards a market of trillion sensors. To get the ball rolling, he organized The Trillion Sensor Summit where more than 50 presenters from around the globe shared their thinking with more than 200 executives.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Huawei prez: A one-speed internet is bad for everyone
Live free or die neutral
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/24/huawei_prez_one_speed_internet_bad_for_everyone/
Western regulations like the mooted US changes enforcing “net neutrality” will hold back internet development for consumers, Huawei President and board member Ryan Ding told us today. Ding said it was absurd to have a put up with one-speed slow, dumb networks when different consumers and applications had different requirements.
“When you try to send a letter in China it can take several weeks. But FedEx style services can deliver a package in 24 hours parts of the country. Some people might be sensitive to latencies and some more sensitive to the bandwidth,” said Ding. “We cannot accept that there should be a difference between ordinary logistics and digital logistics.”
But the US broadband agenda today appears to be set by comedians. British cable show host John Oliver (English Literature, Cambridge) is leading the net neutrality campaign to reclassify data services with Bell-era switched circuit regulation. And former funny man Senator Al Franken (Politics, Harvard) has campaigned on the issue.
Franken argues that what he calls “discrimination” – where internet packets can travel at different speeds and priorities – must be prohibited.
“The majority of countries – their fixed regulatory environment still stays in the old mindset of 20 years ago.”
Even 20 Mbit/s downstream was barely enough for one channel of 4K TV, he told us.
“For 8K, we have found you need 115 Mbit/s.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sea-Me-We 5 construction starts
New sub cable to go live 2016
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/25/seamewe_5_construction_starts/
Construction has begun on the next major submarine cable, which when it’s completed in 2016 will provide a big increase in capacity between South-East Asia and Europe.
Sea-Me-We-5 has a design capacity of 24 Tbps, and will run 20,000 km to link Singapore at one end and France at the other.
Presuming there are no construction delays due to spy agencies wanting to run extra fibres to tap the cable at some as-yet-undiscovered underwater point, ready-for-service for the whole cable is 2016.
On the way, the cable will make landfall at Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Oman, the UAE, Yemen, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Firespotter Labs Becomes Switch, Providing A Cloud-Based Phone System For Google Apps
http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/30/switch/
Unified communications has long been touted as the future, but being able to provide access to all of one’s calls and messages on multiple devices is an idea that has just barely come to fruition. Now, the folks at Firespotter Labs think they’ve built a solution — a cloud-based platform for enterprise communications called Switch.
Firespotter Labs was probably best known for building UberConference, a cloud-based phone conferencing system that won TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield a couple of years ago. (It also built a few lesser-known apps
Over the years, Uberconference continued to add features like Screen Sharing, integration with Google Hangouts, Box and Evernote. But in the background, the team has been working on a whole new communications platform for enterprise users.
Now he and team are once again building a telephony solution that will allow users to make or receive calls from any number of devices — from the desktop to their mobile phones to even the phones placed on their desks at work. The new company, called Switch Communications, provides a cloud-based platform designed to give users access to their voice communications wherever they are or on whichever device they prefer or have handy.
Things have changed since Google Voice, and the folks at Switch hope that means they are getting better. In addition to having a single number that rings on all their devices, Switch users also get features like call transfer, company directory, visual voicemail, and switching between devices. It’s able to provide many of those features thanks to a series of mobile apps that it’s built out for Android and iPhone devices, as well as desktop apps.
Switch.co brings a voice to Google Apps
The business-grade phone system built for Google Apps users.
https://www.switch.co/
Tomi Engdahl says:
More WiFi Modules for IoT Madness
http://hackaday.com/2014/09/07/more-wifi-modules-for-iot-madness/
The last year has brought us CC3000 WiFi module from TI, and recently the improved CC3200 that includes an integrated microcontroller. The Chinese design houses have gotten the hint, putting out the exceptionally cheap ESP8266, a serial to WiFi bridge that also includes a microcontroller to handle the TCP/IP stack and the software side of an 802.11 connection. Now there’s another dedicated WiFi module. It’s called the MT7681, and it’s exactly what you would expect given the competition: a programmable module with the ability to connect to a WiFi network.
Like TI’s CC3200, and the ESP8266, the MT7681 can be connected to any microcontroller over a serial connection, making it a serial to WiFi bridge. This module also contains a user-programmable microcontroller, meaning you don’t need to connect an Arduino to blink a few pins; UART, SPI, and a few GPIO pins are right on the board.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home WLAN: Use only channels 1, 6 ja 11
Free test software:
Wifi Analyzer (Android)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&hl=fi
LinSSID (Linux)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/linssid/
Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector (Windows)
http://www.xirrus.com/Products/Network-Management-and-Software/Network-Management/Wi-Fi-Inspector
Souce: http://www.tivi.fi/uutisia/patkiiko+wlan+kotona+naista+vinkeista+voi+olla+apua/a1016729
Tomi Engdahl says:
Get Your Degree in the IoT
http://www.iotworld.com/author.asp?doc_id=562286&_mc=sem_otb_iotw
In a comment to an earlier blog, reader tmbansod remarked that perhaps we should start offering college courses on M2M and IoT development. Well, it turns out that there are others with the same idea. HP has helped sponsor the development of a college degree specializing in the Internet of Things (IoT).
The IoT program that HP helped create is being offered at the University of Staffordshire. The UK school has developed a full bachelor of science degree with an IoT specialization that is available for matriculation in the 2014/2015 academic year. The school says on its website that it “aims to produce ‘Internet of Things’ graduates who have proficiency in several programming languages, embedded/real time operating systems, wide range of processors/sensors, security techniques and system design methods and techniques that are appropriate to the discipline, and who can apply their skills in all areas of the computing industry.”
This is not the only such program being offered. The Queen Mary University of London is also offering a BSc in IoT engineering.
In addition to the UK, China is embracing the idea of college specialization in the IoT.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet of Things Will Reach the Tipping Point in 2014
http://www.iotworld.com/author.asp?doc_id=562424&_mc=sem_otb_iotw
As predicted, the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show simply overflowed with examples of IoT finally becoming a marketplace reality. From the connected home, to the connected automobile, to digital health, the Internet of Things (IoT) was everywhere at the show. So, too, were large companies vying for the opportunity to merge cloud and mobile technologies with sensors and MEMS technology. The IoT may be reaching a tipping point.
In his keynote presentation, John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, predicted that 2014 would be the transformational pivot point for IoT and that the total cost benefit going forward could be as high as $19 trillion for both public and private sectors. He foresees retail, for example, gaining at least $1.5 trillion in benefits from the implementation of smart shopping carts that both assist and track customers.
