In few years there’ll be close to 4bn smartphones on earth. Ericsson’s annual mobility report forecasts increasing mobile subscriptions and connections through 2020.(9.5B Smartphone Subs by 2020 and eight-fold traffic increase). Ericsson’s annual mobility report expects that by 2020 90% of the world’s population over six years old will have a phone. It really talks about the connected world where everyone will have a connection one way or another.
What about the phone systems in use. Now majority of the world operates on GSM and HPSA (3G). Some countries are starting to have good 4G (LTE) coverage, but on average only 20% is covered by LTE. 4G/LTE small cells will grow at 2X the rate for 3G and surpass both 2G and 3G in 2016.
Ericsson expects that 85% of mobile subscriptions in the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa will be 3G or 4G by 2020. 75%-80% of North America and Western Europe are expected to be using LTE by 2020. China is by far the biggest smartphone market by current users in the world, and it is rapidly moving into high-speed 4G technology.
The sales of mobile broadband routers and mobile broadband “usb sticks” is expected to continue to drop. In year 2013 those devices were sold 87 million units, and in 2014 sales dropped again 24 per cent. Chinese Huawei is the market leader (45%), so it has most to loose on this.
Small cell backhaul market is expected to grow. ABI Research believes 2015 will now witness meaningful small cell deployments. Millimeter wave technology—thanks to its large bandwidth and NLOS capability—is the fastest growing technology. 4G/LTE small cell solutions will again drive most of the microwave, millimeter wave, and sub 6GHz backhaul growth in metropolitan, urban, and suburban areas. Sub 6GHz technology will capture the largest share of small cell backhaul “last mile” links.
Technology for full duplex operation at one radio frequency has been designed. The new practical circuit, known as a circulator, that lets a radio send and receive data simultaneously over the same frequency could supercharge wireless data transfer, has been designed. The new circuit design avoids magnets, and uses only conventional circuit components. The radio wave circulator utilized in wireless communications to double the bandwidth by enabling full-duplex operation, ie, devices can send and receive signals in the same frequency band simultaneously. Let’s wait to see if this technology turns to be practical.
Broadband connections are finally more popular than traditional wired telephone: In EU by the end of 2014, fixed broadband subscriptions will outnumber traditional circuit-switched fixed lines for the first time.
After six years in the dark, Europe’s telecoms providers see a light at the end of the tunnel. According to a new report commissioned by industry body ETNO, the sector should return to growth in 2016. The projected growth for 2016, however, is small – just 1 per cent.
With headwinds and tailwinds, how high will the cabling market fly? Cabling for enterprise local area networks (LANs) experienced growth of between 1 and 2 percent in 2013, while cabling for data centers grew 3.5 percent, according to BSRIA, for a total global growth of 2 percent. The structured cabling market is facing a turbulent time. Structured cabling in data centers continues to move toward the use of fiber. The number of smaller data centers that will use copper will decline.
Businesses will increasingly shift from buying IT products to purchasing infrastructure-as-a-service and software-as-a-service. Both trends will increase the need for processing and storage capacity in data centers. And we need also fast connections to those data centers. This will cause significant growth in WiFi traffic, which will will mean more structured cabling used to wire access points. Convergence also will result in more cabling needed for Internet Protocol (IP) cameras, building management systems, access controls and other applications. This could mean decrease in the installing of special separate cabling for those applications.
The future of your data center network is a moving target, but one thing is certain: It will be faster. The four developments are in this field are: 40GBase-T, Category 8, 32G and 128G Fibre Channel, and 400GbE.
Ethernet will more and more move away from 10, 100, 1000 speed series as proposals for new speeds are increasingly pushing in. The move beyond gigabit Ethernet is gathering pace, with a cluster of vendors gathering around the IEEE standards effort to help bring 2.5 Gbps and 5 Gbps speeds to the ubiquitous Cat 5e cable. With the IEEE standardisation process under way, the MGBase-T alliance represents industry’s effort to accelerate 2.5 Gbps and 5 Gbps speeds to be taken into use for connections to fast WLAN access points. Intense attention is being paid to the development of 25 Gigabit Ethernet (25GbE) and next-generation Ethernet access networks. There is also development of 40GBase-T going on.
Cat 5e vs. Cat 6 vs. Cat 6A – which should you choose? Stop installing Cat 5e cable. “I recommend that you install Cat 6 at a minimum today”. The cable will last much longer and support higher speeds that Cat 5e just cannot support. Category 8 cabling is coming to data centers to support 40GBase-T.
Power over Ethernet plugfest planned to happen in 2015 for testing power over Ethernet products. The plugfest will be focused on IEEE 802.3af and 802.3at standards relevant to IP cameras, wireless access points, automation, and other applications. The Power over Ethernet plugfest will test participants’ devices to the respective IEEE 802.3 PoE specifications, which distinguishes IEEE 802.3-based devices from other non-standards-based PoE solutions.
Gartner expects that wired Ethernet will start to lose it’s position in office in 2015 or in few years after that because of transition to the use of the Internet mainly on smartphones and tablets. The change is significant, because it will break Ethernet long reign in the office. Consumer devices have already moved into wireless and now is the turn to the office. Many factors speak on behalf of the mobile office. Research predicts that by 2018, 40 per cent of enterprises and organizations of various solid defines the WLAN devices by default. Current workstations, desktop phone, the projectors and the like, therefore, be transferred to wireless. Expect the wireless LAN equipment market to accelerate in 2015 as spending by service providers and education comes back, 802.11ac reaches critical mass, and Wave 2 products enter the market.
Scalable and Secure Device Management for Telecom, Network, SDN/NFV and IoT Devices will become standard feature. Whether you are building a high end router or deploying an IoT sensor network, a Device Management Framework including support for new standards such as NETCONF/YANG and Web Technologies such as Representational State Transfer (ReST) are fast becoming standard requirements. Next generation Device Management Frameworks can provide substantial advantages over legacy SNMP and proprietary frameworks.
U.S. regulators resumed consideration of mergers proposed by Comcast Corp. and AT&T Inc., suggesting a decision as early as March: Comcast’s $45.2 billion proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable Inc and AT&T’s proposed $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV.
There will be changes in the management of global DNS. U.S. is in the midst of handing over its oversight of ICANN to an international consortium in 2015. The National Telecommunications and Information Association, which oversees ICANN, assured people that the handover would not disrupt the Internet as the public has come to know it. Discussion is going on about what can replace the US government’s current role as IANA contract holder. IANA is the technical body that runs things like the global domain-name system and allocates blocks of IP addresses. Whoever controls it, controls the behind-the-scenes of the internet; today, that’s ICANN, under contract with the US government, but that agreement runs out in September 2015.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
The third platform requirements are driving more of life and business online, spiking up electronic events and information. Cyber Monday mobile traffic accounted for 41.2 percent of all online traffic, up 30.1 percent over 2013, according to the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. A new report from Juniper Research finds that mobile phone and tablet users will make 195 billion mobile commerce transactions annually by 2019, up from 72 billion this year, or about 197 million transactions per day.
“More and more customers are coming to us through a mobile channel,” says Mike Diliberto, CIO of Priceline.com. “They want to use their phones. They want to use their iPads. They want to use their devices.”
Billions of people around the world are posting on social media, listening to streaming music and doing work on cloud-based apps — all of which generates data. Twitter generates 12 terabytes of tweets a day. Electric companies take 350 billion annual meter readings. And both data volume and velocity continue to increase. By 2020, 10 billion connected mobile devices will be active around the globe. On top of that, there are already about 1 trillion sensors generating data. All in all, data is projected to increase by 2,000 percent between now and 2020.
