It’s always interesting (and dangerous) to lay out some predictions for the future of technology, so here are a few visions:
The exponential growth of broadband data is driving wireless (and wired) communications systems to more effectively use existing bandwidth. Mobile data traffic continues to grow, driven both by increased smartphone subscriptions and a continued increase in average data volume per subscription, fueled primarily by more viewing of video content. Ericsson forecasts mobile video traffic to grow by around 50% annually through 2022, to account for nearly 75% of all mobile data traffic. Social networking is the second biggest data traffic type. To make effective use of the wireless channel, system operators are moving toward massive-MIMO, multi-antenna systems that transmit multiple wide-bandwidth data streams—geometrically adding to system complexity and power consumption. Total mobile data traffic is expected to grow at 45% CAGR to 2020.
5G cellular technology is still in development, and is far from ready in 2017. As international groups set 2020 deadline to agree on frequencies and standards for the new equipment, anything before that is pre-standard. Expect to see many 5G announcements that might not be what 5G will actually be when standard is ready. The boldest statement is that Nokia & KT plan 2017 launch of world’s first mobile 5G network in South Korea in 2017: commercial trial system to operate in the 28GHz band. Wireless spectrum above 5 GHz will generate solutions for a massive increase in bandwidth and also for a latency of less than 1 ms.
CableLabs is working toward standardization of an AP Coordination protocol to improve In-Home WiFi as one access point (AP) for WiFi often is not enough to allow for reliable connection and ubiquitous speed to multiple devices throughout a large home. The hope is that something will be seen mid-2017. A mesh AP network is a self-healing, self-forming, self-optimizing network of mesh access points (MAPs).
There will be more and more Gigabit Internet connections in 2017. Gigabit Internet is Accelerating on All Fronts. Until recently, FTTH has been the dominant technology for gigabit. Some of the common options available now include fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.1 over cable’s HFC plant, G.Fast over telco DSL networks, 5G cellular, and fiber-to-the-building coupled with point-to-point wireless. AT&T recently launched its AT&T Fiber gigabit service. Cable’s DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.1 are cheaper and less disruptive than FTTH in that they do not require a rip-and-replace of the existing outside plant. DOCSIS 3.1, which has just begun to be deployed at scale, is designed to deliver up to 10 Gbps downstream Internet speeds over existing HFC networks (most deployments to date have featured 1 Gbps speeds). G.Fast is just beginning to come online with a few deployments (typically 500 meters or less distance at MDU). 5G cellular technology is still in development, and standards for it do not yet exist. Another promising wireless technology for delivering gigabit speeds is point-to-point millimeter wave, which uses spectrum between 30 GHz and 300 GHz.
There are also some trials for 10 Gbit/s: For example Altice USA (Euronext:ATC) announced plans to build a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network capable of delivering broadband speeds of up to 10 Gbps across its U.S. footprint. The five-year deployment plan is scheduled to begin in 2017.
Interest to use TV white space increases in 2017 in USA. The major factors driving the growth of the market include providing low-cost broadband to remote and non-line-of-sight regions. Rural Internet access market is expected to grow at a significant rate between 2016 and 2022. According to MarketsandMarkets, the global TV white space market was valued at $1.2 million in 2015 and is expected to reach approximately $53.1 million by 2022, at a CAGR of 74.30% during the forecast period.
The rapid growth of the internet and cloud computing has resulted in bandwidth requirements for data center network. This is in turn expected to increase the demand for optical interconnects in the next-generation data center networks.
Open Ethernet networking platforms will make a noticeable impact in 2017. The availability of full featured, high performance and cost effective open switching platforms combined with open network operating systems such as Cumulus Networks, Microsoft SoNIC, and OpenSwitch will finally see significant volume uptake in 2017.
Network becomes more and more software controlled in 2017.NFV and SDN Will Mature as Automated Networks will become Production systems. Over the next five years, nearly 60 percent of hyperscale facilities are expected to deploy SDN and/or NFV solutions. IoT will force SDN adoption into Campus Networks.
SDN implementations are increasingly taking a platform approach with plug and play support for any VNF, topology, and analytics that are instrumented and automated. Some companies are discovering the security benefits of SDN – virtual segmentation and automation. The importance of specific SDN protocols (OpenFlow, OVSDB, NetConf, etc.) will diminish as many universes of SDN/NFV will solidify into standard models. More vendors are opening up their SDN platforms to third-party VNFs. In Linux based systems eBPF and XDP are delivering flexibility, scale, security, and performance for a broad set of functions beyond networking without bypassing the kernel.
For year 2016 it was predicted that gigabit ethernet sales start to decline as the needle moving away from 1 Gigabit Ethernet towards faster standards (2.5 or 5.0 or 10Gbps; Nbase-T is basically underclocked 10Gbase-T running at 2.5 or 5.0Gbps instead of 10Gbps). I have not yet seen the result from this prediction, but that does not stop from making new ones. So I expect that 10GbE sales will peak in 2017 and start a steady decline after 2017 as it is starts being pushed aside by 25, 50, and 100GbE in data center applications. 25Gbit/s Ethernet is available now from all of the major server vendors. 25 can start to become the new 10 as it offers 2.5x the throughput and only a modest price premium over 10Gbit/s.
100G and 400G Ethernet will still have some implementation challenges in 2017. Data-center customers are demanding a steep downward trajectory in the cost of 100G pluggable transceivers, but existing 100G module multi-source agreements (MSAs) such as PSM4 and CWDM4 have limited capacity for cost reduction due to the cost of the fiber (PSM4) and the large number of components (both PSM4 and CWDM4). It seems that dual-lambda PAM4 and existing 100G Ethernet (100GE) solutions such as PSM4 and CWDM4 will not be able to achieve the overall cost reductions demanded by data-center customers. At OFC 2016, AppliedMicro showcased the world’s first 100G PAM4 single-wavelength solution for 100G and 400G Ethernet. We might be able to see see 400GE in the second half of 2017 or the early part of 2018.
As the shift to the cloud is accelerating in 2017, the traffic routed through cloud-based data centers is expected to quadruple in the next four years according to the results of the sixth annual Global Cloud Index published by Cisco. Public cloud is growing faster than private cloud. An estimated 68 percent of cloud workloads will be deployed in public cloud data centers by 2020, up from 49 percent in 2015. According to Cisco, hyperscale data centers will account for 47 percent of global server fleet and support 53 percent of all data center traffic by 2020.
The modular data center market has experienced a high growth and adoption rate in the last few years, and is anticipated to experience more of this trend in years to come. Those data centers are typically built using standard 20 ft. container module or standard 40 ft. container module. Modular data center market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 24.1% during period 2016 – 2025, to account for US$ 22.41 billion in 2025. Also in 2017 the first cracks will start to appear in Intel’s vaunted CPU dominance.
The future of network neutrality is unsure in 2017 as the Senate failed to reconfirm Democratic pro-net neutrality FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, portending new Trump era leadership and agenda Net neutrality faces extinction under Trump. Also one of Trump’s advisers on FCC, Mark Jamison, argued last month that the agency should only regulate radio spectrum licenses, scale back all other functions. When Chairman Tom Wheeler, the current head of the FCC, steps down, Republicans will hold a majority.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Ethernet Alliance, UNH InterOperability Lab hosting 25G and 100G plugfest
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2017/06/ethernet-alliance-unhiol-25g-100g-plugfest.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-06-29
The Ethernet Alliance is hosting a multivendor plugfest the week of June 26-30 at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory. The test event focuses on 25GBase-R and 100GBase-R high-speed Ethernet technologies, the alliance said.
“One fundamental aspect of Ethernet is its ongoing cycle of continuous improvement and evolution,” commented Greg McSorley, an Ethernet Alliance board member and technical business development manager with Amphenol Corporation. “25GBase-R and 100GBase-R are important milestones on Ethernet’s roadmap; this progression toward higher speeds is opening the door to a new era of innovation for data centers, enterprises, and beyond. The industry and end users alike are looking to capitalize on the next era of Ethernet innovation, and it’s incumbent on the Ethernet Alliance to make that happen. By hosting events like the 25GBase-R and 100GBase-R interoperability plugfest, we’re both fulfilling our mission of advancing Ethernet and helping to facilitate the transition to tomorrow’s higher-speed interconnects.”
On its Standards Informant website, Siemon provides detail on 25GBase-R technology. On a page describing IEEE 802.3by-2016 (25-Gbit/sec Ethernet), Siemon explains, “This amendment defines 25-Gbit/sec physical layer (PHY) specifications for operation up to 100 meters of multimode optical fiber and up to 5 meters of a single lane (two pairs) of twinaxial cable and attachment interfaces supporting 25-Gbit/sec transmission in electrical backplanes.”