The pace, scale, and potential impact of IoT emergence has drawn attention from multiple interested parties associated with policy and regulations.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The world is sold this year, 176 million wlan router. Of these, 18 per cent, or almost one in five is the latest ac-type.
The new ac-standard channel width has been prescribed to 80 megahertz (earlier 40 MHz). Also, the potential of MIMO channels have doubled the number to eight. In practice it is possible to connect to the router ac tablet with two AC channels for a total of 160 megahertz band. In this case, the theoretical data rate of 1.69 Gbps. On your cell phone get a massive more than 400 Mbps data rate.
D-Link and Netgear are one of the leading suppliers of ac-routers (expected to sell 32 million ac-routers).
Old b, a and g of routers sales collapsed after the n-type devices were on the market for some years ago. Now, analysts believe that the n-type WLAN routers sales begin to drop at the end of this year.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1848:joka-viides-wifi-reititin-nopeinta-ac-tyyppia&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
ETSI brought the definition of IoT networks
The Internet of Things, industrial Internet, or cyber-physical systems:. IoT a hot topic now, all of them. A standardization body ETSI throw the tiniest contribution to the introduction of the first IoT networks for implementation of the definition.
Ceiling Name the new technologies is the LTN, ie a small data transfer network (low throughput network). The idea is to allow the large diameter of up to 40 kilometers, the implementation of wireless networks.
LTN works ETSI, the IOT and the machines between M2M connectivity network. In one device on the Net would cost a few euros a year, the output power would be a few milliwatts class and the modem should be able to buy less than one euro.
ETSI, the LTN-networks could also act together with the mobile phone networks. Then when you need connectivity assurance or more data capacity, equipment could also take advantage of the mobile networks.
LTN’s first concrete steps are three of the ETSI specification. GN LTN 001 defines the network uses, LTN 002 LTN functional architecture and 003 protocols and connections.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1854:etsi-toi-maarittelyn-iot-verkoille&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Reveals ‘The Physical Web,’ A Project To Make Internet Of Things Interaction App-Less
http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/02/google-the-physical-web/
Google’s Scott Jenson, an interaction and UX designer who left the company only to return to the Chrome team last November, has revealed a project underway at the company called The Physical Web to provide “interaction on demand” so that people can walk up and use any smart devices without the need for intervening mobile apps. This would make it possible for users to simply walk up to a bus stop and receive the time until the next arriving bus, without any additional software needed.
The project is an ambitious bet on the future of smart devices.
“People should be able to walk up to any smart device – a vending machine, a poster, a toy, a bus stop, a rental car – and not have to download an app first,” Jenson explains on the Physical Web project page. “Everything should be just a tap away.”
Physical Web
Walk up and use anything
http://google.github.io/physical-web/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet of Tomorrow Tour hitting the road
http://edn.com/electronics-blogs/now-hear-this/4435474/Internet-of-Tomorrow-Tour-hitting-the-road?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20141002&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20141002&elq=bd82cd71508644c7b1bec73dff020129&elqCampaignId=19430
At ARM TechCon, Freescale unveiled its Internet of Tomorrow Tour (IoTT) vehicle. The show is the first stop on a planned two-year tour that will bring the company’s mobile educational and training facility to venues all across the country.
The IoTT vehicle is an 18-wheel truck,
After ARM TechCon, the truck will be hitting the road to take this demo and training venue on the road. Current plans call for a two-year tour, traveling more than 20,000 miles all across the US (sorry, world, it won’t be crossing any oceans). The goal is to bring the IoT and Freescale’s technology directly to the companies and creative minds that are making the IoT a reality. This includes visits to customer sites, trade shows, universities, and other, public locations.
The truck is a work in progress, and will change as new opportunities to showcase the IoT, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and software defined networking (the truck’s three themes) become available.
Tomi Engdahl says:
4K video on terrestrial TV? Not if the WRC shares frequencies to mobiles
Have your say with Ofcom now, before Freeview becomes Feeview
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/30/breaking_fad_uhd_video_on_terrestrial_tv_crunch_time_for_freeview/
The DVB consortium has recently produced a draft specification for Ultra High Definition aka 4K, fitting the UHD video within the standard transport streams that are already used for SD and HD.
As evidenced by the BBC’s current closed trial – which had been showing World Cup content and will carry some of the Commonwealth Games too – it’s clearly possible to broadcast UHD material, even over a relatively bandwidth-limited platform like Freeview.
But don’t get carried away with dreams of better-than-eyeballs quality broadcasting direct to your existing aerial; there’s a long way to go before we regularly, if ever, see UHD in the home, and Freeview also faces mortal peril.
On the first of those two points, it’s important to remember that there aren’t many sets out there which have HEVC decoders, and some of those are still pretty experimental.
Wrestling with the WRC
If you’ve been following the evolution of broadcasting and mobile lately, you’ll know that there are some potential issues. For instance, we’ve already seen the creation of space at 800MHz for 4G services
As mobile broadband is expected to grow tremendously, so too do the demands from phone companies for more spectrum to be allocated. It’s a foregone conclusion that the 700MHz band will fall to mobile use
In the modern world, where everyone moves around, and companies want economies of scale, decisions on spectrum usage are agreed internationally.
These decisions are taken at the World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC), and the next one is WRC-15 in November of next year. Decisions made at WRC are effectively binding, from the time they’re made, although there’d be a transition phase.
What of IP?
“So what?” some are bound to say, and this being The Register, someone will probably suggest we’ll all be using IPTV by then, and it’ll be even easier if all that spectrum is used for broadband instead of terrestrial television.
IPTV has to improve a lot before it can replace Freeview – even broadband is still nowhere near that 98.5 per cent availability in homes. So it’s no surprise then that organisations like Digital UK don’t believe IPTV would be in a position to replace DTT until at least 2030, leading Ofcom to state in its most recent PSB review that DTT should remain the main TV platform until then.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM Calls for ‘Invisible’ Technology
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1324181&
Successful technology will be invisible, ARM CEO Simon Segars said in his keynote address at ARM TechCon here. While the physical size of silicon is ever shrinking, connectivity, performance, and efficiency need to be even less visible to consumers.
“We’re going to see more and more connected devices with more and more powerful embedded processers within them, with really sophisticated software,” he said. “We should take it upon ourselves to make sure that we continue to do a great job of hiding away the complexity, hiding these components and what they do… so we continue to get a great adoption rate.”
Manufacturers must create abstractions, such as software-defined networks, to allow quicker development of hardware and services. Increased abstraction will reduce complexity and deliver more efficient systems, which will aid in the development of compelling consumer applications.