How is business going to handle that? Cloud-computing data centers are the engine rooms of the third platform.
Source: http://www.wired.com/2015/01/a-new-generation-of-data-requires-next-generation-systems/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Edgar Alvarez / Engadget:
AT&T demos LTE Broadcast technology to efficiently deliver video streams in crowded places
How AT&T will deliver TV (and more) over crowded LTE
http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/14/att-lte-broadcast/
During the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship, AT&T showed off a working demo of a new version of its Long-Term Evolution network: LTE Broadcast. With this, the wireless carrier is hoping to alleviate the congestion problems consumers face when they are in highly crowded places — such as professional sports stadiums.
AT&T’s been working on LTE Broadcast for years, but until now has shared few details about it.
For this particular demo, AT&T decided to build a mobile application that streamed two different live feeds related to the College Football Playoff championship game. Channel 1 consisted of the Spidercam angle, which gave you an overhead view at the action, while Channel 2 let you watch and listen to experts and analysts who were on an ESPN set. The video looked great and there were no buffering or stuttering issues to speak of — AT&T says the demo was sending the connection at a 1 Mbps rate, allowing the stream to be relatively sharp, similar to what you would see over WiFi. In general, LTE Broadcast can deliver data in the same speed range as LTE, since the service uses that same network to fulfill its purpose. The idea here, though, is to maintain a quality consistency regardless of how many people are watching at the same time.
On LTE Broadcast, AT&T says it allocates a portion of its spectrum resources to deliver specific content to users, without any compromises (read: crappy video quality). And it can do that by sending the same stream of content to multiple devices all at once, rather than on a one-to-one basis, which is how the current LTE network works.
LTE Broadcast is designed to push out clear-cut content
AT&T partnered with Ericsson, ESPN, MobiTV, Samsung and Qualcomm during the College Football Playoff demo of LTE Broadcast. The streaming app, created by MobiTV, was running on a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which the carrier built specifically for this purpose. Qualcomm supplied the chip inside the handset; Ericsson brought the infrastructure; and, finally, ESPN provided the content. On that note, it’s worth mentioning that LTE Broadcast isn’t compatible with any device currently out on the market, and AT&T says it doesn’t know what the plans for OEMS are.
The company adds that it has been exploring LTE Broadcast technology, which is compatible with all spectrum bands, as an add-on for LTE since the very beginning of its Long-Term Evolution efforts, but it’s just now ready to display its progress.
In the future, LTE Broadcast could be used to deliver plenty of high-demand content, including software updates for smartphones and tablets. “We stagger updates because of so many people downloading at once,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ashlee Vance / Businessweek:
Elon Musk planning low-orbit Internet satellite system to compete with OneWeb, based out of SpaceX’s new Seattle office
Revealed: Elon Musk’s Plan to Build a Space Internet
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2015-01-17/elon-musk-and-spacex-plan-a-space-internet
Because he doesn’t have enough going on, Elon Musk—he of Tesla Motors, SpaceX, SolarCity, and the Hyperloop—is launching another project. Musk wants to build a second Internet in space and one day use it to connect people on Mars to the Web.
Musk is tonight hosting a SpaceX event in Seattle, where the company is opening a new office. The talk will mostly be about SpaceX’s plans for hiring aerospace and software engineers in the Pacific Northwest to boost the company’s rocket-building efforts. But he’ll also use the talk to announce his newest idea, which would launch a vast network of communication satellites to orbit earth. The network would do two things: speed up the general flow of data on the Internet and deliver high-speed, low-cost Internet services to the three billion-plus people who still have poor access to the Web. “Our focus is on creating a global communications system that would be larger than anything that has been talked about to date,” Musk told Bloomberg Businessweek ahead of the announcement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MARS NEEDS BROADBAND, insists Elon Musk
Presumably a slight latency problem for red planet users
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/19/another_day_another_billionaire_another_space_internet_plan/
Last week’s unconvincing launch came from Virgin’s beardy Branson, who reckons 6498 satellites are enough to do the job of bringing broadband to the next billion.
Now Elon Musk of Tesla, SpaceX and Hyperloop fame has let Bloomberg Businessweek know that he thinks 2,000 satellites are needed to pull off the trick.
Musk’s scheme supposes he can build satellites with sufficiently high capacity and low latency so that their performance at least rivals that of those using optic fibre as a carriage medium.
SpaceX will hang out the Help Wanted sign to find folks capable of designing this kind of kit.
Musk reckons it will take at least five years to get this concept anywhere near operation, but goes on to say he thinks his imagined constellation will be important for his Mars colony ambitions as the red planet will need data networks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Which of UK’s major ISPs will let you have exotic p0rn? NONE OF THEM
Firms vow traffic throttling WON’T damage OTT players
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/19/virgin_media_vodafone_ee_sign_open_internet_code/
big name UK ISPs signed up to the voluntary “Open Internet Code”.
The telcos have also vowed not to choke the services of competitors, such as over-the-top players – Microsoft’s Skype for example, and the BBC’s iPlayer.
However, the code has long made it clear that it is perfectly acceptable for ISPs to throttle traffic to “manage” congestion or block sites and services based on a court order to, for example, cut off access to pirated material or to prevent illegal child abuse images from being served up on broadband networks.
“Unlike some countries where net neutrality has become a controversial topic for discussion, the UK benefits from a fiercely competitive market and high levels of transparency – which together offer the best assurance of an Open Internet,” said BSG boss Matthew Evans in a canned statement.
“The code now provides an even stronger and more effective foundation, whilst also allowing for an environment where new business models for internet-based services, which benefit consumer choice, can thrive.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inside Obama’s ambitious plan to make your Internet suck less
http://www.dailydot.com/politics/municipal-broadband-laws-obama-state-union/
President Obama recently unveiled a dramatic plan aimed at making your Internet connection suck less.
Problem is, state legislatures around the country have passed laws making it considerably more difficult for these public Internet projects to get off the ground. In some states, building municipal broadband is prohibited altogether. President Obama has instructed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to do what it can to invalidate these laws and allow local government to easily set up their own municipal Internet networks
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is broadly supportive of the idea, although Republicans on the commission have come out in opposition. Wheeler proposed something very similar himself while speaking at cable industry event last year.
Even so, it’s not as if the targeted laws could all be made to disappear in an instant. It’s likely to be a slow process for a range of reasons
In addition, the regulatory authority under which the FCC will be attempting to invalidate the laws, Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act, is extremely broad.
Figuring out how each of the state laws fit into the puzzle will likely be tricky—especially in the face of stiff Republican and cable-industry opposition.
Here’s how terrible U.S. broadband service really is
http://www.dailydot.com/politics/us-broadband-speed-cost-infographic/
The U.S. has its fare share of issues when it comes to the Internet, between the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance and the ongoing battle over net neutrality. With so many entities threatening the fundamental nature of the Internet, improving the quality of America’s Internet has, for the most part, fallen off the radar.
The U.S. is ranked 30th in the world in broadband speeds, behind the likes of Iceland, Romania, Bulgaria, France, Russia, and the U.K.
We also pay more for much less, shelling out an average of $55 a month for broadband service, while countries with faster connections like France, Russia and the U.K. all come in at under $45 a month.
The breakdown of the cost per megabit for broadband continues the disheartening trend for Americans. At $3.50 per megabit, we are lagging behind countries like Russia ($0.98) and Ukraine ($0.90).