Siemon further explains that the 25GBase-CR specification is “25 Gbits/sec using 25GBase-R encoding over one lane of twinaxial copper cable,” 25GBase-KR is “25 Gbits/sec using 25GBase-R encoding over one lane of an electrical backplane,” and 25GBase-SR is “25 Gbits/sec using 25GBase-R encoding over one line (i.e. 2 fibers total) of multimode fiber with reach up to at least 100 meters.”
Also on its Standards Informant site, on a page describing IEEE 802.3bj-2014, Siemon explains, “This amendment defines three four-lane PHY specifications and management parameters for 100-Gbit/sec operation over backplanes and twinaxial copper cables …”
Tomi Engdahl says:
An Introduction to LTE-Advanced: The Real 4G
http://www.electronicdesign.com/4g/introduction-lte-advanced-real-4g?code=UM_Classics06117&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=11804&utm_medium=email&elq2=ce51e6f16ce447998c8b899c83e1521b
This article is an review and summary of LTE technology and an introduction to LTE Advanced, the 4G cellular technology.
LTE is likely the most complex wireless system ever developed. It incorporates features that could not have been economically implemented as recently as a decade ago. Today, with large-scale ICs, LTE can be easily accommodated in basestations and battery-powered handsets alike. The complexity is a function of the advanced wireless methods used as well as the many options and features that can be implemented.Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is being adopted around the world as the primary cell-phone communications service. Multiple 2G and 3G cellular radio methods are being phased out as carriers build their new LTE networks. It will be years before this expansion is complete, and older radio technologies like GSM and CDMA will coexist with LTE for a while
In the meantime, the next phase of the LTE standards as put forth by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is ready to be deployed.1 Called LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), this significant upgrade to the LTE standard will provide more speed and greater reliability.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IEEE frees up 802.3bz, the 2.5/5GBase-T standard; ‘Tier 5′ data center standard launches: The week’s top stories
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2017/06/ieee-switch-stds-top5.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-06-26
1.) IEEE 802.3bz, the 2.5/5GBase-T standard, available for free download
Through the IEEE Get program, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has made IEEE 802.3bq, the standard for 2.5GBase-T and 5GBase-T, available for free download. The standard’s official title is IEEE 802.3bz – 2016: IEEE Standard for Ethernet Amendment 7: Media Access Control Parameters, Physical Layers, and Management Parameters for 2.5 Gb/s and 5 Gb/s Operation, Types 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T.
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2017/06/ieee-8023bz-5gbaset-standard-free-download.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Broadband: Evolving Beyond the Big Dumb Pipe
http://www.broadbandtechreport.com/articles/2017/06/broadband-evolving-beyond-the-big-dumb-pipe.html
Broadband services are treated as a commodity by service providers and their customers when based on a simple “speed plus price” service model. During the “go-go” days of exponential subscriber growth, this was entirely sufficient to meet the business objectives of network service providers: There is no need to worry about a customer leaving if three new customers are signing up. Why try to optimize broadband margins when home phone and TV deliver profitability?
This is no longer true. As video and home phone services move over-the-top (OTT) and traditional revenues erode, strategic broadband economics have never been more important. As markets mature, the simple “big dumb pipe” plan no longer meets the evolving and differentiating needs of the market, representing lost opportunity to network service providers.
Strategic planning for the innovation era
How do service providers make the change from utility to innovation service models? They start by laying the foundations for innovations that provide service insights, development agility, and industry partnerships. Strategic planners in technology and product management need to introduce these three enablers of innovation success:
Gather subscriber insights: Understanding your subscriber usage patterns and trends is a critical first step towards developing the right services portfolio for your market. Use the subscriber usage metered data to define subscriber segments, correlate usage to network utilization, and strategically offer services that reflect real value to customers. This information will be critical to creating service models that deliver revenue and cost savings benefits.
Enable agile development and delivery: Go beyond the buzzwords and implement a structured environment from development to service delivery. Use policy-based service definitions to accelerate time to market.
Leverage strategic partners: You might be first in your market to roll out a particular service, but chances are that something like this has been done before. Find the people who have already crossed the chasm. These trailblazers not only deliver a technology solution but their ability to think strategically also provides benefits across the product lifecycle.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What’s The Difference Between IEEE 802.11ac And 802.11ad?
http://www.mwrf.com/test-amp-measurement/what-s-difference-between-ieee-80211ac-and-80211ad?code=UM_Classics06117&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=11700&utm_medium=email&elq2=2c3b139545724970830b5e1e51a423ee
The IEEE 802.11ac and 802.11ad specifications both promise to deliver increased capacity, speed, and performance in different ways, allowing users on-the-go to enjoy even their highest-data-rate applications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Defeat Serial-Interface Attenuation/Distortion with Equalization and Repeaters
http://www.electronicdesign.com/analog/defeat-serial-interface-attenuationdistortion-equalization-and-repeaters?NL=ED-003&Issue=ED-003_20170626_ED-003_87&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=11749&utm_medium=email&elq2=b69bbb711e3d4638acf867e848c8db02
Sponsored by: Texas Instruments. Programmable linear equalization coupled with the latest repeater ICs can open up a “clear path” to optimized signal quality.
Transmitting high-speed data over a cable or printed-circuit-board (PCB) path will significantly attenuate and distort the signal. Transmission paths are usually transmission lines that introduce losses of 30 dB or more. Signal rounding, noise, jitter, and other distortions introduce additional problems, resulting in bit errors or the inability to recover the signal. Most serial interfaces with data rates of 10 Gb/s or more require some assistance from repeaters and equalizers.
While good signal-path design is essential, any problems can usually be corrected with the latest interface ICs that provide signal boost and adjustable equalization. The secret to achieving the best signal quality is to optimize the link’s equalization. This article looks at signal-path design and the use of contemporary serial-interface ICs to implement the best data links.
The best way to judge a fast serial interface is to evaluate its bit error rate (BER). It’s usually established by the interface standard, but typically falls in the 10-10 to 10-18 range.
Fast rise and fall times produce an open “eye,” indicating good signal integrity. Attenuation and distortion over the signal path reduce signal amplitude and lengthen the rise and fall times, which in turn closes the “eye” and increases BER. Noise, jitter, and inter-symbol interference (ISI) produce other detrimental eye conditions. Today, regardless of the signal path, these issues can be resolved with available equalizers, repeaters, and retimers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cabling standards potpourri: The week’s top stories
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2017/06/cabling-standards-top-stories.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-07-03
TIA-942-B Data Center Standard approved for publication
PoE-related amendments proposed to the 2017 NEC
TIA-1179-A cabling standard for healthcare facilities approved
BICSI 001-2017 standard for educational facilities
TIA begins four standards projects for single-twisted-pair cabling
From commercial spaces to intelligent buildings and industrial spaces, single-pair cabling will support the reduced size, higher density, and greater flexibility required by IoT devices.
TIA begins four standards projects for single-twisted-pair cabling
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2017/06/tia-standards-single-twisted-pair-cabling.html
At its meeting held in June, the Telecommunications Industry Association’s TR-42 Telecommunications Cabling Systems Engineering Committee initiated four standards projects related to single-twisted-pair cabling systems.
One of those projects is the effort that ultimately will result in the publication of ANSI/TIA-568.5, specifying single-twisted-pair cabling and components. The standard will provide specifications for cables, connectors, cords, links and channels using one-pair connectivity in non-industrial networks, according to a working statement of the standard’s scope. The standard will be geared toward what are called “MICE1” environments. MICE is an acronym for mechanical, ingress, climatic, and electromagnetic. The TIA-1005 standard series includes MICE tables, which numerically characterize the network environment’s severity for each of the four conditions. The higher the number, the more severe the environment. In practical application, a MICE1 environment is a commercial office space.
Another effort that TR-42 initiated in June is an addendum (Addendum 2) to the ANSI/TIA-568.0-D standard. The addendum will add single balanced twisted-pair use cases, topology and architecture to the standard. “The standard will include installation requirements and additional guidelines for transitioning from 4-pair to 1-pair cabling,” says an early-stage scope of the standard.
Also on TR-42’s docket, Addendum 2 to the ANSI/TIA-862-B Structured Cabling Infrastructure Standard for Intelligent Building Systems. Like the addendum to the 568.0-D spec, this one will add use cases, topology, and architecture for single-pair cabling. Additionally, this document will provide single-twisted-pair cabling guidelines for emerging Internet of Things and machine-to-machine (M2M) applications that will require higher density, reduced size, and greater flexibility than can be provided by existing technology.
Finally, Addendum 4 to the ANSI/TIA-1005-A Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Industrial premises will specify cables, connectors, cords, links and channels using one-pair connectivity in MICE2 and MICE3 environments.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Trends in fiber-optic cabling termination styles
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/print/volume-19/issue-1/features/trends-in-fiber-optic-cabling-termination-styles.html
Fiber-optic installations will likely continue to proliferate for decades to come.