Segars said the approach will be increasingly important as the Internet of Things expands. He cited ARM’s mbed platform as one of the ways the company is involved in integrated development.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet Explorer Implements HTTP/2 Support
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/10/03/129220/internet-explorer-implements-http2-support
As part of the Windows 10 Technical Preview, Internet Explorer will introduce HTTP 2 support, along with performance improvements to the Chakra JavaScript engine, and a top-level domains parsing algorithm based on publicsuffix.org. HTTP 2 is a new standard by the Internet Engineering Task Force. Unlike HTTP 1.1, the new standard communicates metadata in binary format to significantly reduce parsing complexity.
Tomi Engdahl says:
FCC fines Marriott $600,000 for jamming hotel Wi-Fi
http://boingboing.net/2014/10/03/fcc-fines-marriott-for-jamming.html
A Nashville convention center figured out how to boost its revenue from selling Internet service: it illegally jammed guests’ and exhibitors’ Wi-Fi networks. Glenn Fleishman explains the technical scam and why it earned a six-figure smackdown.
The Marriott-run Gaylord Opryland resort in Nashville was faced with a dilemma. Like all hotels and exhibition centers, it charges exhibitors and conference organizers exorbitant amounts for Internet access on trade-show floors, as well as nightly fees for guests. Nearly all conference centers charge thousands of dollars for a few days of access, per exhibitor, and all they get is a couple of megabits per second at their booth. Google for the price sheets:
Thanks to fast cellular networks and portable WiFi hotspots, though, these halls are losing their extortionate edge. A carryover from the days of a captive audience who had no other choice, the wheeze was always factored in as a cost of participating in trade shows and other events. Now, however, the 4G LTE standard–whose frequency range penetrates buildings far better than most older cellular technologies–offers data rates in the tens of Mbps.
The Gaylord Opryland came up with a clever plan. Some level of hotel management understood that its Wi-Fi intrusion-mitigation system came with a feature that could kick people off networks — and not just their own.
Marriott staff at the facility made it impossible for people in the vicinity to use personal hotspots, portable routers, and the like. This is a big no-no: a violation of Section 333 of the Communications Act.
The technique employed, according to the FCC release, is deauthentication. It’s a common attack vector used by malicious parties to push clients off legitimate access points and get them to connect to “evil twins,” look-alike Wi-Fi networks that are hives of villainy, or to cause denial of service. The aircrack-ng software, for instance
There is no authentication of deauth, ironically enough, although the kind of intrusion-detection and -mitigation hardware and software used by companies like Marriott can detect these attacks.
The head of the FCC’s enforcement bureau said blunty in the news release: “Consumers who purchase cellular data plans should be able to use them without fear that their personal Internet connection will be blocked by their hotel or conference center.” Convention centers will have to adapt and figure out new ways to ream exhbitors
Tomi Engdahl says:
Marriott Settles FCC Complaint About Blocking Rival Wi-Fi Networks
http://recode.net/2014/10/03/marriott-settles-fcc-complaint-about-blocking-rival-wi-fi-networks/
Marriott International agreed to pay $600,000 to settle a federal complaint that it illegally blocked rival Wi-Fi networks at a Nashville resort so consumers would have to buy access from the hotel, the Federal Communications Commission announced Friday.
Consumers with personal Wi-Fi hotspots found they couldn’t use them at Marriott’s Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center, FCC investigators said, because the hotel giant deliberately tampered with the Wi-Fi signals.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why the Broadband Industry Is Secretly Furious With Verizon Over Net Neutrality
http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/why-the-broadband-industry-is-secretly-furious-with-verizon-over-net-neutrality-20141003
The company’s lawsuit against the FCC stirred a hornet’s nest that may ultimately result in tougher regulations for everyone.
Verizon took the the federal government to court over net neutrality and won, but the company’s industry peers are privately peeved that it chose to pick the fight at all.
That’s because now that the old net-neutrality regime is gone, the Federal Communications Commission is considering a new set of Internet regulations—and the new rules could well be stronger than the ones that came before.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Fiber Leaves a Digital Divide
Survey Finds Few Low-Income Residents in Kansas City Subscribe to Superfast Service
http://online.wsj.com/articles/google-fails-to-close-kansas-citys-digital-divide-1412276753?mod=WSJ_article_EditorsPicks
When Google Inc. launched its fast Internet service in Kansas City in 2012, the Web giant said it wanted to spread broadband widely and close the “digital divide.” But a survey conducted for The Wall Street Journal suggests the company is far from achieving that goal.
The survey, in six low-income Kansas City, Mo., neighborhoods, found that just 10% of residents subscribe to Google’s Fiber service. An additional 5% use a slower…
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Tablet Sales Drop Will Push the Hybrid Cloud
http://www.hybridcloudforum.com/269/how-tablet-sales-drop-will-push-hybrid-cloud
The next big thing is everything – that is, the Internet of Things – and the hybrid cloud will be virtually essential in this transition. As Bob Violino and Bill Laberis recently pointed out, this year marks the tipping point of connected devices. Communicating to consumers and businesses through PC, mobile, and smartphone isn’t enough anymore – now it is smart light bulbs, compact watches, and prescription glasses. Managing this data will require a flexible and, most importantly, affordable platform.
As we transition from gathering the data of three to gathering the data of many, I expect smart data triage, analysis, and compartmentalization will move from a nicety to a necessity. The hybrid cloud will be a leader in the transition.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A moment of brilliance? UPnP for Internet of Stuff lightbulbs
Thus doth tech of future illuminate present, etc
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/01/breaking_fad_upnp_sensor_connect_for_lightbulbs_internet_of_things/
Breaking Fad Home automation can be a lot of fun. However, it can also be the cause of an awful lot of headaches. So, you thought those remote control plug sockets from the DIY store were a good deal?
Maybe they were … and then you find, when you get them home, that they use a different protocol to the fancy new thermostat you bought. Oh, and the multi-function remote you have will work those the light switches, but not the plug sockets or the air conditioner.
Like many people who’ve dabbled in this sort of thing, I have different bits of kit bought at different times to solve specific problems. Sometimes even kit that uses the same nominal protocol won’t play nice either.
It sometimes seems that the only way to make sure that everything is going to work the way you want is going to be by buying it all at the same time, and planning it properly before you start.
Linking disparate systems together easily has the potential to make home automation much, much simpler for the less technical. While remote control plug sockets and the like have generally failed to capture the public imagination, the idea of controllable lighting systems like Hue from Philips has made more people consider their worth, while Apple’s forthcoming HomeKit is one way of making everything play nicely together.