When it comes to the Internet, the U.S. isn’t leading by any means, and it’s only getting worse. Companies like Comcast, who control vast swaths of America’s Internet access—a number that could grow to 120 million Americans if the merger with Time Warner Cable goes through—has no incentive to bring America back to the forefront of Internet connectivity.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EE, Virgin Media and Vodafone embrace UK plans for net neutrality
Voluntary code of practice is better than a poke in the eye
By Dave Neal
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2391016/ee-virgin-media-and-vodafone-embrace-uk-plans-for-net-neutrality
THREE MORE UK SERVICE PROVIDERS, EE, Virgin Media and Vodafone, have signed up to the Broadband Stakeholder Group’s (BSG) voluntary code in support of the ‘open internet’.
The trio are relatively late to the party, and follow BT, BSkyB, O2, TalkTalk and six others which signed up in 2012.
The BSG isn’t wagging a critical finger at the latecomers, though, and is welcoming them into its fold and its idea of UK net neutrality.
A statement from the organisation managed to make other locations, companies and regulators look like squabbling idiots.
“Unlike some countries, where net neutrality has become a controversial topic for discussion, the UK benefits from a fiercely competitive market and high levels of transparency – which together offer the best assurance of an open internet,” said Matthew Evans, CEO of the BSG.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vince Cable: Brits should be able to access Netflix anywhere in Europe
Business secretary calls for a single digital market
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2391039/vince-cable-brits-should-be-able-to-access-netflix-anywhere-in-europe
BUSINESS SECRETARY Vince Cable has called for a single digital market in Europe, arguing that consumers should be able to access digital content, such as Netflix, wherever they are in the continent.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) claims that creating a single digital market could boost the European economy by €340bn.
It would also be good news for consumers travelling abroad who need their fix of House of Cards or Breaking Bad, as Cable argues that all online streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, should be portable within the EU.
“In today’s world of smartphones and WiFi, consumers who have paid for a service rightly expect to be able to use it across borders in the EU,” said Cable.
“In telecoms, of all sectors, there is no place for borders. It’s called a worldwide web for a reason. There is no other sector of our incomplete European single market where the barriers are so unneeded, and yet so high,” she said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MEELLIONS of Google bucks RAIN DOWN on Musk’s Internet in SPAAACE
Ad giant now owns fair old chunk of rocket firm
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/21/google_fidelity_space_x_billion_dollar_investment/
SpaceX has confirmed a meaty injection of cash from Google and Fidelity, after it was reported that the ad giant was closing in on an investment deal of up to $1bn with Elon Musk’s firm.
It’s understood that SpaceX needed the extra cash to bulk up funding of the private company’s development of satellites for internet-based services.
The race for Interwebs Innn Spaaaace has heated up in the past week. Richard Branson’s Virgin Group recently agreed to back OneWeb Ltd’s vision for a fleet of broadband-beaming, low-earth orbit satellites, along with Qualcomm.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Network lifecycle management and the Open OS
http://www.edn.com/design/wireless-networking/4438310/Network-lifecycle-management-and-the-Open-OS?elq=b710cf512ccb45b7baeb92c39952cea0&elqCampaignId=21265
The bare-metal switch ecosystem and standards are maturing, driven by the Open Compute Project. Pica8’s Steve Garrision sees Linux-based network OS software as transforming network economics and innovation for switches, just as it has done for servers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google’s Next Telecom Move: Becoming a Wireless Carrier
https://www.theinformation.com/Google-s-Next-Telecom-Move-Becoming-a-Wireless-Carrier
Google is preparing to sell mobile phone plans directly to customers and manage their calls and mobile data over a cellular network, according to three people with knowledge of the plans.
The new service is expected run on Sprint and T-Mobile’s networks, two people familiar with the product say. Google is expected to reach deals to buy wholesale access to those carriers’ mobile voice and data networks, making it a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, they say.
Codenamed “Nova,” the project is led by longtime Google executive Nick Fox. A launch this year seems likely.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Report: Google to launch wireless service this year
The Information claims Google plans to resell Sprint and T-Mobile access as an MVNO.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/01/report-google-to-launch-wireless-service-this-year/
Reports about a rumored Google wireless service are cropping up again. The Information (subscription required) is reporting that Google plans to resell Sprint and T-Mobile services as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).
The last time we heard about this was back in April 2014, when Google was supposedly talking to Verizon and Sprint. MVNOs are resellers of wireless access—they get access rights from one of the “Big Four” carriers and resell it to end users. Google does a lot of ISP work with things like Google Fiber, Project Loon, and the Space X investment, but those are all projects where it owns the hardware and is free to innovate. As a reseller, Google controls little other than the price and packages it provides to end users and the software it puts on devices it sells.
The Wall Street Journal is corroborating this story with a report that makes this sound like a done deal. The Journal mostly focuses on the Sprint side of things, saying the MVNO agreement with Google went all the way up to the Sprint and Softbank CEOs. Apparently Sprint was worried it would be “letting a rival into the gates” by dealing with Google, but a clause limiting Google’s customer base calmed the company’s fears.
Google to Sell Wireless Service in Deals With Sprint, T-Mobile
Move Likely to Push Rivals to Cut Prices, Improve Speeds
http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-to-sell-wireless-service-in-deals-with-sprint-t-mobile-1421887967
Tomi Engdahl says:
100G standards and measurements come to the forefront at DesignCon
http://www.edn.com/design/test-and-measurement/4438432/100G-standards-and-measurements-come-to-the-forefront-at-DesignCon?elq=c05807ef59d24d78b5d5539b87c1e6c4&elqCampaignId=21288
We’ve been hearing about 100 Gbit/s serial data links for several years. While research into even faster data rates is underway, 100 Gbit/s products are well into design and production. Now, the number of engineers asking about how to develop and test these links is growing rapidly. Even as that happens, some standards are still evolving and new measurements are taking hold.
In the first of two videos, Loberg discusses the status of IEEE 802.3 transport standards and OIF-CEI standards.
In the second video, Loberg discusses the new measurements engineers will need to make when characterizing 100 Gbit/s links. At 4×25 Gbits/s per channel, there’s very little eye margin; jitter takes on even more importance.
He also discusses PAM4 modulation and COM, or channel operating margin, a new parameter found in IEEE 802.3 specifications. Crosstalk across 25/28 Gbit/s data channels is also taking on more importance.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Satellite anatomy 101
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/out-of-this-world-design/4438371/Satellite-anatomy-101?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150122&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150122&elq=a69322c2ab034b7783bf88adcdfa8d6b&elqCampaignId=21290
Satellites are effectively radio relays that operate in real time over a given footprint above the Earth’s surface. This bird’s-eye view allows them to see larger areas of the planet at any one time, enabling spacecraft to receive and transmit more information than terrestrial, ground-based communications.
A satellite-communication system comprises space, control, and ground segments, where the former contains orbiting spacecraft organized into a constellation and the latter comprises fixed base stations or hubs, as well as mobile customers such as ships and aircraft. The control segment includes all the ground facilities for monitoring the satellites, as well as managing traffic and on-board resources.
A forward communication link is from a ground hub to a fixed or mobile customer, and comprises both an uplink from the base station to the satellite and a downlink from the spacecraft back down to the user.
For telecommunication or broadcast applications, RF, uplink carriers from the ground are captured in a set frequency band with a given polarization, amplified by the repeater electronics, and then changed to a downlink frequency before being sent back down to a specific region on the Earth’s surface.
The repeater usually includes several channels, also called transponders, which are allocated to specific sub-bands within the overall, frequency spectrum. Traditionally, analog bandpass filters have been used to channelize the input bandwidth, but an increasing number of telecommunication operators use on-board, digital processors to offer more flexible channelization and routing options to dynamically match link capacity to varying traffic demands. The payload still remains a transparent repeater as the uplink carriers are not demodulated.