Heat cure epoxy and polish. This termination style was the original fiber-optic termination, which is still popular with high-volume installation or factory assembly houses due to its low cost, low loss and overall dependable and stable performance. This style is typically too cumbersome for field use, and unless done in a controlled environment, the yield will be low.
Easy cure epoxy and polish (hot-melt, anaerobic, etc.). This termination style is popular with contractors who have gotten accustomed to this type of termination.
No-epoxy/no-polish connectors (prepolished connectors with mechanical splice).This style of fiber-optic termination is the fastest and easiest to install, making it a popular choice for anyone who needs to terminate optical fiber in the field. Latest advancements in this type of connector have improved yield, and little or no training is required. The downside is that these connectors are relatively expensive
In addition, proprietary tooling is required, and there is the possibility of back reflection issues with some singlemode applications.
Fusion splicing of factory preterminated pigtails. Also popular with telcos, long-distance carriers, and the military, this type of termination method offers performance that is as good as a factory preterminated connector with very low back reflection. Again, this termination method requires an expensive fusion splicer, and connector costs are at a mid-price point.
Factory preterminated multifiber assemblies. Popular with end users and installation contractors, this termination type requires no training and no startup costs, and is the best and most reliable factory termination with very low back reflection.
Since the late 1970s, various connectors and termination methods have been brought to market. The goal for each new connector or termination method has been better performance (less light loss and reflectance) and easier, faster, and less expensive termination. Early fibers were fragile and difficult to work with, and in the beginning, oven-cure epoxy connectorization was the only game in town. Then hot-melt and anaerobic epoxies made termination a little easier with their no-fuss bonding procedures. However, they still required polishing, which is labor intensive and reduces yield. Early crimp type (no-epoxy) designs eliminated the use of epoxy altogether but still required polishing. The inevitable demise of virtually all the crimp (no-epoxy) connectors was due to their notorious unreliability, and there is only one system on the market today whose manufacturer claims high reliability.
Early on, mechanical field splices were considered to be a fast, economical, and easy way to join two fibers together. They coexisted with both epoxy/polish connectors and factory preterminated assemblies for years. Then the two styles were married, giving rise to the present day no-epoxy/no-polish connectors, which are currently available in OM1, OM2, and OM3 multimode optical fiber types and singlemode optical fiber.
Factory pretermination brought forth a huge advantage to those engaged in field installation work.
Until recently, terminating connectors onto singlemode cable in the field was considered impractical. Over the years of modern fiber-optic termination, it has become popular to fusion splice pigtails with connector ends that were factory preterminated onto the singlemode fiber strands. Hence, fusion splice connectors were born.
Fusion splice connector systems are ideal for high-end demanding applications that require the most robust, reliable terminations under the harshest conditions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Harting launches new industrial connectivity options, says new port will ‘replace RJ45 as the industry standard’
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2017/06/harting-disruptive-industrial.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-07-03
As quoted by a recent article in Control Engineering Europe magazine, which covers the control, instrumentation and automation systems industry, Gavin Stoppel of industrial connectivity specialist Harting recently held forth on “integrated industry and the future of smart factories.”
“A key theme within Integrated Industry is the growing trend of miniaturization, specifically with regards to connectivity,” he adds. “In particular, saving space is crucial while still providing the same amount of power, signal and data. Harting strives to provide solutions that deliver maximum performance, and the introduction of three major new connectivity developments — the ix Industrial, M8 D-coded and T1 Industrial — represent a big step forward in this direction.”
Detailing each new connector, Harting’s Stoppel states:
– “The ix Industrial is set to replace RJ45 as the industry standard, combining compactness with robustness for harsh industrial applications. Providing a standardized interface according to IEC/PAS 61076-3-124, this product is cost-effective and gives users investment security as well as providing the correct contact point for future applications in the IoT.”
– “Likewise, the M8 D-coded is pushing the boundaries set by the traditional M8 connector, which only transmits signals. The M8 D-coded avoids taking up further space with additional power interfaces by simultaneously supplying data and power to field equipment with its PoE-capability in D-coding. Unlike its M12 counterpart, it occupies 30% less space on a circuit board, adding to its space-saving benefits.”
– “Even more exciting is the T1 Industrial – a single-pair Ethernet solution that increases the ease of implementing Ethernet whilst remaining cost-effective. While normal Ethernet requires either 2-wire pairs or 4-wire pairs, the T1 will create a new standard for the industry which defines a transmission channel over an unshielded twisted-pair cable with a length of up to 15 m for on-board passenger car networks and shielded cabling up to 40 m for use in automation and in the rail and aviation industry. An IEEE working group is already developing the 10Base-T1 Extended Reach Standard. This standard could replace all conventional field buses with Ethernet through the extension of transmission distances to a planned 15,500 m.”
Integrated industry and the future of smart factories
http://www.controlengeurope.com/article/133945/Integrated-industry-and-the-future-of-smart-factories.aspx
Commonly known as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) or Industry 4.0, Integrated Industry is the concept of a fully connected manufacturing system, where there is communication at each stage of the production process, says Gavin Stoppel of Harting.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The software-defined-everything age reaches professional AV
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/print/volume-25/issue-6/features/installation/the-software-defined-everything-age-reaches-professional-av.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-07-03
The SDx (software-defined-whatever) era is reaching professional audio-visual (AV) networks. In January the SDVoE (Software-Defined Video over Ethernet) Alliance announced its formation with a stated mission “to standardize the adoption of Ethernet to transport AV signals in professional AV environments, and to create an ecosystem around SDVoE technology that allows software to define AV applications.”
The alliance’s founding members are AptoVision, Aquantia, Christie Digital, Netgear, Sony, and ZeeVee. The alliance contended these founding organizations “bring different perspectives to the SDVoE initiative, spanning the entire ecosystem with expertise in chipsets (AptoVision, Aquantia), switches and storage (Netgear), and AV endpoints (Christie Digital, Sony, ZeeVee). The alliance’s president, Justin Kennington – a director with AptoVision – commented, “For years we have lived with the idea that AV/IT convergence is coming. The SDVoE Alliance and its technology finally provide the platform that is necessary to enable it. Using 10-Gbit Ethernet hardware to move video with flawless quality and zero latency is only the beginning. The creation of a software platform enables the development of whole new classes of applications not yet conceived.”
The alliance further explained that the use of Ethernet switches will enable more-cost-effective architectures for AV signal distribution, and Ethernet-based AV networks will provide a reliable and more-versatile alternative to point-to-point extension and circuit switches. Furthermore, the alliance said, it seeks to facilitate AV/IT convergence such that high-quality AV networks and data networks can simultaneously share a single infrastructure platform.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Report: AT&T sets XGS-PON trial for later this year
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/pt/2017/06/report-at-t-sets-xgs-pon-trial-for-later-this-year.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-07-03
AT&T will conduct a 10Gbps XGS-PON field trial in late 2017 as part of its plan to virtualize access functions within the last mile network, reports Light Reading. The next-generation PON trial will aim to give consumer and business customers multi-gigabit per second (Gbps) internet speeds. The goal is to support the merging of all services on a single network, including 5G wireless infrastructure.
AT&T Sets XGS-PON Trial for 2017
http://www.lightreading.com/gigabit/fttx/atandt-sets-xgs-pon-trial-for-2017/d/d-id/734111
AT&T will conduct a 10Gbps XGS-PON field trial in late 2017 as part of its plan to virtualize access functions within the last mile network.
The next-generation PON trial will aim to give consumer and business customers multi-gigabit per second (Gbps) internet speeds. The goal is to support the merging of all services on a single network, including 5G wireless infrastructure.
Customers are requiring faster internet speeds because of bandwidth-heavy applications like virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. XGS-PON helps networks handle the bandwidth from these cutting-edge technologies.
“Software-defined networks and XGS-PON are a natural step along the evolutionary path of PON technology,” said Eddy Barker, assistant vice president, Access Architecture and Design, AT&T. “This is another way we’re enhancing our network and staying ahead of changing consumer and business needs.”
XGS-PON is a fixed wavelength symmetrical 10Gbps passive optic network technology. It also can coexist with the current GPON technology. It can provide 4X the existing downstream bandwidth. And it’s as cost-effective as GPON.
AT&T’s vision is to put some of XGS-PON in the cloud with software. Open hardware and software designs speed innovation. It will save time needed to manage, deliver, monitor, troubleshoot and provide care services to customers.
AT&T worked with ON.Lab to develop and test ONOS (Open Network Operating System) and VOLTHA (Virtual Optical Line Terminator Hardware Abstraction) software. It hides the lower level details of the silicon. AT&T also submitted several open white box XGS OLT designs to the Open Compute Project (OCP) and are working with them for approval.