HomeKit’s not the only player, though. The UPnP Forum, whose standards are found in an awful lot of kit, announced the UPnP+ certification scheme at IBC in September, which aims to extend UPnP to the Internet of Things in particular – making more devices discoverable and allowing them to communicate with each other easily.
At the basic level, the new standard includes support for newer technologies such as IPv6 and HTML5, as well as event subscriptions. Where it really starts to become interesting, I think, is in the new support for a cloud architecture and device bridges
There are an awful lot of gadgets out there that aren’t necessarily IP enabled, and may never be. Even so, the UPnP+ standard allows for “sensor bridges” that can talk non-IP protocols, including Z-Wave, Zigbee and ANT, linking those to the rest of your network, effectively providing a common protocol to control them. UPnP device control protocols have been devised for thermostats, lights, blinds and security cameras, with others in the works.
What does this mean? Well, in theory, it should make adding new controllable devices to your home network much simpler.
Clouds ahoy
As with so many presentations, much was made of the cloud aspect. With UPnP+, devices communicate using XMPP – originally the foundation of Jabber – and can be managed by effectively joining them to a chat room, which would typically represent a room in your home.
All well and good, but the cloud? Really? Who wants to have their wireless lightbulbs crash because the broadband is down? The good news on that front is that this is perhaps a more nebulous cloud than most, in that it doesn’t have to be in a specific place.
You could have your own home cloud – effectively the host of that XMPP chat room – running on, say, a home media server or NAS.
DLNA revisited
Closely related to UPnP, of course, is DLNA. Devised to be a guarantee of compatibility, in the past it has often felt as if the DLNA certification hasn’t gone much further than the basic UPnP discovery
Tomi Engdahl says:
2014 UPnP Forum
UPnP Internet of Things
http://upnp.org/resources/documents/UPnP_IoT_Overview_July2014.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
This is what happens when 911 fails
Our most important lifeline isn’t always there when you need it
http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/3/6414949/911-call-failures-fcc
On a June morning in Washington, William Leneweaver, the state’s E911 IT projects and operations manager, was alerted to a call. A man had been attempting to dial emergency responders, but he couldn’t get through. He was left listening to a “fast busy” — a pre-recorded tone.
Wireless carriers have a strong incentive to play down any 911 outages: no company wants be the one that fails to send emergency calls. The FCC, meanwhile, receives a steady stream of complaints from consumers, according to documents obtained by The Verge through a Freedom of Information Act request, and reserves enforcement for the most egregious infractions. Years into the slow demise of the landline and ubiquity of the smartphone, it seems, calling 911 on mobile is a much riskier move than from a wired phone.
Leneweaver’s team tried canvassing the counties to see if anyone was injured because of the outage. As far as they could tell, no one was; but, he says, “it only takes one to make the evening news.”
Since January 1st, 2011, more than 400 formal consumer complaints about wireless 911 calls have been sent to the FCC.
Many are technical glitches with unclear resolutions.
The FCC files 911 consumer complaints into two categories: the immediately life-threatening, and the not immediately life-threatening.
The FCC is now considering new rules that may curb a related problem: location tracking.
Meanwhile, for purposes unrelated to public safety, other private-sector companies are zipping ahead of wireless carriers in location tracking, largely thanks to Wi-Fi accuracy.
Carriers have been fighting those regulations, as they have attempted several times to forcefully regulate 911 calls.
problems with tracking callers are a daily issue. It’s difficult to pin the incidents on any specific service provider — many share towers, or “ride a different carrier’s backbone” — but it keeps happening.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why Do Fake Phone Numbers Start With 555?
http://fakenumber.org/why-do-fake-phone-numbers-start-with-555
As soon as an actor in a movie or TV show starts rattling off a phone number, every viewer knows what the first three digits will be: 5-5-5. How did “555″ become the convention for fake phone numbers, and are there any real 555 numbers?
It’s hard to pin down exactly how 555 became the go-to fake prefix for phone numbers.
Since the early 1970s there’s been at least one 555 number callers can dial and get an answer: 555-1212 is a standard number that rings directory assistance. The rest of the 555 numbers have largely gained fame as fake numbers in movies and on TV.
What you may not know, though, is that there are many more “real” 555 phone numbers. Since 1994, 555 numbers have actually been available for personal or business use.
People and businesses snapped up the 555 numbers (except for 555-0100 through 555-0199, which were held back for fictional use) but they soon learned that owning a phone number isn’t all that useful if you don’t also own a phone company that can connect the number. Phone companies protested that setting up these services would be wildly expensive
Tomi Engdahl says:
Honeywell takes on Google’s Nest with Single Zone thermostat
Control your home heating with a smartphone for £139 without professional installation
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2373791/honeywell-takes-on-googles-nest-with-single-zone-thermostat?utm_source=Outbrain&utm_medium=Cpc&utm_campaign=Inquirer%252BReferral&WT.mc_is=977=obinsource
HONEYWELL IS CHALLENGING Google with the launch of a Nest-like thermostat called Single Zone so energy customers can control their home heating with their smartphones.
Priced at £139, Honeywell’s thermostat aims to allow people to afford wireless heating controls and scheduling without being tethered to a heating provider, so that they can freely choose their energy contracts.
“Now, busy homeowners will be able to keep an eye on when and how they are heating their homes, wherever they are,” said Honeywell. “It incorporates connectivity alongside the thermostat technology that consumers use every day.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why the FCC will probably ignore the public on network neutrality
http://www.vox.com/2014/10/5/6905369/fcc-public-comment-broken
The flood of responses was “unprecedented.” Since the early 20th century, agencies like the Federal Communications Commission have asked the public for comments before making big decisions. But in the past few months, the Commission received a deluge for one particular proceeding that could change the Internet as we know it.
The decision in question is on the fate of network neutrality – the idea that Internet Service Providers and the government should treat all data and traffic on the Internet the same.
If history is any indication, everyday citizens will likely continue to have weak influence at the agency. But understanding why citizens continue to have a weak influence points to a much larger tension between federal agencies and the public — and one that we must address if we want our agencies to help restore trust in government and strengthen their civic purpose.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘World’s smallest’ 3G module will bring Internet to all sorts of devices
The U-blox SARA-U260 chip module has been certified for use on AT&T’s network
http://www.itworld.com/mobile-wireless/438215/worlds-smallest-3g-module-will-bring-internet-all-sorts-devices
AT&T has certified a 3G chip module that the manufacturer calls the world’s smallest, but that doesn’t mean the carrier is going after toddlers as its last untapped customer base.