2015 will be a very exciting year for our industry and will see the release of the world’s first 28 nm COTS FPGA for space applications.
This year will also see the release of a new, 65 nm, flash FPGA, combining high performance with low power and high reliability. Flash-based FPGAs are non-volatile, live at power-up, and can be re-programmed in-orbit.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kim Dotcom Launches Skype Competitor MegaChat
http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/21/megachat/
Kim Dotcom, the infamous entrepreneur behind Megaupload, has released his latest product. Currently in beta, MegaChat is a browser-based encrypted video calling and file-sharing platform that is being positioned as a Skype competitor.
MegaChat is being rolled out feature-by-feature today and there are still a few kinks left to sort out.
https://mega.nz/
Tomi Engdahl says:
IEEE to adopt HDBase-T, standardizing UHD transmission over Category 6 cabling
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2015/01/ieee-1911-hdbaset-category-6-cabling.html?cmpid=EnlCIMJanuary192015
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), along with the HDBase-T Alliance, jointly announced that the IEEE Standards Association Standards Board approved the HDBase-T Specifications 1.1.0 and 2.0 as part of the IEEE’s standards portfolio. The HDBase-T standard will become IEEE 1911 standard once the adoption process is complete.
“HDBase-T enables all-in-one transmission of ultra-high-definition video through a single 100-m/328-ft Category 6 cable,” the announcement explained, “delivering uncompressed 4K video, audio, USB, Ethernet, control signals, and up to 100 watts of power. HDBase-T simplifies cabling, enhances ease-of-use, and accelerates deployment of ultra-high-definition connectivity solutions. The cost-effective LAN infrastructure and power transmission support also help reduce and simplify installation and electrical costs.”
“This collaboration with the IEEE is a major milestone for HDBase-T and for the Alliance, as the IEEE is one of the leading standards organizations in the world.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
10 tips for Industrial Ethernet/IP deployments
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2015/01/10-tips-industrial-ethernet-cisco-rockwell.html
1. Understand a networked device’s application and functional requirement
2. Enable a future-ready network design
3. Create structure within the plantwide Ethernet/IP network
4. Segment the logical topology into modular building blocks: Create smaller Layer 2 networks to minimize broadcast domains. Use virtual local area networks (VLANs) within a zone to segment different traffic types, such as industrial and nonindustrial.
5. Use managed industrial switches
6. Design and implement a robust physical layer reflecting availability and resiliency requirements
7. Determine application and network security requirements: Establish early dialogue with IT, considering applicable IT requirements. Implement a defense-in-depth security approach at multiple application layers such as physical, device, network and application, using an industrial security policy that’s unique from and in addition to the enterprise security policy.
8. Reduce network latency and jitter by using standard network protocols: Protocols include time synchronization using IEEE 1588 precision time protocol (PTP), quality of service (QoS) for control data prioritization and Internet Group Management Protocol for multicast management.
9. Increase control and information data availability: Implement a redundant path network topology such as a ring or redundant star. In addition, use a resiliency protocol to avoid Layer 2 loops while helping to ensure fast network convergence time.
10. Deploy a hierarchical network model using Layer 3 switches: Layer 3 switches support inter-VLAN routing between cell/area (Layer 2 network) zones and plantwide applications and servers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is FCC Net Neutrality uncertainty steering wireline broadband investment toward wireless?
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2015/01/abi-netneutrality-uncertainty.html
A new report from ABI Research investigates how the uncertain possibilities of Net Neutrality legislation have impacted operators such as AT&T and Verizon, and vendors such as Cisco in the wireline broadband space, forcing a shift in priorities until regulations are finalized.
Legal and business frameworks which may be rolled into Net Neutrality, such as local loop unbundling, significantly alter the investment models for carriers, contends the study. Realizing this, many companies have been allocating resources away from wireline technologies into other areas.
“Carefully planning investments, and balancing wireline and wireless portfolios, will prove necessary for companies to continue to see success during this wireline-focused regulatory restructuring period,” comments Sam Rosen, practice director, ABI Research. “Operators or carriers that have a heavy focus on wireline, such as CenturyLink or Cisco, may find it difficult to see growth with some regulatory outcomes — while companies with a more balanced portfolio, including Verizon, AT&T, and Ericsson will simply steer resources to the highest return markets.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
EU Communications Networking United Kingdom Wireless Networking IT
TWEETHER Project Promises 10Gbps MmW 92-95GHz Based Wireless Broadband
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/15/01/22/2056252/tweether-project-promises-10gbps-mmw-92-95ghz-based-wireless-broadband
A new project called TWEETHER, which is funded by Europe’s Horizon 2020 programme, has been set up at Lancaster University (England) with the goal of harnessing the millimetre wave (mmW) radio spectrum (specifically 92-95GHz) in order to deploy a new Point to Multipoint wireless broadband technology that could deliver peak capacity of up to 10Gbps
UK Based TWEETHER Project Promises 10Gbps mmW Wireless Broadband
Posted Thursday, January 22nd, 2015 (7:08 am) by Mark Jackson (Score 719)
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2015/01/uk-based-tweether-project-promises-10gbps-mmw-wireless-broadband.html
The EU Horizon 2020 funded project, which is costing close to £3 million, claims it would be able to distribute its top capacity out to “tens of terminals” and each of those could then receive broadband speeds measured in the hundreds of Mbps (Megabits per second) range (Point to Multipoint); at this early stage specifics are naturally hard to come by.
Andy Sutton, EE’s Principal Network Architect, said:
“The role of W-band millimetre wave radio systems in next generation mobile networks backhaul – Traffic on mobile networks is growing at an incredible pace, forecasts suggest a 12 times increase by 2018 and a 22 times increase by 2030, supporting this volume of traffic will require new and innovative radio access and backhaul solutions.”
Professor Claudio Paoloni, Project Co-Ordinator, said:
“The enormous flux of data transferred via wireless networks, increasing at a super-high pace, makes today’s state-of-the-art networks quickly outdated.”
“The breakthrough of TWEETHER project is a novel wireless PmP (Point to multipoint) system that integrates a novel, compact, low cost and high yield Traveling Wave Tube (TWT) power amplifier at the transmission hub, to power an affordable high performance transceiver.”
The technology sounds very similar to some of the future solutions being proposed for the next generation of 5G based Mobile Broadband connectivity and indeed it’s being envisaged for development within a similar 3 year timeframe, so we should expect to see something by around 2018.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wondershaper—QOS in a Pinch
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/wondershaper—qos-pinch
Because I’m running my BirdCam server on an independent machine, it doesn’t affect any other programs on the server if I just limit the throughput on my Ethernet interface. There are three basic ways I know of to limit bandwidth on a Linux machine: using tc, trickle and Wondershaper.
The tc program is by far the most powerful. It’s also by far the most complex.
The trickle (and trickled) program seems like an ideal way to control the bandwidth on a per-application level. Supposedly, you simply can start a program with trickle, and it will limit the bandwidth available. Try as I might, however, I never could get it to do its job.
I want something dead simple. Enter: Wondershaper.
After installing Wondershaper on your system, it works by controlling the bandwidth on an entire interface. So this:
sudo wondershaper eth0 1250 125
will limit the eth0 interface to 10mbps down and 1mbps up.
The setting is system-wide and should limit bandwidth for any network application.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AT&T launches unlimited calling to Mexico
By Mary Lennighan, Total Telecom
Wednesday 21 January 2015
http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=488646
U.S. operator changes pricing plan just days after closure of Iusacell deal.