Tomi Engdahl says:
FTC Clears Broadcom’s Acquisition of Brocade
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331973&
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved Broadcom Ltd.’s $5.9 billion acquisition of Brocade Communications Systems Inc. after Broadcom agreed to establish a “firewall” to prevent Brocade from accessing proprietary information about Broadcom customer Cisco Systems Inc.’s fibre channel switches.
Broadcom announced in November it would acquire Broadcom for $5.9 billion to add Broadcom’s fibre channel switches to round out its network storage business. The deal calls for Broadcom to subsequently sell Broadcom’s Ethernet networking business for an expected $1-2 billion.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ONF/ON.Lab’s ONOS Project
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/onfonlabs-onos-project?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+linuxjournalcom+%28Linux+Journal+-+The+Original+Magazine+of+the+Linux+Community%29
Networks have become indispensable infrastructure in modern society. The danger is that these networks tend to be closed, proprietary, complex, operationally expensive and inflexible, all of which impede innovation and progress rather than enable them. Presenting an alternative vision—that networking can serve the public interest—is the Open Network Operating Sytem, or ONOS Project. ONOS is an open-source, software-defined networking (SDN) OS for service providers that has scalability, high availability, high performance and abstractions to simplify creation of apps and services. The platform is based on a solid architecture and quickly has matured to be feature-rich and production-ready.
Recently ONF/ON.Lab announced availability of a new ONOS release that broadens the ability to bring SDN and NFV agility to mission-critical networks. By adding support for “incremental SDN” alongside the “disruptive SDN” capabilities for which it long has been known, ONOS now can address an ever-wider array of deployment scenarios.
http://onosproject.org/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The best European WiFi router runs over 7 gigabits per second
For the second year in a row, Netgear has won the European Hardware Awards competition in the wireless router series. Europe’s best wifi router was chosen as the Nighthawk X10, which reaches a maximum of 7200 megabits per second.
The Nighthawk X10 was released last fall and is the first router with built-in Plex Media Server software. It is also the market’s fastest streaming and extremely fast backup router.
The Nighthawk X10 is equipped with an efficient quad-core processor and the latest WiFi technologies, including 60 gigahertz 802.11ad technology for high-speed close-ups, and four parallel frequencies Wave2 WiFi technology in theory can reach 4600 + 1733 + 800 megabits per second. X10 and thus the home network can be managed remotely with Netgear’s mobile application.
Most wifi networks X10′s performance is like shooting a mosquito missile. In Finland, the average net speed in June was just over 20 megabits per second in June.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6537-euroopan-paras-reititin-junttaa-yli-7-gigabittia-sekunnissa
Tomi Engdahl says:
Julie Bort / Business Insider:
FTC: Broadcom agrees to provide separate facilities and IT systems for Cisco chip production after Brocade deal to remedy anti-competitive concerns
Cisco is relieved the FTC stepped in to protect it from its competitor
http://nordic.businessinsider.com/cisco-happy-ftc-will-limit-broadcom-with-brocade-2017-7?op=1&r=US&IR=T
On Monday, the FTC said that it was putting special provisions in place to protect Cisco from potential damage from the acquisition of its competitor, Brocade.
Chipmaker Broadcom got the regulatory nod on Monday to acquire Brocade in a $5.9 billion deal. (The deal was announced in November.)
Brocade makes equipment to build computer networks and also to build networks specifically designed for computer storage, known as “fibre channel switches.” There’s two big players in this fibre channel market, Brocade and Cisco.
The problem is Broadcom makes a lot of chips for all sorts of networking products, and one of its big customers is Cisco. Right from the start, Broadcom said it would sell off Broadcom’s general networking equipment business. It didn’t want to give the impression that it was competing with its customers. It wanted Brocade for its storage business.
But Cisco wasn’t exactly comfortable with that idea and the FTC agreed. Broadcom proposed one more restriction: it said it would also “firewall off” the chip-making unit working with Cisco products from Brocade.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Charlie Osborne / ZDNet:
Nokia and Xiaomi sign a business collaboration agreement and multi-year patent deal, which includes cross-licensing for cellular standard essential patents — The deal will give the companies access to a wider pool of patents and equipment. — Nokia and Xiaomi have signed …
Nokia, Xiaomi sign patent sharing agreement
The deal will give the companies access to a wider pool of patents and equipment.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/nokia-xiaomi-sign-smartphone-patent-agreement/
Nokia and Xiaomi have signed a patent licensing agreement to share cellular and network knowledge, patents, and equipment.
On Wednesday, the Finnish network equipment maker and Chinese smartphone maker said they have signed a business collaboration agreement and a multi-year patent deal, which includes a cross-license to each other’s cellular standard-essential patents.
According to the companies, Xiaomi has also purchased patent assets from Nokia as part of the agreement.
Under the terms of the deal, Nokia and Xiaomi will work together on optical communications solutions for data centers, IP Routing for the Nokia FP4 processor, and a data center fabric solution.
Nokia will provide network infrastructure equipment for the projects, and both firms will also collaborate on research in areas including the Internet of Things (IoT), augmented and virtual reality, and artificial intelligence.
Nokia already has licensing agreements with smartphone manufacturers including Samsung and Apple
Tomi Engdahl says:
Julie Bort / Business Insider:
FTC: Broadcom agrees to provide separate facilities and IT systems for Cisco chip production after Brocade deal to remedy anti-competitive concerns
Cisco is relieved the FTC stepped in to protect it from its competitor
http://nordic.businessinsider.com/cisco-happy-ftc-will-limit-broadcom-with-brocade-2017-7?op=1&r=US&IR=T
On Monday, the FTC said that it was putting special provisions in place to protect Cisco from potential damage from the acquisition of its competitor, Brocade.
Chipmaker Broadcom got the regulatory nod on Monday to acquire Brocade in a $5.9 billion deal. (The deal was announced in November.)
Brocade makes equipment to build computer networks and also to build networks specifically designed for computer storage, known as “fibre channel switches.” There’s two big players in this fibre channel market, Brocade and Cisco.
The problem is Broadcom makes a lot of chips for all sorts of networking products, and one of its big customers is Cisco. Right from the start, Broadcom said it would sell off Broadcom’s general networking equipment business. It didn’t want to give the impression that it was competing with its customers. It wanted Brocade for its storage business.
But Cisco wasn’t exactly comfortable with that idea and the FTC agreed. Broadcom proposed one more restriction: it said it would also “firewall off” the chip-making unit working with Cisco products from Brocade. It agreed that any information about the chips it manufacturers for Cisco cannot somehow find their way into the hands of the Brocade unit, to be used to compete against Cisco.
This means the business group that works on Cisco chips must “have separate facilities and a separate information technology system with security protocols that allow access only to authorized individuals” and to institute other protections to ensure none of Cisco’s information winds up in the hands of the Brocade unit.
On top of that, the FTC is going to appoint someone to monitor Broadcom/Brocade for five years
Tomi Engdahl says:
The fiber leads to 5G networks
Elisa takes a new step towards 5G technology by building a 4G mobile base station using the fiber optic net in the first area of the small area to Espoo Nuotaniemi. The solution brings faster and higher-quality mobile broadband connections and underpins the introduction of 5G technology in the future.
Elisa improves its fixed network by introducing fiber optic networks into small area areas as part of the FTTC / VDSL network construction. FTTC Block Fiber Technology can also be used to connect 4G mobile base stations to the fiber optic network in the small area.
“With our ongoing fixed network improvement projects, we are creating the capabilities for the future 5G network,” says Elisa’s Business Manager Matias Castrén . The construction of new base stations requires flexible cooperation between operators and authorities.
Elisa takes a new step towards 5G technology by building a 4G mobile base station using the fiber optic net in the first area of the small area to Espoo Nuotaniemi. The solution brings faster and higher-quality mobile broadband connections and underpins the introduction of 5G technology in the future.
Elisa improves its fixed network by introducing fiber optic networks into small area areas as part of the FTTC / VDSL network construction. FTTC Block Fiber Technology can also be used to connect 4G mobile base stations to the fiber optic network in the small area.
“With our ongoing fixed network improvement projects, we are creating the capabilities for the future 5G network,” says Elisa’s Business Manager Matias Castrén . The construction of new base stations requires flexible cooperation between operators and authorities.
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/07/06/korttelikuituverkko-vie-kohti-5g-verkkoja/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cox expands home Internet data caps, while CenturyLink abandons them
Meanwhile, Cox has plans to charge extra for unlimited data.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/07/cox-expands-home-internet-data-caps-while-centurylink-abandons-them/
There’s good news and bad news on data caps for home Internet users.