The U-blox SARA-U260 module, which measures 16 by 26 millimeters, can handle voice calls. But it’s not designed for really small phones for tiny hands. Instead, it’s meant to carry the small amounts of data that machines are sending to each other over the “Internet of things,” where geographic coverage — 3G’s strong suit — matters more than top speed. That means things like electric meters, fitness watches and in-car devices that insurance companies use to monitor policyholders’ driving.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM spreads tentacles up and down the stack
Cloud-connected OS ramps up its IoT challenge another notch
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/06/arms_tentacles_spread_up_and_down_the_stack/
Signs of slowdown in mobile device growth have driven ARM to expand aggressively into new areas for its processor IP – from servers to home equipment to the internet of things (IoT).
ARM is putting together the pieces to offer its licensees a complete platform whose elements will span connected devices from tiny embedded sensors and “smart dust” to wearables.
In so many of these categories, the economics will depend on integrated, pre-tested inclusion of an entire stack, including OS and connectivity, and ARM is jumping ahead of Intel and others, at this early stage anyway, in delivering most of the key components.
This is all about building power bases, long before the market is really there. The mobile industry went through the process of consolidating around a small number of operating systems, processor platforms and connectivity options. Together, those three elements could support a huge diversity of devices and applications, but the real power to drive the market lay with the companies which controlled the OSes, the chips and the protocols.
Many assume the same process will repeat itself in the far more diverse and fragmented internet of things (IoT), and they are already positioning themselves to take the role that Google, Qualcomm or Ericsson had in 3G/4G. The playing field is wide open still, partly because there will be so many subsets of the IoT (many of which will use highly specialised underlying technology), and partly because there are more layers of the stack to consider.
There are chips at a far wider range of power and performance than mobile devices required, and those require different types of operating systems, which in turn create different developer ecosystems. And connectivity is not just about wide and local area, but personal area and body area. Nor is everything in the IoT actually internet-connected, so there must be support for “dumb” devices, non-IP protocols, peer-to-peer meshes and many other variations in how “things” link to one another and to the gateways and servers. Hence major players’ need to have control or influence over a wider variety of technologies than in the relatively homogeneous cellular device sector.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet of Things or “the internet of things” is the next big phenomenon in the field of technology, says The Financial Times . The world’s largest telecom and technology companies are already engaged in a hard struggle to conquer a new market.
Internet of Things means, among other things, that the smart phone could remotely control your computer, or washing the home of various devices to communicate with each other and operate more economically.
It is estimated that an ordinary household could have several hundreds of smart devices by 2022.
Many companies such as Vodafone, Google and ARM are now trying to take a place at the forefront of new technology. Analysts have speculated that Apple and Google have a good chance to conquer the Internet of Things service market, in addition to that they have occupied for a large part of the smartphone market.
Experts have said that the Internet of Things becomes more common with devices that are invisible to the average consumer, such as a variety of services that work the equipment.
The Internet of Things is the FT’s, the fast-growing field, with potential to grow up to 19 trillion dollars 50 billion to the size of the device.
Billions of devices require good connections, so telecommunications companies have a big challenge ahead of them.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/uutisia/tama+ala+kasvaa+rajusti+ndash+ja+monet+pyrkivat+jaolle/a1017549
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rise of the Machines: FIRST HUMAN VICTIM – 2015
Internet of Things robots WILL break 1st law – EU top cops
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/06/top_eu_cops_internet_of_things_devices_could_soon_become_instruments_of_murder/
Death via internet, online contract killers and crime-as-a-service were just three of the scarier elements discussed by international top cops at the Interpol-Europol cybercrime summit in Singapore last week.
The Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment, a report prepared by Europol’s cybercrime division, warns that the so-called Internet of Things has created a target for new forms of blackmail, ransomware and “possible death”.
Thanks to machine-to-machine communication, more and more critical every day devices are becoming connected, and it’s apparently only a matter of time before a rogue smart car or hacked pacemaker kills someone.
Europol estimates that there are 10 billion internet-enabled devices. “Cybercriminals need not be present in target countries and are able to conduct crime against large numbers of victims across different countries simultaneously with minimum effort and risk,” says the report.
It also warns that traditional organised crime is morphing into a crime-as-a-service industry, with contract killers available for hire on the darknet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cars That Talk Need Wireless That Works
http://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/systems/cars-that-talk-need-wireless-that-works
At two recent auto events the hyped vision of communicative cars came up against a hard reality: the spottiness of wireless technology.
“Every single automaker exhibiting at the Paris Expo is currently developing a self-driving automobile, most of which will require interconnectivity if robotic cars are to safely navigate our roads,” Booth writes. “That said, the fact that manufacturers can’t always provide enough bandwidth for a few measly laptops in a very stationary building doesn’t exactly breed confidence in our autonomous future.”
We’ve seen this before, nearly two decades ago, when Oracle and other networking companies said computers would soon shed all of their storage and much of their processing power. The resulting stripped-down “thin clients” would then tap the “fat pipes” of a superfast Internet, giving us all the power we needed at a piddling cost. Well, that vision is coming true to a degree. But we still can’t rely on the cloud for quick answers to life-and-death questions.
Unreliable wireless communication may well be the greatest single technical problem holding back smart cars. Until we solve it
Tomi Engdahl says:
Understanding the kaleidoscope of unlicensed spectrum
http://www.ti.com/lit/wp/spry262/spry262.pdf
The simple answer to the question of why shared spectrum is appropriate now is that the
wireless industry has reached that point where the current ISM bands cannot meet the public’s voracious demand for more data and more mobility.
The ITU has defined 12 worldwide frequency bands for ISM use, providing a theoretical total of 4.0GHz of bandwidth. Wi-Fi® (802.11xx), which suffers from the greatest congestion, is only using three bands (0.9GHz, 2.4GHz and 5.7GHz) and is limited to 276MHz of bandwidth. A significant and often over-looked application which consumes ISM bandwidth is the wireless cellular service providers which offload significant amounts of their traffic to Wi-Fi access points whenever possible. A study compiled by Cisco found that 45 percent of the global smart phone traffic is offloaded to the ISM bands of unlicensed spectrum.
Moreover, the data needs of global mobile phones are expected to exceed 15 Exabyte per month (that’s 10 with 17 zeros behind it!) by 2018. Add to this another 50 billion Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices which will likely pop into the ISM bands in the next few years and the additional congestion could threaten data throughput significantly.
But simply allocating more of the spectrum to ISM unlicensed bands is not an easy thing to do. There are no unassigned spectrum bands available to simply add to those already been set aside for ISM.
So the best option, and the one that is being aggressively pursued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), would be to share spectrum when it is not being used, as long as this sharing does not interfere with the current licensed users.