AT&T on Tuesday amended an international calling package to include unlimited calls to Mexico in a move that could be seen as its first step towards creating a single North American service area.
The move comes just days after AT&T completed its US$2.5 billion acquisition of Mexican mobile operator Iusacell.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Eric Schmidt: Our Perception of the Internet Will Fade
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/15/01/23/1336249/eric-schmidt-our-perception-of-the-internet-will-fade
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt on Thursday predicted a change in how we perceive the internet. Schmidt says, “There will be so many IP addresses, so many devices, sensors, things that you are wearing, things that you are interacting with that you won’t even sense it. It will be part of your presence all the time.”
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt: “The Internet Will Disappear”
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/google-chairman-eric-schmidt-internet-765989
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt on Thursday predicted the end of the Internet as we know it.
At the end of a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where his comments were webcast, he was asked for his prediction on the future of the web. “I will answer very simply that the Internet will disappear,” Schmidt said.
“There will be so many IP addresses…so many devices, sensors, things that you are wearing, things that you are interacting with that you won’t even sense it,” he explained. “It will be part of your presence all the time. Imagine you walk into a room, and the room is dynamic. And with your permission and all of that, you are interacting with the things going on in the room.”
Concluded Schmidt: “A highly personalized, highly interactive and very, very interesting world emerges.”
“You now see so many strong tech platforms coming, and you are seeing a reordering and a future reordering of dominance or leaders or whatever term you want to use because of the rise of the apps on the smartphone,”
“The Internet is the greatest empowerment of citizens … in many years,” he said. “Suddenly citizens have a voice, they can be heard.”
Mayer said that the personalized Internet “is a better Internet,”
Gunther Oettinger, a conservative German politician serving as the European Union’s commissioner for digital economy and society, said on the panel that “we need a convincing global understanding, we need a UN agency for data protection and security.” Asked what form that “understanding” should have, he said he was looking for “clear, pragmatic, market-based regulation.” Explained Oettinger: “It’s a public-private partnership.”
“We don’t want Germany to have its own Internet,” Fries said. “Some countries may build their own Internets” and “balkanize” the web, he warned.
Sandberg and Schmidt lauded the Internet as an important way to give more people in the world a voice. Currently, only 40 percent of people have Internet access
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft: We bought Skype. We make mobiles… Oh, HANG ON!
EUREKA! We should put the two together
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/23/microsoft_windows_10_nokia_skype_lumia/
The good news for stalwarts is that after a glacial and at times uncomfortable rollout of Windows Phone 8.1, the pace of development appears to have picked up.
The most interesting aspect was that there’s a coherent plan for VoIP and OTT messaging. Over the years Microsoft has had a chaotic and incoherent approach.
Then came the blockbuster $8.5bn purchase of Skype. Microsoft continued to run Lync and Skype separately – and Lync became a surprise hit with businesses. It appeared to be a cheap and cheerful path to UC – some customers actually thought it was free.
Finally, last November, we saw some coherence. Lync would be replaced by “Skype for Business”, at last forcing the shotgun marriage of two not exactly complementary architectures: Lync’s server-based UC and Skype’s P2P model.
For the best mobile Skype experience you really needed to get an iPhone or an Android. Some theories suggested that Microsoft didn’t want to antagonise its carrier customers by bundling Skype so closely with the handset.
But that doesn’t hold much water: operators had given up trying to hold the dyke against OTT messaging and VoIP years ago. The GSMA had been working on its own response to iMessage and WhatsApp for some time. A new platform with no market share did not pose an existential threat to their core business.
What Microsoft showed this week, at long last, was VoIP integrated into the platform.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cabling recommendations for 802.11ac wireless access point connections
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2015/01/ac-cabling-recs-siemon.html
“Siemon recommends that two or more category 6A or higher rated shielded channels, deployed as part of an overall zone cabling configuration, are provided to every 802.11ac access point connection for three very important reasons:
1. TSB-162-A, “Telecommunications Cabling Guidelines for Wireless Access Points”, expressly provides the following recommendation and note:
Cabling for wireless access points should be balanced twisted-pair, category 6A or higher, as specified in ANSI/TIA-568-C.2, or two-fiber multimode optical fiber cable, OM3 or higher, as specified in ANSI/TIA-568-C.3.
2. As highlighted in the TIA note, temperature rise resulting from Type 2 PoE used to power 802.11ac access points should be considered. Shielded cabling, which has superior heat dissipation properties compared to UTP cabling
3. Deploying a minimum of two category 6A shielded channels will support link aggregation of not only today’s 1.3 Gb/s 802.11ac implementations, but also future 2.6 Gb/s and higher data rate implementations.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Radio hams can encrypt, in emergencies, says Ofcom
Consultation promises new spectrum and hints at relaxed licence conditions
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/15/radio_hams_can_encrypt_in_emergencies_says_ofcom/
UK regulator Ofcom is looking for radio hams’ opinions about proposed changes to spectrum and amateur licensing.
In exchange for giving up some spectrum, hams are getting access to new spectrum in the 470 kHz and 5 MHz bands
Recognising the role of amateur radio users in emergencies, the consultation proposes changing the license condition that states that hams can only communicate with other hams. Where a license-holder is participating in a rescue operation (for example as part of the Radio Amateurs’ Emergency Network, RAYNET) are allowed to talk to others, such as rescue teams, involved in an emergency operation.
Ofcom also proposes permitting encryption for hams involved in RAYNET operations. Currently, encryption is forbidden, which creates a problem if an incident commander asks for encryption.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This is big: Cablevision launches Wi-Fi-only mobile phone service
https://gigaom.com/2015/01/25/this-is-big-cablevision-launches-wi-fi-only-mobile-phone-service/
Cablevision is getting ready to pick a fight with your mobile phone company. Next month, the cable operator is going to introduce a low-cost mobile phone service dubbed Freewheel that’s based entirely on Wi-Fi connectivity. Freewheel will offer existing Cablevision internet service subscribers unlimited talk, text and data for a mere $9.95 per month. Consumers who don’t use Cablevision’s internet service can sign on for $29.95 per month.
At launch, Freewheel is only working with one handset: Cablevision will sell Motorola’s Moto G for $99.95, and the phone will come preloaded with apps that automatically authenticate with any of the company’s hotspots.
Cablevision started building out its own Optimum Wi-Fi network in 2007, and now has more than 1.1 million hotspots in the New York tri-state area.
In addition to that, Freewheel customers have access to some 300,000 hotspots across the country, courtesy of the CableWiFi initiative that brings together Wi-Fi access points from big cable companies like Comcast, Cox and Time Warner Cable. And of course, the device will also work with any other Wi-Fi network a user has access to, whether it’s at home or at their office.
However, Freewheel users may have a harder time staying connected on their commute: The service doesn’t include any fall-back option to connect to mobile networks when Wi-Fi is unavailable, which means that users won’t be able to make calls or access data services when they’re not connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Domain Name Industry Brief
http://www.verisigninc.com/en_US/innovation/dnib/index.xhtml
The third quarter of 2014 closed with a base of 284 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs), an increase of four million domain names
Tomi Engdahl says:
Conference calls a waste of time? In 1915, this one made history
http://www.networkworld.com/article/2875034/lan-wan/conference-calls-a-waste-of-time-in-1915-this-one-made-history.html
These days, making a call across the U.S. is so easy that people often don’t even know they’re talking coast to coast. But 100 years ago Sunday, it took a hackathon, a new technology and an international exposition to make it happen.