Cox, the third largest US cable company, last week started charging overage fees to customers in four more states. Internet provider CenturyLink, on the other hand, recently ended an experiment with data caps and is giving bill credits to customers in the state of Washington who were charged overage fees during the yearlong trial.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
Google and Facebook confirm they will join other companies in a July 12 “day of action” opposing the FCC’s plan to change net neutrality rules — The fight over net neutrality just got more interesting as two tech giants said they will step off the sidelines and join a so-called …
Google and Facebook Give Net Neutrality Campaign a Boost
http://fortune.com/2017/07/07/net-neutrality-google/
The fight over net neutrality just got more interesting as two tech giants said they will step off the sidelines and join a so-called “day of action” on July 12, which aims to preserve rules that forbid Internet providers from favoring some websites over others.
Until now, Google and Facebook—which have been staunch supporters of net neutrality in the past—have stayed out of the debate. But this week, they confirmed they will join other companies in telling consumers to oppose the FCC’s plan to tear up the current rules.
The two tech giants have yet to explain what specific actions—such as displaying a banner on their homepage—they will take. In emails to Fortune, spokespeople for Facebook and Google confirmed the companies will participate but declined to provide additional details.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Harris / Wired:
Space Data, which is suing Alphabet over patents and trade secret theft, got USPTO to cancel key Project Loon balloon control patent claims last month
The Lawsuit That Could Pop Alphabet’s Project Loon Balloons
https://www.wired.com/story/the-lawsuit-that-could-pop-alphabets-project-loon-balloons
Last summer, a small company called Space Data sued Alphabet’s ‘moonshot’ X division. At issue was its effort to deliver internet access to remote areas by balloon, known as Project Loon.
At first, not much happened. Space Data alleged patent infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breach of contract related to a failed acquisition bid in 2008. But last month, Space Data pulled off something big: It convinced the US Patent and Trademark Office to cancel most of one of Project Loon’s foundational patents, and say that Space Data came up with the idea first. Loon’s patent for changing a balloon’s direction by adjusting its altitude—a core feature of both systems—is now legally back in Space Data’s hands.
For Alphabet, the outcome is an unfortunate first. It has never before had any of its 36,000 patents change hands because of “interference,” the term for when a patent describes the same invention as an earlier filing from another company.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Matt Day / The Seattle Times:
Microsoft unveils $10B Rural Airband Initiative to bring better broadband to 23.4M Americans, to start efforts in 12 states by offering seed money to local ISPs
Microsoft proposing $10B program to bring broadband internet to rural America
http://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/microsoft-proposing-10b-program-to-bring-broadband-internet-to-rural-america/
Microsoft plans on Tuesday to propose using technology it helped develop as a cornerstone of an effort to connect the 23.4 million Americans in rural areas who lack high-speed internet access.
Microsoft is set to propose a $10 billion program to bring broadband internet to the rural U.S., an economic-development program aimed at a core constituency of the Trump administration.
The plan, which calls for corporate and government cash, relies on nascent television “white-space” technology, which sends internet data over unused broadcast frequencies set aside for television channels.
In an event scheduled for Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Microsoft is to propose using the technology it helped develop as a cornerstone of an effort to connect the 23.4 million Americans in rural areas who lack high-speed internet access.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Who’s Who of Net Neutrality’s ‘Day of Action’
https://www.wired.com/story/the-whos-who-of-net-neutralitys-day-of-action/
You’re probably used to pop-ups on websites begging you to sign-up for an email newsletter, enter a contest, or watch an ad. But tomorrow the web will be plastered in a different sort of pop-up as some the tech’s biggest companies fight to maintain a free and open internet.
Tomorrow, sites across the web will place alerts on their pages encouraging people to send letters to the FCC asking the agency not to jettison net neutrality. Hundreds of companies and organizations plan to participate in this so-called “Day of Action,” from giants such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Netflix to Reddit, Etsy, PornHub, Spotify, and even some smaller internet service providers like Ting and Sonic.
The plan is reminiscent of a similar campaign in January 2012, when countless websites, including Google, Wikipedia, and WIRED, blacked out parts of their pages to raise awareness about a pair of draconian intellectual property reform bills known as SOPA and PIPA that Congress was debating at the time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft to employ unused TV channels to offer rural broadband
https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/11/microsoft-to-employ-unused-tv-channels-to-offer-rural-broadband/
MenuTechCrunch
Microsoft to employ unused TV channels to offer rural broadband
Posted 2 hours ago by Darrell Etherington (@etherington)
Every internet company these days has a plan for connecting people who don’t otherwise have reliable connectivity – Microsoft’s play will utilize unused TV broadcast channels, also called ‘white spaces,’ to get broadband internet to rural communities in the U.S. The New York Times reports that Microsoft’s pilot project will include offering white space broadband to communities in 12 states, with the potential to bring an additional two million Americans into the high-speed fold.
The technology isn’t new – Microsoft and others have been trying to tackle the problem since at least 2008.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Horns Across America: The AT&T Long Lines Network
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/10/horns-across-america-the-att-long-lines-network/
Long Lines
Post-war America had a connection problem — huge populations on the coasts and around the Great Lakes, with scattered and smaller cities between. Stitching these population centers together with telephone cables had already largely been completed as part of the American Telephone and Telegraph Long Lines network. But the twisted pair and coax cables of the early voice network were ill-suited for the higher bandwidth needs that AT&T’s engineers knew were on the horizon.
Without being able to force more bandwidth down the installed cables, and with existing shortwave radio links suffering from similar bandwidth limits plus the vagaries of ionospheric propagation, AT&T engineers went up the spectrum — way up. Leveraging work from a 1944 trial system AT&T built to link Boston and New York, AT&T started to plan a coast-to-coast network of microwave relay stations in the C-band from 4 to 8 GHZ that would not only carry hundreds of simultaneous telephone calls, but would yield enough bandwidth to carry the newness of the day — television signals.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AT&T Pretends To Love Net Neutrality, Joins Tomorrow’s Protest With A Straight Face
from the Dracula-supports-blood-donors’-rights dept
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/netneutrality/articles/20170711/09523137764/att-pretends-to-love-net-neutrality-joins-tomorrows-protest-with-straight-face.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
The FCC Insists It Can’t Stop Impostors From Lying About My Views On Net Neutrality
from the simply-Comcastic dept
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/netneutrality/articles/20170710/10071737756/fcc-insists-it-cant-stop-impostors-lying-about-my-views-net-neutrality.shtml
So we’ve been talking for months now about how the Trump FCC has quite intentionally turned a blind eye to fraudulent comments being posted to the agency’s net neutrality proceeding, since the lion’s share of these bogus comments support the agency’s plan to gut the popular consumer protections. Numerous people say they’ve had their identities lifted by somebody that has used a bot to populate the agency’s comment system with hundreds-of-thousands of fake comments supporting the telecom-industry backed effort. Calls by these folks (and a few Senators) for an investigation have been simply ignored.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Romania – The Little Country That Has Faster Internet than the United States
http://www.dospeedtest.com/blog/romania-the-little-country-that-has-faster-internet-than-the-united-states/
“Today, people living in Bucharest, Romania have access to much faster Internet than most of the US. That’s unacceptable and must change.”
- – Senator Bernie Sanders
Aside more the laughs, it is a fact that internet speeds in America are not the best in the world.
Let’s look at the facts – according to the data that is available from our servers, the US peak connection speeds are about 48.8 Mbps, which makes the United States the nation with the 17 th fastest average internet speed in the world. It’s not the same everywhere – rural areas in the U.S. only have an internet speed of around 7 Mbps.
Now, Romania on the other hand has a peak internet speed of 58.7 Mbps, which makes it the nation with the 6 th fastest internet in the world. Impressive!
Apart from just internet speeds, Romania consumes more internet on an average than any European country. Romania has an average monthly traffic of 91 GB for fixed broadband lines. The internet penetration in Romania in urban areas is pretty high, at 75%. The country has set an ambitious target to achieve 100% internet penetration by 2020.
Also, Romania has a system of neighborhood networks, which means, Romania has small, localized networks built by young entrepreneurs, which serve very small customer bases of no more than a few blocks in the city.
So what you have in Romania are very small, local area networks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Thuy Ong / The Verge:
Amazon, Reddit, Netflix, Airbnb, Spotify, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and many others in tech are rallying today in support of net neutrality — Amazon, Reddit, Facebook, Google and Twitter are fighting the FCC’s changes — Technology giants like Amazon, Spotify, Reddit, Facebook, Google …
Tech giants rally today in support of net neutrality
Amazon, Reddit, Facebook, Google, and Twitter are fighting the FCC’s changes
https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/12/15957800/day-of-action-protest-net-neutrality
Technology giants like Amazon, Spotify, Reddit, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and many others are rallying today in a so-called “day of action” in support of net neutrality, five days ahead of the first deadline for comments on the US Federal Communications Commission’s planned rollback of the rules.