Simply avoiding packet collisions, as the venerable Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA) protocol has done for years for Wi-Fi (IEEE-802.11), is just not a sufficient model for sharing an access point
(AP) with multiple heavy Wi-Fi users.
This is why Wi-Fi capacity, while often touted as 54MBps, can be as low as 10Mbps on many public AP connections.
Fortunately, protocol models that are more robust with regards to cooperative multiuser sharing of bands have been developed and are being deployed. For example, Time Division Duplex (TDD)
This method is very efficient but it requires close coordination of the time slots by a central base station or communications controller. WiMAX (IEEE-802.16) systems incorporate this methodology as well as some 4G-LTE systems. In 3G/4G cellular systems, a similar spectrum sharing model called Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) is more common.
Recently, other new solutions have emerged. In particular, the FCC is promoting models that dynamically share all of the bands in the entire spectrum by accessing a database of known available spectrum. For example, the International Engineering Task Force’s Protocol to Access White Spaces (PAWS RFC6953) database model is currently providing this function for TV white spaces or unused spectrum in the 75MHz to 600MHz band. A very similar solution, Spectrum Access System (SAS) has been proposed by the FCC for the new 3.5GHz unlicensed spectrum. Basically, in these models the wireless AP or base station queries the spectrum database for available unused spectrum bands in a certain location. Then, the AP or base station would notify the database which band it intends to use and switches its transmitters and receivers to that band before broadcasting. Any devices in the area that are following this model would avoid collisions and interference. This general model is supported by cognitive radios which have the ability to use many different bands and can dynamically switch between bands. IEEE-802.22 Wireless Regional Area Network (WRAN) is an example of a standard based on the concept of cognitive radios, which has gained additional industry support through the Whitespace™ Alliance’s Wi-FAR™ standard.
As mentioned previously, there are no free bands of spectrum, just a lot of underutilized bands.
Clearly, the cost in terms of time and money is too great to play musical chairs with spectrum allocations.Instead, the preferred alternative would be to rely on technology to improve the management of underutilized spectrum and thereby free up capacity in these bands. With new technology, this can be done without impacting the existing licensed users in these bands
End users, of course, simply want more bandwidth – anywhere and at any time – for their mobile devices. But providing the equipment that can dynamically access multiple bands, accommodate a range of various management policies and adapt to the available spectrum in a certain location is quite challenging. Add to these factors the complication that global spectrum sharing would require that bands align across all countries around the world. As a result, very few of bands would be available for sharing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CommScope, partners developing multimode fiber to support 100G over one pair
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/commscope-wbmmf.html?cmpid=Enl_CIM_Oct-6-2014&cmpid=EnlCIMOctober62014
In a recent post to CommScope’s blog titled “The Next Generation of Multimode Fiber,” Paul Kolesar revealed the company has been working with partners to develop a new type of multimode fiber that will be designed specifically to support wave-division multiplexing (WDM) applications as well as the applications traditionally supported by OM3 and OM4 multimode. CommScope refers to the forthcoming fiber type as WBMMF—wide band multimode fiber. Once developed the fiber will be incorporated into fiber-optic cable.
The need for a WDM-capable multimode fiber has made itself evident, Kolesar explained. After describing how parallel optics technology is used to support current generations of 40-, 100- and even 400-Gbit Ethernet, as well as 128-Gibt/sec Fibre Channel, he said, “Existing OM3 and OM4 multimode fibers have a rather limited ability to support high-speed transmission using wavelengths different than the 850-nm wavelength for which they are optimized.”
” this new type of fiber could enable transmission of 100 Gbits/sec over a single pair of fibers, rather than the 4 or 10 pairs used today.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
TIA examines future of video, impact of Open Internet rules
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/10/tia-video-roundtable.html
On September 30 at Washington D.C.’s Occidental Grill, representing manufacturers and suppliers of high-tech communications networks, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) held a special event examining the impact of two critical issues shaping the future of the information and communications technology (ICT) industry — the FCC’s Open Internet proposal, and soaring demand for online video.
According to TIA, the goal of the event was to “specifically address changing consumer demand for video, its implications for mobile broadband networks and broadcasters, as well as the impact of the FCC’s proposed net neutrality rules on video consumption.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fluke Networks introduces cloud-based cabling-test-result-management platform
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/10/fluke-linkware-cloud-bicsi.html
Fluke Networks has introduced LinkWare Live, a cloud-based service that enables users of the company’s Versiv family of certification testers to upload, manage and analyze certification test results from cabling projects—“anywhere, anytime,” the company pointed out when unveiling the service at the BICSI Fall Conference. “LinkWare Live works with DSX-5000, OptiFiber Pro, and CertiFiber Pro certification testers to optimize project management and safeguard contractor profitability by providing real-time access to testing results,” the company said,
Tomi Engdahl says:
The 9 most in-demand telecom engineering skills
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/10/9-indemand-telecom-skills.html
Kelly Hill, an editor specializing in Big Data, analytics, and test and measurement coverage at RCR Wireless News, recently surveyed job postings for telecom engineers across dozens of Internet job boards and compiled a list of the top 9 telecom engineering skills currently being sought by employers.
The abbreviated list is as follows:
1. The ability to administer routers, switches, gateways, and oversee telecom infrastructure including the WAN/LAN and wireless LANs.
2. Telecom certifications, with membership or certification from BICSI the most frequently specified.
3. WAN protocol skills, including MPLS, SIP and others.
4. Cabling skills, including familiarity with cabling standards from ETSI, TIA and EIA as well as familiarity with the NEC.
5. Good documentation practices.
6. Interpersonal and communication skills.
7. Cross-platform telecom systems skills.
8. The ability to implement quality of service (QoS) features.
9. Deep understanding of relevant metrics and analytics for telecom networks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Alcatel-Lucent sheds enterprise networking assets
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/10/alcalu-sheds-enterprise-business.html
Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) says it has closed a deal with China Huaxin Post & Telecommunication Economy Development Center for the divestment of its Enterprise division. Cash proceeds to Alcatel-Lucent are USD $255 million.
The aim of the transaction is to “enable Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise to benefit from a strong and recognized investor, providing the means and resources necessary to strengthen its ambition including leadership positions in enterprise communications while accelerating investment in new areas of net growth,” according to a company statement.