The first commercial transcontinental phone line opened on Jan. 25, 1915, with a call from New York to the site of San Francisco’s Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Alexander Graham Bell made the call to his assistant, Thomas Watson. Just 39 years earlier, Bell had talked to Watson on the first ever phone call, in Boston, just after Bell had patented the telephone.
By 1915, the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. network spanned the continent with a single copper circuit 6,800 miles (11,000 kilometers) long that could carry exactly one call at a time. There were already 8.6 million phones served by AT&T, but hearing someone’s voice from the other side of the continent was astounding, like being able to go to the moon, said Anthea Hartig, executive director of the California Historical Society.
“The biggest challenge was amplifying sound so it could be transported 3,400 miles,”
By June 1914, the more than 730,000 pounds (331,000 kilograms) of copper had been strung out across the network and engineers started making test calls. But commercial service didn’t begin until after the Jan. 25, 1915, ceremonial call. When it did, a three-minute call cost $20.70, the equivalent of nearly $485 today.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Data transfer using the LED lights will become a reality. Technology development Edinburgh PureLiFi has already delivered the first product. The company has also managed to collect from investors for 14 million pounds, and additional funding is sought from a new round of this year.
Li-Fi, or Light Fidelity is emerging as a very potential of high-speed Internet connections importer, for example in small office rooms. Rapid flickering LED lights based technology data is obtained from the exercise of a gigabit per second to 10 meters range.
Li-Fi technology is widely regarded as the father of the University of Edinburgh Professor Harald hayrick. PureLiFi, under his leadership, the company that came loose from the University in 2012. Late last year, the company managed to deliveries of the first product: Li-Flame is a ceiling-mounted CPU, which allows laptops provide 10 Mbps infrared link. The connection also requires a unit to install a laptop.
Market forecasts indicate that lifi product sales will increase by 2020 of up to $ 9 billion.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2331:ledidata-paasi-tositoimiin&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Network to get 30 percent more devices this year
Internet of Things, networked car, the new sensor systems and networked car. In the reasons why the number of devices connected to the network is growing rapidly. This year, the new network devices connected to a third more than last year.
According to Gartner, was is the end of this year already connected to the 4.9 billion of the device. The amount will increase to 25 billion by 2020.
The Institute does not believe that before the year 2018 is seen as no dominant platform for IoT devices to the network. This is bad news for Intel’s like giants, who are now building their own IoT ecosystems at a high price.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2333:verkkoon-30-prosenttia-enemman-laitteita&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Landlines: The tech that just won’t die
Do we have any choice about paying for home phone numbers?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/25/feature_landlines_tech_that_refuses_to_die/
For a huge number of Brits, mobiles have become our primary way of communicating, even when we’re at home. When a call comes in, we know it’s ours. We can reply with a text, or use apps like WhatsApp to communicate with friends abroad. Increasingly, we don’t rely on our landline phones and, thanks to lax policing of the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), for many of us, about the only thing they’re used for is receiving unsolicited junk calls, or as a safety net so we can call 999 in an emergency.
And yet, a landline is largely impossible to avoid.
wholesale rental for a BT landline was £96.17 per year, plus VAT, then it fell to £91.05, and from 1st April this year it drops to £89.50. That makes the current cost per month £9.10 including VAT
Charges for services like caller ID are particularly galling. This is is a built-in feature of a modern line card in the exchange, and costs nothing extra to provide. Having to pay for it is a little like a garage selling you a Ferrari, and then charging you extra to be able to drive it at more than 50 miles an hour.
BT has form for this sort of trick, though, to be fair, most telcos play similar games of “gouge the punter.”
Talk to people in the ISP or telecoms business, and all too often they’ll tell you how they’ve spent ages patiently explaining to people what’s possible, only for the other person to say “Great. I’ll give BT a ring.”
Thanks in part to the unbundling driven by broadband, you can now unbundle your phone service.
So, for the time being, you’re likely stuck with a landline, with a phone number. Plug anything into it and you’re likely to be plagued by all manner of chancers, scammers and crooks.
Fortunately, it’s not too hard to take it back from the PPI and ambulance chasing scammers, with call filtering. There are some dedicated call screening boxes, such as the trueCall, which can filter calls out for you.
An alternative is to use a VoIP phone adaptor of some sort.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Phil Goldstein / FierceWireless:
Google’s new wireless service can switch between T-Mobile, Sprint, and Wi-Fi hotspots to find best signal, could be available nationwide first half 2015 — Google’s MVNO would reportedly look for best Sprint, T-Mobile or Wi-Fi signal — Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) rumored MVNO service with Sprint …
Google’s MVNO would reportedly look for best Sprint, T-Mobile or Wi-Fi signal
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/googles-mvno-would-reportedly-look-best-sprint-t-mobile-or-wi-fi-signal/2015-01-26
Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) rumored MVNO service with Sprint (NYSE: S) and T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) would hunt for the best available cellular or Wi-Fi signal to route voice, text message and data traffic, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The report, citing unnamed sources familiar with the plans, said Google’s wireless offering could be launched in the first half of this year and would likely be available nationwide. However, previously scheduled launches–including one in October 2014–have been delayed, and this one might be as well.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cisco adding 2.5-G, 5-G Base-T ports to switches
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2015/01/cisco-25g-5g-baset-switches.html
In a blog post, Jeff Reed—vice president and general manager of manageability for Cisco’s enterprise networking group—announced the company is adding 2.5- and 5-Gbit/sec ports to several of its switches. The ports will incorporate the technology behind NBase-T, featuring Aquantia’s silicon, and essentially are purpose-built to support 802.11ac Wave 2 wireless access points with the installed base of Category 5e or Category 6 cabling.
“In 2013 we introduced Catalyst 3850 and 3560 Stackable Converged Access switches for wired and wireless networks,” Reed said. “These switches simplified networks by combining separate wired and wireless networks into a single platform … In 2014 we expanded the converged access portfolio by introducing Converged Access on Catalyst 4500E, our lead modular access platform. Today we take the next big step in our wireless strategy by introducing Cisco Catalyst Multigigabit technology across several campus switches: Catalyst 4500E, 3850 and 3560-CX
“As the industry anticipates the shipment of 802.11ac Wave 2 Aps and the future of 802.11x, enterprises are now readying to take advantage of the increase in wireless bandwidth and the ability to run several wireless streams simultaneously on the same AP,” he continued. “11ac Wave 2 offers tremendous opportunities, but also has challenges.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Euro mobile standards chiefs eye tiny beauty: It’s the KEY to 5G
Millimetre wave spectrum
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/27/etsi_chief_ponders_30ghz_to_300ghz_with_an_eye_on_5g/
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), which sets the standards for mobile comms, has just started work on five specifications for millimetre Wave Transmission – the 30GHz to 300GHz range.
The new Industry Specification Group on millimetre Wave Transmission (ISG mWT) held its first meeting last week and will look at what’s already known about working at these frequencies from practical hands-on experience, as well as what the potential applications might be.
It’s expected that the building a spec that governs the frequencies over 35GHz will be the key to 5G which uses MIMO to get high bandwidth and will need 500MHz of contiguous spectrum.