In a move that’s equal parts infuriating and exasperating, Ajit Pai, the FCC’s new chairman appointed by President Trump, wants to scrap the open internet protections installed in 2015 under the Obama administration. Those consumer protections mean providers such as AT&T, Charter, Comcast, and Verizon are prevented from blocking or slowing down access to the web.
Sites across the web will display alerts on their homepages showing “blocked,” “upgrade,” and “spinning wheel of death” pop-ups to demonstrate what the internet would look like without net neutrality, according to advocacy group Battle for the Net. But most of the pop-ups The Verge has seen have been simple banners or static text with links offering more information.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sean Captain / Fast Company:
Q&A with Evan Greer of the nonprofit Fight For The Future, who’s organizing today’s “Net Neutrality Day of Action” protest
Meet The Woman Leading The Fight To Save Net Neutrality
https://www.fastcompany.com/40439305/meet-the-woman-leading-the-fight-to-save-net-neutrality
Evan Greer is leading a coalition of the world’s biggest internet companies to mobilize users to fight the Trump administration’s rollback of rules.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Finland needs top-notch connections. The Ministry of Transport and Communications is preparing a new broadband strategy based on the mobile construction of a fiber network. In addition to 5G, promoting the construction of fiber optic networks is a key part of future measures.
The future plan will look for ways for the years 2025 and 2030. The new national broadband target is still technological neutral, that is, it would apply both to fiber reinforcement promotion and wireless broadband.
“In the future, capacity needs will only increase as digitalisation of digital business and digitalisation of public servics and digital entertainment become more intense”, says Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner.
The EU has set the target level for 2025 to make available 100 megabytes of connections throughout the EU with speeds up to 1 gigabit. Sweden aims at a fast connection of 1 Gbit / s in 98% of the population by 2025. It should also be in Finland.
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/07/13/suomi-valmistautuu-gigakauteen-kuitua-5gn-rinnalle/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The internet is fucked (again)
Why does this keep happening?
https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/12/15715030/what-is-net-neutrality-fcc-ajit-pai-bill-rules-repealed
FCC chairman Ajit Pai is fond of saying that “the internet was not broken in 2015” when he argues for repeal of our nation’s net neutrality rules. This is particularly funny to me, because in 2014 I literally wrote an article called “The internet is fucked.”
Why was it fucked? Because the free and open internet was in danger of becoming tightly controlled by giant telecom corporations that were already doing things like blocking apps and services from phones and excusing their own services from data caps. Because the lack of competition in the internet access market let these companies act like predatory monopolies. And because our government lacked the will or clarity to just say what everyone already knows: internet access is a utility.
The lack of competition in the broadband access market is so acute that it doesn’t matter if Comcast is still the most-hated company in America, or that Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable) has the worst customer service: you don’t have a choice, so you just have to pay them anyway. Consumers and tech publications can review and argue and debate the merits of products from Apple, Google, and Microsoft, but you just have to take what you get from your ISP.
Rolling back Title II is a massive corporate handout that will line the pockets of Comcast and AT&T, while doing nothing for the average American
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tony Romm / Recode:
Net neutrality Day of Action organizers estimate at least 10M saw Wednesday’s protest, with over 2M submitting comments to the FCC — Organizers say they reached more than 10 million users, but some of the largest tech companies seemed to hold back. — Facebook, Google, Twitter and other companies …
If you blinked, you missed yesterday’s net neutrality protest
Organizers say they reached more than 10 million users, but some of the largest tech companies seemed to hold back.
https://www.recode.net/2017/7/13/15964766/net-neutrality-protest-day-of-action-2017-data-fcc
Facebook, Google, Twitter and other companies, activists and startups that rallied in support of net neutrality on Wednesday probably aren’t going to stop the Trump administration from killing the rules currently on the government’s books.
But the organizers of the so-called “day of action” insist they reached more than 10 million users with their message, while generating at least 2.1 million comments urging the Federal Communications Commission to rethink its plans. That’s a drop in the bucket, seeing as the tech companies that took part in the protest reach billions of users every day — but the event’s planners stress that they’ve touched a nerve.
Those 10 million include anyone who saw (or, more likely, just dismissed) pop-ups and banners on supporting websites like Reddit and Medium.
And Battle for the Net collected its roughly 2.1 million comments by midnight Pacific Time through its own website, using a pre-written note to the FCC that touted the need for rules that prevent internet providers like AT&T and Verizon from blocking or slowing down web traffic.
Some of the web’s largest companies — including Amazon, Facebook and Google — took a more reserved approach. They didn’t darken their webpages, like some companies did during a massive online protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act, and their alerts to users weren’t always easy to find.
Instead, they pointed users toward a webpage set up by the Internet Association
The 2.1 million comments generated by Battle for the Net represented something of a record for the group
In total, the FCC has received 7.3 million comments in the debate from both sides of the net neutrality fight.
By Thursday morning, though, the FCC’s own comment database reflected that it had received more than 718,000 submissions related to net neutrality on July 12. That number is incomplete.
Zuckerberg even personally responded to one critic, who questioned whether Facebook itself had violated net neutrality through Internet.org, a project to provide free or low-cost, but limited, web access in countries that lack broadband. In India, at least, Facebook previously had faced immense blowback for its rollout of the initiative.
“There’s an important difference between blocking or charging extra for content, and providing services for free to help people who are not connected,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Video traffic raises mobile data
Mobile data traffic from the telecommunications operator DNA’s network grew by 60 per cent year-on-year. Most of them were video traffic. Typically, videos are downloaded from Netflix and Youtube. The same development is also with other operators in Finland.
According to a recent teleoperator DNA research, young people have increased their viewing of TV content. “Videos have come to stay on mobile devices”.
In 2016, DNA’s subscription and monthly average mobile data usage was 10.7 gigabytes. The average for the first half of 2017 is 14.8 gigabytes, and is now at 15.2 gigabyte level.
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/07/14/videoliikenne-nostaa-mobiilidataa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scott Moritz / Bloomberg:
Sources: ahead of Time Warner buy, AT&T plans to create telecom and media arms with separate CEOs, overseen by Randall Stephenson, who will become exec chairman — Co-chiefs to run separate communications and media businesses — Stephenson sheds CEO title, will oversee company as chairman
AT&T Is Said to Plan Major Organizational Changes After Deal
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-14/at-t-is-said-to-plan-to-elevate-stephenson-wall-off-time-warner
AT&T Inc. is planning major organizational changes to follow the $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc., including a redefined role for Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson, as the telecommunications giant morphs into a media company.
The separation of AT&T’s new divisions will be both geographical and cultural. The plan calls for AT&T to consolidate more of its service operations, like wireless, in its Dallas headquarters, where Donovan will be located. Glenn Lurie, who heads the wireless business, will be among the executives relocating to Dallas from Atlanta.
Stankey, who has led nearly every major unit at AT&T in his three-decade career, will run the media division from his California office. The business, comprised mostly of Time Warner, will stay intact with operations in New York and Los Angeles.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica UK:
Net neutrality Day of Action resulted in 3.4M emails to congress, 1.6M+ comments to FCC, but Comcast, Verizon, CenturyLink continue to seek less strict rules — Comcast, Verizon, and CenturyLink counter pro-net neutrality “Day of Action.” — Broadband providers made it clear this week …
Comcast says net neutrality supporters “create hysteria”
Comcast, Verizon, and CenturyLink counter pro-net neutrality “Day of Action.”
https://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2017/07/isps-want-to-save-net-neutrality-by-killing-fccs-net-neutrality-rules/
Broadband providers made it clear this week: they wholeheartedly support net neutrality… but they want to overturn those pesky net neutrality rules and replace them with something that isn’t so strict.
In fact, the way to truly protect net neutrality is to keep the Internet free of regulations, Internet provider CenturyLink wrote. “Keep the Internet Open and Free—Without Regulation” was the title of CenturyLink’s blog post Wednesday.
http://news.centurylink.com/blogs/policy/keep-the-internet-open-and-freewithout-regulation
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
The real problem in US is near total lack of ISP competition; FCC’s net neutrality plans only enable ISPs to extract more profits with no incentives to reinvest — Why does this keep happening? — FCC chairman Ajit Pai is fond of saying that “the internet was not broken in 2015” …
The internet is fucked (again)
Why does this keep happening?
https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/12/15715030/what-is-net-neutrality-fcc-ajit-pai-bill-rules-repealed
FCC chairman Ajit Pai is fond of saying that “the internet was not broken in 2015” when he argues for repeal of our nation’s net neutrality rules. This is particularly funny to me, because in 2014 I literally wrote an article called “The internet is fucked.”
Why was it fucked? Because the free and open internet was in danger of becoming tightly controlled by giant telecom corporations that were already doing things like blocking apps and services from phones and excusing their own services from data caps. Because the lack of competition in the internet access market let these companies act like predatory monopolies. And because our government lacked the will or clarity to just say what everyone already knows: internet access is a utility.