The transaction also enables Alcatel-Lucent to divest itself of assets that it no longer considered core to its operations
In its new incarnation, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise plans to invest and innovate in its existing core markets, namely enterprise communications and networking, while exploring new market opportunities in select, high-growth countries, industry verticals, and cloud services.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EU’s super-commish for tech: Geo-blocks on cat vids, music – NOT FAIR
…and vows to take telcos, safe harbour and copyright to task
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/07/new_eu_super_commissioner_for_all_things_tech_impresses_european_parliament/
Andrus Ansip, the new EU super-commissioner for all things digital, says he will work to completely abolish geo-blocking of media in Europe – and urged telcos to get on with pushing out high-speed mobile broadband.
Ansip took issue with incumbent telecoms companies for sitting back and not rolling out 4G.
“In some countries almost 90 per cent of the territory is covered by 4G LTE, in some other countries it is zero! They haven’t even started allocating that spectrum. Once again I think we have to talk about vested interests,” he said.
On blocking people from watching or listening to things based on their location, he said: “We shouldn’t have to put up with it. I don’t think it is fair.”
More predictable were his comments that protecting privacy is the “cornerstone” of the digital single market
He reiterated that the principle of net neutrality is very important. “All the traffic in the internet has to be treated equally. Nobody has the right to abuse a dominant or gatekeeper position. For some SMEs, it is impossible to gain visibility on search engines. Higher speed for higher price is acceptable but not at the expense of those whose speed is already low,” he said.
That Ansip will be approved by the parliament seems without question.
Tomi Engdahl says:
£150m, three years… TWO base stations. Gov.uk? You guessed it
Mobile coverage project stymied by not-spot ignorance
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/07/crap_mobile_data_from_the_networks/
A government project funded with £150m of taxpayers money to improve rural broadband with mobile coverage has managed to erect just two base stations in three years.
The project needed EU approval to ensure that it wasn’t the UK government unfairly subsidising the mobile networks. The plan was to provide basic voice and data – that is to say: 2G.
The project was supposed to cover 60,000 premises and more than 10 major roads that had no outdoor coverage from any of the operators. The sites are defined by Ofcom as any 10,000m2 grid with a signal of less than -86dBm. It’s a metric which allows lots of “not-spots” to be fixed with a single cell.
The plan was for Arqiva to identify the sites, get planning permission, build the sites – which needs to have line of sight to somewhere with back-haul for the microwave link to work – and then to get the operators to pay the transmission costs, land rental, electricity and all the other running costs. All four operators agreed to do this for 20 years for all the sites. It needs to be borne in mind that this is in areas the operators have already deemed as uneconomic.
The operators supplied Ofcom with details of where they did not have coverage and Ofcom aggregated the information.
This data was then passed onto Arqiva, which then set about getting permission for cell sites and acquiring leases – only to find that some of the places where it was doing this did indeed have coverage.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Report: Bounce-back in Ethernet switch market belies challenges facing vendors
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/infonetics-ethernet-switching-bounceback.html
Infonetics Research recently released highlights from its 2nd quarter (2Q14) Ethernet Switches report, which tracks unmanaged, web-managed, and fully-managed fixed and chassis switches by port speed (100M, 1G, 10G, 40G, 100G). The report finds that the global Ethernet switch market grew 11% to $5.4 billion in 2Q14, a result of better than anticipated results by #1 ranked vendor Cisco, and strong results by a number of smaller players including Arista, Brocade, HP, Huawei, Juniper, and ZTE.
Nonetheless, “the Ethernet switching market recovered in the second quarter of 2014 after a slow first quarter, but revenue growth remains challenged as vendors compete aggressively against each other, white-label solutions gain greater traction, and large data center operators negotiate more favorable terms,” warns Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research. He continues, “So while overall switching demand remains healthy, revenue is growing at only half the rate of port shipments.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Category 8 field-terminable plug is commercially available
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/10/occ-cat-8-plug.html
Optical Cable Corporation (OCC) announced the commercial availability of a field-terminable plug that complies with the latest draft specifications of the TIA’s Category 8 standard. The Cat8 Field Terminable Plug “is designed to provide the highest level of performance for direct-attach, high-speed applications when used in conjunction with a Category 8 copper cable,” the company said when announcing the plug’s availability, “providing data transmission speeds of up to 40 Gbits/sec.”
The TIA continues to develop ANSI/TIA-568-C.2-1 Balanced Twisted-Pair Telecommunications Cabling and Components Standard, Addendum 1: Specifications for 100 ohms Category 8 Cabling—referred to by many simply as the TIA’s “Category 8 standard.” OCC said the standard is expected to be completed and released for publication in late 2015. The standard defines performance requirements that will enable Category 8 cabling to support—also under development—the IEEE’s 40GBase-T.
Tomi Engdahl says:
News on 400G interface development:
2.0 specs for 400G data center modules released
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/400g-v2-specs.html
The CDFP multi-source agreement (MSA) has released specifications for CDFP 2.0 interoperable hot-pluggable optical modules. Designed for client-side interfaces inside the data center, CDFP modules enable high port density in resource-intensive applications in telecommunications, networking, and enterprise computing. The CDFP interface enables data rates of 25 Gbps over 16 lanes for an aggregate of 400 Gbps on a single module with excellent signal integrity, thermal cooling properties, and EMI protection, the MSA participants assert.
The compact modules are well suited for low-power applications using copper, VCSEL or silicon-photonics-based technology, the consortium adds. The CDFP modules are expected to find use in industry standards targeting 100 m of multimode fiber and up to 2 km of singlemode fiber. For example, the CDFP module can be used for one 400-Gbps interface or to aggregate sixteen 25-Gbps interfaces or four 100-Gbps interfaces.
Molex demos 400G data center interoperability over fiber, copper cabling, backplanes
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/molex-demos-400g.html
Molex has been selected to participate in Optical Internetworking Forum’s (OIF) Interoperability 2014 – Accelerating Momentum on the Road to Next-Generation Architectures demonstrations, to be presented at the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC 2014 – September 22-24) in Cannes, France. At ECOC, the OIF’s booth will feature Molex and other OIF member companies in physical and link layer demonstrations showcasing advanced 100G technologies for 400G data transmission over optical fiber, copper cables and backplanes.
Huawei debuts 400G OTN trial in China
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/huawei-400g-otbn-trial.html
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. and China Mobile report that they have carried out successful tests on what they claim is the first 400G Optical Transport Network (OTN) deployment in China. The Chinese vendors say the trial will help bring the commercialization of 400G OTNs closer. To meet the increasing bandwidth demands from cloud computing, media streaming and LTE services, Huawei worked with China Mobile to begin testing 400G technology in early 2014.
Huawei provided two different 400G OTN technologies for the test. First, the high-capacity 400G OTN technology is based on the PDM-16QAM (polarization-division multiplexed 16 quadrature amplitude modulation) higher-order coding scheme, a widely adopted approach to 400G throughout the industry. Second, an ultra-long haul 400G OTN technology based on the PDM-QPSK (polarization division multiplexed quadrature phase shift key) coding scheme.