ISG mWT will put together an overview of V-band (40GHz – 75GHz) and E-band (2GHz – 3GHz) worldwide regulations and do an analysis of V-band street level interference. The group will also look at the plans the semiconductor industry technology has for using these frequencies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Young Cubans Set Up Mini-Internet
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/15/01/27/0424245/young-cubans-set-up-mini-internet
Internet connections remain illegal for Cuban households, but many of the country’s citizens still want to tap into the power of networked information exchange. A group of tech-savvy young Cubans has set up a network comprising thousands of computers to serve as their own miniature version of the internet. They use chat rooms, play games, and connect to organize real-life activities. Cuban law enforcement seems willing to tolerate it (so far)
Cuban youth build secret computer network despite Wi-Fi ban
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CB_CUBA_SECRET_NETWORK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Cut off from the Internet, young Cubans have quietly linked thousands of computers into a hidden network that stretches miles across Havana, letting them chat with friends, play games and download hit movies in a mini-replica of the online world that most can’t access.
a private network of more than 9,000 computers with small, inexpensive but powerful hidden Wi-Fi antennas and Ethernet cables strung over streets and rooftops spanning the entire city. Disconnected from the real Internet
Cuba’s status as one of the world’s least-wired countries
Cuban officials say Internet access is limited largely because the U.S. trade embargo
Outside observers and many Cubans blame the lack of Internet on the government’s desire to control the populace and to use disproportionately high cellphone and Internet charges as a source of cash for other government agencies.
Cuba prohibits the use of Wi-Fi equipment without a license from the Ministry of Communications, making SNet technically illegal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Graybar, General Cable map ‘the future of structured cabling systems’
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2015/01/graybar-general-cable-webinar.html
“The enterprise cable market has experienced tremendous transformation in the past 20 years,” notes Graybar in the webinar’s set-up remarks. “From rapid growth in the late 90s and early 2000s, to decline and eventual stabilization in the last 10 years, the industry has witnessed growth, commoditization, evolving standards and new technologies.”
“Understanding the impact of wireless technologies, fiber and other competing solutions will be critical as we all determine how to best serve the needs of the structured cable market in the future.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Post-modem Ericsson wobbles thanks to flat sales and falling profits
Trouble at t’mill as scandal-hit board member steps down
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/27/ericsson_q4_fy2014_results/
Ericsson’s flat sales last year were the result of its disappointing fourth quarter, especially in America, its latest financial results show.
The Swedish company is still the biggest supplier of mobile network infrastructure in the world, and in the fourth quarter it saw strong sales growth in the Middle East, Asia and Europe.
Significant growth against local manufacturers in China is a real achievement and this has come about on the back of 4G mobile broadband usage. Similarly its disappointing that the US, which is adopting 4G very much faster than Europe, has seen a sales decline of eight per cent.
The company, which was once known for handsets, has moved to infrastructure – and is now moving to what it calls the “networked society”, promoting the Internet of Things. The on-going restructure will no doubt see more job losses.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Analyst: Ethernet switch market evolving from enterprise, into cloud
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2015/01/delloro-ethernet-cloud-enterprise.html
According to a recently published report by Dell’Oro Group, the Layer 2-3 Ethernet Switch market is expected to exceed $25 billion in 2019.
“Data center switching will evolve rapidly through the rest of the decade and will drive most of the growth in the Ethernet Switch market,” commented Alan Weckel, vice president of Ethernet Switch market research at Dell’Oro Group. “Already we see these changes causing vendors to significantly increase the number of products they offer.”
“Towards the end of the decade, we expect data center switching growth to be driven exclusively by the cloud, with the enterprise market declining slowly,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
EMBMS of the Enhanced Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service is a technology that enables the LTE network can be sent, for example, television broadcasting style.
Anritsu has now expanded it’s protocol tester to also support eMBMS technology.
The instrument protocol had to be added to BM-SC network element (Broadcast Multicast Service Center). In this respect, Anritsu teamed up with Expway. It is developed by e-Cast-center by means of Anritsu tester can simulate LTE broadcasting right eMBMS server.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2340:testeri-lte-televisiolahetysten-vastaanottoon&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
FCC: Blocking Wi-Fi in hotels is prohibited
Marriott asked the FCC to please let it block Wi-Fi. The hotel gets a firm answer.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/01/fcc-blocking-wi-fi-in-hotels-is-prohibited/
On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission issued an “Enforcement Advisory” stating that blocking W-Fi in hotels is unequivocally “prohibited.”
“Persons or businesses causing intentional interference to Wi-Fi hotspots are subject to enforcement action,” the FCC bluntly stated
“The Enforcement Bureau has seen a disturbing trend in which hotels and other commercial establishments block wireless consumers from using their own personal Wi-Fi hot spots on the commercial establishment’s premises,” the FCC wrote. “As a result, the Bureau is protecting consumers by aggressively investigating and acting against such unlawful intentional interference.”
The statement is a definitive one. The FCC fined Marriott $600,000 in October for blocking customers’ personal Wi-Fi hotspots at a Nashville, Tennessee, branch.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mobile operators increasing their investment, Nokia will benefit from it
Market research firm Gartner estimates that the investment by operators of mobile networks will grow by 8 percent from last year to more than $ 43 billion, writes Reuters.
In the United States, Korea and Japan 4G networks are already largely completed, but in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa Investments are only at the beginning.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/uutisia/mobiilioperaattorit+kasvattamassa+investointeja+nokia+hyotyy/a1045531
Tomi Engdahl says:
How One Small Company Blocked 15.1 Million Robocalls Last Year
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/15/01/28/0454238/how-one-small-company-blocked-151-million-robocalls-last-year
Aaron Foss won a $25,000 cash prize from the Federal Trade Commission for figuring out how eliminate all those annoying robocalls that dial into your phone from a world of sleazy marketers. … Using a little telephone hackery, Foss found a way of blocking spammers while still allowing the emergency alert service and other legitimate entities to call in bulk. Basically, he re-routed all calls through a service that would check
This Guy Found a Way to Block Robocalls When Phone Companies Wouldn’t
http://www.wired.com/2015/01/guy-found-way-block-robocalls-phone-companies-wouldnt/
Aaron Foss won a $25,000 cash prize from the Federal Trade Commission for figuring out how eliminate all those annoying robocalls that dial into your phone from a world of sleazy marketers.
The year was 2013. Using a little telephone hackery, Foss found a way of blocking spammers while still allowing the emergency alert service and other legitimate entities to call in bulk. Basically, he re-routed all calls through a service that would check them against a whitelist of legitimate operations and a blacklist of spammers, and this little trick was so effective, he soon parlayed it into a modest business.
Last year, his service, called Nomorobo, blocked 15.1 million robocalls. He uses cloud computing services—primarily Amazon Web Services and Twilio—to block Florida timeshare sellers and fake Microsoft support gurus from the 190,000 VOIP customers 1 who use his free product.
The question is why this method isn’t blocking even more robocalls. Even as Nomorobo has flourished, the country’s leading phone companies still avoid such call blocking. And that’s rather baffling. If some dude working out of a spare room in his Long Island home can solve the robocall problem, why can’t AT&T? After all, the big phone companies seem to have done a decent job of blocking text spam from their networks. And there’s a federal law that lets us opt out of these robocalls.
According to AT&T, a blacklist would be a nightmare to maintain and could inadvertently block legitimate numbers. And besides, it’s all the government’s fault, the carriers say.
In fact, late last week, the CTIA wrote the FCC to tell it that the kind of blacklist approach taken by Foss’s company wouldn’t work. According to the lobbying group, it raises privacy concerns—and causes other problems too.
The CTIA suggests that the FCC focus instead on consumer education.
Although reviled by consumers, robocalls are unlikely to go away. For one thing, voice over internet protocol technology has made them extremely cheap, and phone-number-spoofing technology has allowed them to slip past caller ID and many carrier-provided number blocking systems.