Most of these things are still true, even after the Obama-era FCC under Chairman Tom Wheeler reclassified internet access as a Title II telecommunications service and imposed strict net neutrality rules on wired and wireless internet providers. And most of these things will get even worse when Pai pushes through his plan to rescind Title II and those rules, despite widespread public outcry.
The lack of competition in the broadband access market is so acute that it doesn’t matter if Comcast is still the most-hated company in America, or that Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable) has the worst customer service: you don’t have a choice, so you just have to pay them anyway.
“I don’t think [reviewing ISPs] matters, because I don’t think anyone has any inkling that an ISP can be good,” my former colleague and current Wired tech reviewer David Pierce tells me. “It’s like reading Yelp reviews of Comcast — the best-case scenario is that you don’t think about it, and it only gets worse.”
89 percent of Americans only have one or two options for broadband, and one of them is often much slower than the other. This is not a situation ripe for fierce competition
We still pay more than other countries, find ourselves locked into more onerous contracts, and lack the ability to easily switch carriers
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dean Bubley / Dean Bubley’s Disruptive Wireless:
Both sides are wrong in net neutrality debate: they need to tone down the rhetoric, conduct proper field trials, and gradually apply proven solutions that work — I’ve been watching the ongoing shouting-match about Net Neutrality (on both sides of the Atlantic) with increasing exasperation.
Both sides are wrong in the Net Neutrality debate
http://disruptivewireless.blogspot.fi/2017/07/both-sides-are-wrong-in-net-neutrality.html
I’ve been watching the ongoing shouting-match about Net Neutrality (on both sides of the Atlantic) with increasing exasperation. Yesterday was a “day of action” by pro-neutrality activists, which seemed to raise the temperature yet further.
The problem? Pretty much everyone, on both sides (and on both sides of the Atlantic), is dead wrong a good % of the time. They’re not necessarily wrong on the same things, but overall the signal-to-noise ratio on NN is very poor.
There are countless logical fallacies being perpetrated by lobbyists and commentators of all stripes: strawman arguments, false dichotomies, tu-quoque, appeals to authority and all the rest. In fact, pretty much the whole collection.
Everyone’s analogies are useless too – networks aren’t pipes, or dumb. Packets don’t behave like fluids. Or cars on a road. There are no “senders”. It’s not like physical distribution or logistics. Even the word “neutrality” is dubious as a metaphor. The worst of all is “level playing field”. Anyone using it is being duplicitous, ignorant, or probably both.
And I get to see the same, tired – and often fallacious or irrelevant – arguments trotted out again and again.
Everyone is wrong.
In the US, the current mechanism for NN was to incorporate it under the FCC’s Title II rules. That was a clunky workaround
Some people assert that NN will reduce “investment” in networks, as it will preclude innovation. Others assert that NN increases overall investment
Most of the debate seems to centre on content – notably video streaming.
Meanwhile, most of the value in the Internet doesn’t come from content, but from applications, communications, cloud services and data transmission.
Lots of irrelevant comments on all sides about CDNs or paid-peering being examples of prioritisation
Lots of discussion about zero-rating or “sponsored data” paid for by 3rd-parties and whether they are right/wrong/distortions
Almost everyone in the US and Europe regulatory scene now agrees that outright blocking of certain services (eg VoIP) or trying to force specific application/web providers to pay an “access” toll fee is both undesirable or unworkable.
Lots of discussion about paid-for premium QoS on broadband, and whether or not it should apply to IoT, 5G, NFV/SDN, network-slicing, general developer-facing APIs and therefore allow different classes of service to be created, and winners/losers to be based on economic firepower. Leaving aside enterprise-grade MPLS and VPN services (where this is both permissible and possible), there’s a lot of nonsense talked here.
In summary – nearly anyone weighing in on Net Neutrality, on either side, is talking nonsense a good % of the time. (And yes, probably me too
Neutrality and what it really means for broadband, policy, 5G, network slicing, IoT and all the rest.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IETF moves meeting from USA to Canada to dodge Trump travel ban
https://www.theregister.co.uk/AMP/2017/07/16/trump_travel_ban_sees_ietf_move_meeting_from_usa_to_canada/
15 per cent of potential attendees don’t fancy trying to make it to San Francisco
The Internet Engineering Task Force has taken the rare (and possibly costly) decision to relocate an upcoming meeting out of America.
IETF 102, scheduled for mid-2018, was booked for the San Francisco Hilton, but instead will be held in the Fairmont Hotel in Montreal.
The reason, as announced by IETF Administrative Oversight Committee (IAOC) chair Leslie Daigle, is the President Donald Trump administration: American travel restrictions make attendance uncertain.
IETF 102: Change of venue, dates
https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ietf-announce/WS9N8eeO35tbe876-_6GmrgnSvY
Following up on concerns discussed at the beginning of 2017, the IAOC has effected a change of venue for the IETF 102 meeting in July of 2018. Instead of San Francisco, the meeting will now be held in Montreal at the Fairmont Hotel. Securing the venue for Montreal required changing the dates to one week earlier, i.e., to July 15-20, 2018.
Tomi Engdahl says:
LTE deployment continues: All the world is not 5G
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/rowe-s-and-columns/4458622/LTE-deployment-continues-All-the-world-is-not-5G?utm_content=buffer3df33&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear hype relating to 5G. Indeed, the theme of this year’s IEEE Microwave Symposium was “5G: Catch the wave” and 5G summits seem to take place monthly. Much of the 5G technology and technical standards are still in development, but that doesn’t mean that wireless carriers are sitting around waiting for it. There’s plenty of activity on the 4G/LTE front. Carriers are still bringing flavors of LTE online and the test industry is responding.
Although LTE deployment began in 2011, it’s far from complete. LTE-Advanced and now LTE-Advanced Pro are maximizing speed and connectivity in LTE networks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Disaster Recovery WiFi
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/20/hackaday-prize-entry-disaster-recovery-wifi/
The Meshpoint project originated in Croatia during the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis, when [Valent Turkovic] and other volunteers noticed that first responders, including NGOs like Greenpeace and the Red Cross, often struggled to set up communications in the field. They came to the conclusion that they couldn’t rely on the normal communications infrastructure because it was either damaged or overloaded.
The solution is a net of open source, autonomous WiFi mesh routers, scalable from a single team to serving thousands of people. Responders who won’t have time for a difficult login process, should find setup as easy as signing in to a social media site.
MeshPoint – wifi router for humanitarian crisis
https://hackaday.io/project/10453-meshpoint-wifi-router-for-humanitarian-crisis
Autonomous, smart, wifi mesh router which is easy to use by humanitarian NGO first responders during humanitarian or natural disasters.
Tomi Engdahl says:
For cars, the wireless pWLAN network will soon talk to each other
Automobile manufacturers will also develop techniques for improving the operation of modern cars in addition to robotic cars. New lane lifts will be supported by new technologies that enable cars to communicate with each other. It is capable of wireless IEEE 802.11p (pWLAN) network standard.
The links between vehicles and the transport infrastructure of vehicles and the surrounding area are an important step towards the future of networked motoring. Volkswagen announces that in 2019 it will start installing pWLAN technology as standard for the first models.
Data on new traffic risks will be transferred to other vehicles and the surrounding environment within a few milliseconds. Volkswagen’s technology is based on the automotive industry’s international standardization and testing of the IEEE 802.11p (pWLAN) standard.
This technology, specially developed for automotive applications, enables traffic information, warnings, and even data sharing for vehicle measurements in the neighborhood of milliseconds. This extends the car’s range of impact to several hundreds of meters and allows practically the viewing angle behind.
The new pWLAN standard enables data exchange between different car manufacturers. Information can be transferred from car to car (car-to-car) and from vehicle to transport (car-to-X). This makes it possible to, for example, the sharing of information on traffic jams and accidents quickly is always a half-mile distance.
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/07/19/autoihin-langaton-pwlan-verkko-juttelevat-pian-toisilleen/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11p
Tomi Engdahl says:
Telia and Nokia demos 5G transfer – 1 millisecond delay
Telia and Nokia tested the prototype of 5G networks at a 3.5 gigahertz rate in Helsinki. The transfer was done in co-operation with the current 4G network. The test achieved a very low 1-millisecond delay in the 5G network. 3.5GHz is becoming the most important frequency range for commercial 5G networks in the future.
Future robots and self-styled cars require a lesser delay in data transfer. ” It is only possible to implement the 5G network. At best, the online network will be near a 1-millisecond delay, as is the case today, “said Telia’s Technology Director Jari Collin.
Telia’s test included Nokia’s R & D base station solutions for the 3.5 GHz band. The band is also believed to be used for the first 5G networks and subscriber devices. In Demo, the second base station acted as a subscriber station for the 5G network.