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:
Qualcomm, Ericsson, SingTel hit 260Mbps in live FDD/TDD demo
Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor + Ericsson tech
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/07/ericsson_qualcomm_and_singtel_claim_network_optimisation/
Ericsson, Qualcomm, and Singtel have demonstrated the first carrier aggregation of FDD and TDD to achieve speeds of up to 260Mbps, meaning networks have more choice over which 4G standards to employ, as several can be used at the same time.
Standards are great, everyone should have one. And 4G has loads, so it’s sometimes tough to get things to work together, even within the same standard.
One of the (many) clever things about 3G LTE, also known as 4G, is that you can have carrier aggregation — the bandwidth can be combined at different parts of the radio spectrum to achieve more throughput. This allows governments to sell (and MNOs to buy) non-contiguous spectrum and the system to still run at a decent lick.
There are 39 different sets of frequency bands, running from around 452MHz right up to 3.8GHz. Some use TDD (Time Division Duplexing) and some use FDD (Frequency Division Duplexing), and at some frequencies both can be used.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Do you listen to music or watch videos on your phone? Or maybe you stay in touch with friends and relatives using Skype or other VoIP services? The smartphone has made all of these things a reality, transforming the way we consume information and interact with each other.
Mobile usage trends show that more than 50% of mobile network data is driven by media players. And the popularity of stereo-equipped smartphones and phablets, such as the HTC One, Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Sony’s Xperia range, indicate that audio quality is just as important to user experience as a phone’s visual capabilities.
- See more at: http://blog.nxp.com/crank-it-up-powerful-crystal-clear-audio-without-any-risk/#sthash.wwUElrT6.dpuf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Spectrum Inversion in NCDMA
http://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/maxim/spectrum-inversion-in-ncdma/
The 3GPP2 is a worldwide standard for the creation, delivery, and playback of multimedia over 3G mobile networks. Cellular gadgets employing NCDMA must conform to this standard to pass and be allowed to release on the market. This tutorial presents some approaches to aid in spectrum inversion detecting on signals, which is one of the requirements of the 3GPP2 standards on NCDMA.
3GPP2 standard requires NCDMA, unlike many other cellular standards, to perform spectrum inversion in the physical layer (generally within the radio frequency (RF) IC) prior to transmission and after reception.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gigabit Ethernet Seeks a Boost
2.5-, 5G rates aim to keep pace with WiFi
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1324223&
Gigabit Ethernet is gearing up for a midlife kicker.
Broadcom is leading a charge to create 2.5-Gigabit and 5-Gigabit standards for Ethernet to help keep pace with advances in WiFi. Trying to get ahead of the pack, Aquantia announced a family of physical-layer devices that support the faster data rates.
The new speeds fill a hole between today’s Gigabit and 10G products, mainly targeting enterprise-class WiFi access devices. Today’s emerging IEEE 802.11ac wireless connections can carry as much as a gigabit/second, threatening to overwhelm their wired Gbit Ethernet backhaul links.
So Broadcom, with support from Cisco, is calling for a meeting to determine interest in a so-called Next-Generation Enterprise Access Base-T PHY.
The group is calling for a standard that will cover 100 meters of Category E twisted pair cabling. The call for interest does not specify throughput, but the effort is expected to drive toward work on 2.5G and 5G rates.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Latest Apple TV update enables remote access relay for HomeKit connected accessories
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/10/07/latest-apple-tv-update-enables-remote-access-relay-for-homekit-connected-accessories
The center of a connected smart home could soon be the Apple TV, as Apple’s latest beta software officially brings HomeKit support to its $99 streaming set-top box.
As first discovered by AppleInsider, Apple’s own notes for Apple TV Software beta 2 released on Tuesday note that the pre-release build “includes support for Family Sharing and can be used for testing AirPlay and HomeKit with your iOS apps.” Apple had acknowledged as much in one prerelease version of the Apple TV operating system, but appeared to remove the functionality when released last month.
In other previous beta releases, HomeKit support was included, but Apple did not acknowledge that support was baked in to the Apple TV operating system.
With HomeKit’s public return to the Apple TV, one iOS developer on the internal Apple development forums has detailed how the system works. Logging into iCloud on an Apple TV will register the set-top box as a potential remote access peer for the HomeKit application programming interface.
Once the user accepts using their Apple TV as a remote access peer, information from their connected home will automatically be synced with the TV accessory. This is made possible because HomeKit uses CloudKit to store home and accessory info in the cloud, while Keychain is used to store paired keys, the developer said.
Serving as a remote access peer will enable the Apple TV to help control connected accessories when they are away from home. When a user is accessing their smart home remotely, Apple’s system reportedly scans available remote access peers and searches for the one with the lowest latency.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Startup proposes fiber-based Glass Core as a bold rethink of data center networking
http://www.networkworld.com/article/2690703/sdn/startup-proposes-fiber-based-glass-core-as-a-bold-rethink-of-data-center-networking.html
Software Defined Networking (SDN) challenges long held conventions, and newcomer Fiber Mountain wants to use the SDN momentum to leap frog forward and redefine the fundamental approach to data center switching while we’re at it. The promise: 1.5x to 2x the capacity for half the price.
How? By swapping out traditional top of rack and other data center switches with optical cross connects that are all software controlled. The resultant “Glass Core,” as the company calls it, provides “software-controlled fiber optic connectivity emulating the benefits of direct-attached connectivity from any port … to any other server, storage, switch, or router port across the entire data center, regardless of location and with near-zero latency.”
“Their value proposition changes some of the rules of the game,” says Rohit Mehra, vice resident of network infrastructure at IDC. “If they can get into some key accounts, they have a shot at gaining some mind share.”
“I like to call it direct attached,” Raza says. “We create what we call Programmable Light Paths between a point in the network and any other point, so it is almost like a physical layer connection. I say almost because we do have an optical packet exchange in the middle that can switch light from one port to another.”
That central device is the company’s AllPath 4000-Series Optical Exchange, with 14 24-fiber MPO connectors, supporting up to 160×160 10G ports. A 10G port requires a fiber pair, and multiple 10G ports can be ganged together to support 40G or 100G requirements.
The 4000 Exchange is connected via fiber to any of the company’s top-of-rack devices, which are available in different configurations, and all of these devices run Fiber Mountain’s Alpine Orchestration System (AOS) software.
That allows the company’s homegrown AOS SDN controller, which supports OpenFlow APIs (but is otherwise proprietary), to control all of the components as one system.