That’s because most carrier phone-blocking systems force you to manually enter blocked numbers. AT&T’s system, for example, allows only 20 such blocked numbers. “Usually, carriers give spots for 5-10 numbers to be blocked,” Foss says. “This is woefully inadequate. The Nomorobo blacklist has over 850,000 numbers on it and changes hundreds of times per day. Try putting that in a short blacklist.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
FTC Announces Robocall Challenge Winners
Proposals Would Use Call Filter Software to Reduce Illegal Calls
http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2013/04/ftc-announces-robocall-challenge-winners
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fiber optics business of Samsung acquired by Corning
12/02/2014
http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/2014/12/fiber-optics-business-of-samsung-acquired-by-corning.html?cmpid=EnlLFWFebruary222015
Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW; Corning, NY) has reached agreement with Samsung Electronics to acquire its fiber optics business, with the sale to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2015
Tomi Engdahl says:
IP Security Systems and Their Impact on Structured Cabling
https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1051697&sti=em1
Recent market data, citing 2 million kilometers of data cabling installed to support IP-surveillance systems in 2013, confirms the notion that a structured cabling system’s performance does indeed matter to the operation of IP-based security networks.
Video surveillance is the most widely deployed IP-based security application, and surveillance systems can vary in the extent to which they tax a network’s bandwidth capabilities.
One characteristic of IP-security systems, including surveillance systems in particular, is often times a system’s physical layout will include a long-distance link to one or more devices. In a standard-compliant Ethernet-based networks, copper-based connections are limited to 100 meters—a distance that may be insufficient for these longer connections
The ability to power IP devices, such as surveillance cameras, via network cabling has proven to be a significant benefit for network administrators. Power over Ethernet technology has enabled the turn-up of network devices without the need to provide local AC power. PoE transmission, however, does have implications on the performance of the twisted-pair cable over which it runs. Therefore, characterizing installed cabling’s ability to successfully support PoE is a critical step for any network owner planning to deploy the technology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
R&S®SITLine ETH Ethernet Encryptor
Secure data transmission via landline, radio relay and satellite links up to 40 Gbit/s
http://www.rohde-schwarz.fi/fi/tuotteet/IT-Security/Network-Security/SITLine_ETH.html
Ethernet encryptors for bandwidths from 25 Mbit/s to 40 Gbit/s
Advanced cryptographic methods and standards (elliptic curves, AES, X.509)
Flexible deployment in modern transmission networks
Encryption based on port, VLAN or group assignment (multipoint)
Maximum bandwidth efficiency, avoidance of overhead
Convenient online management capabilities for device configuration and for security and network settings
Very compact design (one height unit for all devices), very low energy consumption, low system costs per Gbyte (total cost of ownership)
Approved by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) up to the German restricted (VS-NfD) and NATO restricted classification levels
Tomi Engdahl says:
Deliver the power
Lee Ritchey -January 18, 2015
http://www.edn.com/design/test-and-measurement/4438377/Deliver-the-power
Nine out of 10 boards that I troubleshoot today have power-delivery problems. Power delivery relates directly to signal integrity, and when you have signal-integrity problems, bits won’t reliably get to their destination. Most of the systems I work with today have Ethernet, running at 40Gbit/s over fiber and 25Gbit/s over copper. Power-delivery problems cause Ethernet links to break, requiring re-establishing the link and delivering packets again.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ina Fried / Re/code:
FTC fines TracFone Wireless $40M for throttling customers after advertising “unlimited” data — FTC Says Unlimited Data With Throttling Doesn’t Count as Unlimited — In a case that could have broad implications, the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday ordered prepaid mobile provider TracFone …
FTC Says Unlimited Data With Throttling Doesn’t Count as Unlimited
http://recode.net/2015/01/28/ftc-says-unlimited-data-with-throttling-doesnt-count-as-unlimited/
In a case that could have broad implications, the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday ordered prepaid mobile provider TracFone to pay $40 million for slowing down the speeds of customers who had paid for unlimited data service.
While the case was specific to TracFone, a number of carriers still offering unlimited service have been slowing down, or throttling, the speeds of customers who use more than a certain amount of data. Both the FTC and Federal Communications Commission have taken a dim view of the practice.
“The issue here is simple: When you promise consumers ‘unlimited,’ that means unlimited,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement Wednesday.
The two largest carriers, AT&T and Verizon, have stopped offering unlimited data plans to new customers, though they still have some customers grandfathered in to the plans. Sprint and T-Mobile do offer unlimited data plans.
All the carriers are on notice, though, that slowing down customers on unlimited plans could land them in hot water.
“This case is about false advertising,” Rich said in response to a question from Re/code. “It’s not about throttling. We’re not challenging throttling in and of itself.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wi-Fi Alliance Radiates Outward
Work spans 900 MHz IoT to 60 GHz backhaul
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325458&
The Wi-Fi Alliance, which has certified Wi-Fi devices since 1999, faces increasing challenges to meet requirements to raise performance and lower power for a widening variety of uses including the emerging Internet of Things.
Davis said the underlying Wi-Fi technology is adding capabilities and the Alliance is putting in place certification programs to ensure backward compatibility for them. Among the new variants is 802.11ah — a lower power, longer range option with a smaller chip footprint. It is geared for IoT and coin cell operated devices and is due in 2017.
Separately vendors are testing 802.11ax, which improves power consumption in dense environments by adding additional networking efficiency mechanisms. “I think Wi-Fi tends to get a bad rap for power consumption but that’s a red herring,” Davis said.
The Alliance expects mobile operators to invest heavily in Wi-Fi deployments in the coming year to expand their footprint, provide data offloading, and enable inter-provider roaming. In an effort to increase network efficiency and aid in roaming, the Alliance introduced Passpoint, an automatic network authentication protocol. Davis said cable companies such as Time Warner and phone carriers are beginning to deploy Passpoint, which handles Wi-Fi roaming between carriers using a handset’s credentials.
Similar technology has been used in enterprise Wi-Fi networks for years, so there’s a known path for migrating to it in the carrier space.
Separately, the Wi-Fi Alliance partnered with the WiGig Alliance in 2013 and is developing a 60 GHz certification program to augment Wi-Fi performance. The best use for 60 GHz has yet to be determined, with some companies using it for backhaul in cellular networks and others as a cable replacement in the home or office.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Backplanes Hit a Wall at 56G
Talk shows need for better channels, chips
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325457&
Something has to change to enable the next generation of fast computer and communications boards, but just what it will be is the subject of hot debate.
The problem hits at the 56 Gbit/second speeds needed to drive systems that cost-effectively deliver 400 Gbit/second Ethernet. Big data centers and carrier networks are hungry for the fast interfaces now in development. But engineers are finding they just can’t drive signals at 56G across boards with two connectors that have traces typically up to 40 inches long.
“That’s out of the picture for now, something has to change,”
Beyene showed results of research sending 56G signals between chips and modules and even between boards
As the lengths reached 20 inches, Rambus researchers had to either adopt PAM-4 signaling or five-tap DFE equalization, both requiring more complex and expensive chips.
Companies are understandably shy about shifting materials. The 28 Gbit/s boards made for today’s systems were some of the first to use Megrton-6. The prior 10 Gbit/s generation was among the first to go off mainstream FR4 boards, adopting Nelco 4000.
“My sense is we may need new materials again, but many people don’t see it that way,”
Another engineer suggested assumptions about crosstalk are a wild card in the debate over NRZ and PAM-4 signaling. NRZ has been the work horse signaling technology for many years. Experts have been saying for at least a year that NRZ will not be able to stretch to use in 56G backplanes.