“5G brings dramatic improvements to network speed, capacity and delay. This enhances many applications and allows for new ones. Our joint test with Telia is a testament to how 5G is gradually moving from talking to real user experiences, “says Research Manager Lauri Oksanen (pictured left) from Nokia Bell Labs
The test also demonstrated how Nokia’s technical solution allows the 4G and 5G network to be shared and the network to fluctuate accordingly. The test was carried out with AirScale and AirFrame base station solutions placed on Nokia’s frame.
The 3.5 GHz frequency used in the test is not yet in use, but the area is likely to be commercially available after 2018. The test was carried out with a temporary radio license granted to Telia.
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/07/20/telia-ja-nokia-demosivat-5g-siirtoa-1-millisekunnin-viive/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dell’Oro’s recent estimate is bad for Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei. According to the forecast, 5G technology will not boost base station sales before 2021. There are still three billing years ahead.
According to Dell’oro, Huawei has been in a better recession than its European competitors, but the figures of all three major manufacturers are now down. Ericsson has already warned that the slowdown in equipment sales will continue. The Swedish company’s drug is old-known: there are new billions of cuts in the face.
According to Dell’Oro, the sales of base station devices were at peak times in 2014. At that time, LTE investments by operators were the fastest growing and the base stations were globally sold at $ 33 billion.
Thereafter, the market has lost $ 4 billion. Over the next three years, the hardware manufacturers’ cake will lose six billion more before the 5G finally puts the equipment up again in growth.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6580-nokialla-edessa-kolme-laihaa-vuotta
Tomi Engdahl says:
In 2016, approximately EUR 590 million was invested in Finnish telecommunications networks, down 13 percent on the previous year. In particular, fixed network investments decreased by 33% compared to the previous year.
Investments in the mobile network increased by nine per cent due to the rise in intangible investment. Investments in TV and radio networks were 23 per cent more than in the previous year.
A total of 300 million were invested in the mobile network and about 240 million in the fixed network. In addition, some EUR 50 million was invested in TV and radio networks.
In 2016, real estate investments in the fixed broadband and telephone network as well as the mobile network amounted to about 77 euros per inhabitant in Finland, while in Sweden the sum was about double and in Norway as many as 213 euros.
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/07/18/teleoperattorit-saastelivat-kiinteissa-lisaa-kannykkaverkkoihin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
After multiple user reports of video throttling, Verizon admits it is testing a new video optimization system
Verizon accused of throttling Netflix and YouTube, admits to “video optimization”
Verizon claims mobile video experience not affected; some customers disagree.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/07/verizon-wireless-apparently-throttles-streaming-video-to-10mbps/
Verizon Wireless customers this week noticed that Netflix’s speed test tool appears to be capped at 10Mbps, raising fears that the carrier is throttling video streaming on its mobile network.
When contacted by Ars this morning, Verizon acknowledged using a new video optimization system but said it is part of a temporary test and that it did not affect the actual quality of video. The video optimization appears to apply both to unlimited and limited mobile plans.
But some YouTube users are reporting degraded video, saying that using a VPN service can bypass the Verizon throttling. The Federal Communications Commission generally allows mobile carriers to limit video quality as long as the limitations are imposed equally across different video services despite net neutrality rules that outlaw throttling. The net neutrality rules have exceptions for network management.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Satellites
Unhackable Quantum Networks Take to Space
http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/satellites/unhackable-quantum-networks-take-to-space
The dream of a space-based, nigh-unhackable quantum Internet may now be closer to reality, thanks to new experiments with Chinese and European satellites.
Pan and his colleagues have set a new record for entanglement by using a satellite to connect sites on Earth separated by up to 1,203 km. The main advantage of a space-based approach is that most of the interference that entangled photons face occurs in the 10 km or so of atmosphere closest to Earth’s surface. Above that, the photons encounter virtually no problems, the researchers say.
The researchers launched the quantum science experiment satellite (nicknamed Micius) from Jiuquan, China, in 2016. It orbits the planet at a speed of roughly 28,800 kilometers per hour and an altitude of roughly 500 km.
The record distance involved photons beamed from Micius to stations in the cities of Delingha and Lijiang. The experiments transmitted entangled photons with a 10^17 greater efficiency than the best optical fibers can achieve.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Serious DX: The Deep Space Network
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/21/serious-dx-the-deep-space-network/
Humanity has been a spacefaring species for barely sixty years now. In that brief time, we’ve fairly mastered the business of putting objects into orbit around the Earth, and done so with such gusto that a cloud of both useful and useless objects now surrounds us. Communicating with satellites in Earth orbit is almost trivial; your phone is probably listening to at least half a dozen geosynchronous GPS birds right now, and any ham radio operator can chat with the astronauts aboard the ISS with nothing more that a $30 handy-talkie and a homemade antenna.
The need for a way to talk to satellites was recognized very early on in the US space program, and development of the space communication network that would come to be known as the Deep Space Network (DSN) paralleled developments in space technology that quickly pushed hardware farther and farther from Earth. The DSN was built specifically so that each new mission didn’t need to roll its own communications solutions and could just leverage the current network. Networks for the ESA and for other countries’ space programs have since been built as well, and cooperation between all the network operators is commonplace, especially during emergencies.
JPL has a very cool interactive page that lists the current status of all the antennas in the DSN and what each one is doing. While I’m writing this, the 70 m dish in Madrid is sending a 19 kW signal to Voyager 1 and getting back a -154.27 dBm signal. That’s about 370 zeptowatts, but still enough signal to pull out 159 bits/second of data.
https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
RF Noise Floor Concerns From Both Sides Of The Atlantic
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/20/rf-noise-floor-concerns-from-both-sides-of-the-atlantic/
Our feed is full of stories about the RF noise floor today, and with good reason. The ARRL reports on the International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 president, [Don Beattie, G3BJ] warning that in densely populated parts of Europe there is a danger that parts of the RF spectrum have become so swamped with noise as to be rendered unusable, while on the other side of the Atlantic we have RadioWorld reporting on similar problems facing AM broadcasting in the USA.
At issue are the usual suspects, interference from poorly shielded or suppressed domestic electronic devices, VDSL broadband, power-over-Ethernet, solar and wind power systems, and a host of other RF-spewing electronics. The combined emissions from all these sources have raised the noise level at some frequencies to the point at which it conceals all but the strongest signals. Any radio amateur will tell you that a station in a rural location will be electrically much quieter than one in a city, it seems that this effect has now reached a crescendo.
It could be that there is so much equipment contributing to the noise floor that this battle is lost, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Anyone who has had to prepare a product to pass a properly carried out EMC test will tell you that the requirements are stringent, and it is thus obvious that many manufacturers are shipping products unworthy of the certification they display.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Report: Wireless IC Shipments to Spike by 54% by 2020
https://ipv6.net/news/report-wireless-ic-shipments-to-spike-by-54-by-2020-2/
Surging Wi-Fi traffic, new uses cases, and emerging IoT applications will result in a nearly 54% increase in wireless IC shipments by 2020, forecasts ABI Research. The short-range wireless connectivity market technologies – including ZigBee, Thread, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, and NFC – will continue to evolve to meet new market demands, as evident with various new and upcoming enhancements. These include Bluetooth 5 and Bluetooth Mesh, the ZigBee Alliance’s reveal of dotdot language for the IoT, Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah), WiGig (802.11ad), new Z-Wave security enhancements, and the growth of ICs that combine several of these connectivity solutions.
“The proliferation of multi-protocol ICs and devices will allow for much simpler product creations and quicker times to market regardless of the deployed technology,” says Andrew Zignani, Industry Analyst at ABI Research. “A prime example is Qorvo’s recent GP695 SoC product announcement that integrates multiple communication protocols, including IEEE 802.15.4, ZigBee, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The technology collaboration reduces complexity for IoT device designers by enabling them to take advantage of a single SKU development platform.”
Specifically, Bluetooth 5 speed enhancements will benefit wearables and other handheld devices that will sport quicker performance times, quicker data transfers and syncing, and faster firmware updates, all while keeping power consumption down. The higher speeds will also lead to improvements in future wireless audio applications. Mesh, which Bluetooth SIG remains set to standardize in 2017, will become increasingly vital to the support, creation, and enhancement of use cases that include smart lighting control, building automation, and condition monitoring. Mesh will help enable Bluetooth to compete in areas in which other technologies previously held the competitive advantage.
Wi-Fi’s continued evolution will come in the form of several new protocols. 802.11ax will focus on overall network efficiency improvements rather than simply boosting peak speeds. 60GHz WiGig (802.11ad) will improve Wi-Fi’s suitability for 4K streaming, docking, and VR applications. The sub-1GHz HaLow standard (802.11ah) will open up new opportunities in low-power and in an extended range of IoT applications.