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Tag Archives: Corporate Backbones
Is the Buzz Back in Infrastructure?
After a few days out of the office, I found myself yesterday thrown into a hectic schedule of analyst briefings and development calls. At the end of the day, one fact was undeniable – there’s a definite buzz in the optical networking space. As I mentioned in an earlier post, our global networks are at the first stage of what Infonetics Research is calling an optical reboot: The rebuilding of the networks’ core on a foundation of 40/100G, OTN and ROADM technologies.
The success of this rebuild is critical for every member of the networking ecosystem, from businesses aiming to leverage the latest cloud computing applications to reduce IT costs and complexities, to domestic users seeking to consume rich-media applications across a range of devices, and even service providers intent on providing a high-quality of service while at the same time growing profitably. The optical reboot is the first step to ensuring our networks evolve into a flexible infrastructure that can scale to meet tomorrow’s bandwidth demands.
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40/100G Ben Horowitz Cloud computing Corporate Backbones Dig Facebook Foursquare Grid/Cloud Computing Groupon Hardware Internet Bubble Long Haul Transport Metro Core Transport Mobile Backhaul New York Times Optical Optical Networking Optical Reboot OTN Packet Optical Transport ROADM San Connectivity Social Media Software Twitter Venture Capitalists Wireline Backhaul
Could Data Caps Tame the WiFi Explosion?
After the initial frenzy of the iPad 2 launch, interesting figures on just how popular Apple’s new tablet is are starting to emerge. According to some sources, the iPad 2 sold over one million during its first weekend of release. I find this figure incredible. One million units in two days. Apparently sales continue to be brisk and one can only imagine what figures will be seen when the device reaches global availability.
Aside from sending Apple’s profits higher, I also wonder what impact these sales will have on the network. In only two days, we suddenly have one million more users consuming and distributing rich media (I appreciate that a number of these users will be upgrading from the original iPad). FaceTime, Skype, Netflix, Hulu. The wealth of media available on the iPad is staggering. Now, if these users are anything like me, they will spend most of their time accessing this media over their WiFi connection, especially considering current 3G data caps.
Is it Time for an Optical Reboot?
After a busy few weeks of shows, briefings and meetings, I was able to spend some time over the weekend digesting what’s proven to be a whirlwind of new ideas, new technologies and ultimately new ways of networking. Throughout this time, I’ve had one phrase continually moving through my mind: optical reboot. Looking back, it’s clear that everything I’ve seen over the past few months has its genesis in this phrase. Indeed, I firmly believe that the first stage of this reboot is happening right now.
Andrew Schmitt from Infonetics Research coined the term ‘optical reboot’ in a recent report, using it to describe how carriers are currently preparing to rebuild their core networks using 40/100G, OTN and ROADM technologies. This represents the biggest upgrade to our global network infrastructure in the past decade. When complete, it will offer a flexible network that can easily accommodate today’s bandwidth demand and usher in a new wave of data-intensive applications that as of yet do not exist outside of test labs or even outside of our imaginations.
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100G Agile Andrew Schmitt Bandwidth Demand CeBIT Cloud computing Coherent Contentionless ROADMs Converged Supercore Core Network Corporate Backbones Data-Intensive Applications GMPLS Control Plane Gridless ROADMs Infonetics Research IP/MPLS Layer Juniper Networks Long Haul Transport Metro Core Transport Mobile Backhaul OFC/NFOEC Optical Layer Optical Network Optical Reboot OTN Packet Layer Packet Optical Transport Routers
What’s That Buzz?
With OFC/NFOEC just around the corner, I thought it might be fun to guess at what the big news might be on the show floor. While predicting buzz can be a hazardous endeavor, the steady ramp up in press releases leading up to the big event, plus the program guide give pretty good hints.
Big again this year appears to be coherent detection, though not necessarily for the same reasons as last year. Coherent was a buzz word at last year’s OFC/NFOEC, primarily because it enabled 100GE transmission, and neither was quite ready for primetime yet. Fast forward a year, and now coherent is once again in the limelight, but not just because of 100GE. Over the last year, creative people have started to realize what the extra link budget means to system architecture. More recently, they have realized that the digital filter that allows recovery of the PM-QPSK signal also can be used for other digital filtering purposes. Consider 2500km with no dispersion compensation whatsoever, and how it would change the network landscape.
Are we closer to solving the mobile bandwidth crunch?
Thousands of people descended upon Barcelona last week for this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC): a show that’s rapidly grown to represent the latest in mobile innovation. Looking back on a week of announcements, keynotes and briefings, it’s clear that the show can be divided into three specific areas: visions, realities and solutions. However, I’m starting to wonder if the distance between the vision and the reality is growing too quickly and if the solutions exist to bridge the gap.
Visions
Google has never been a company shy about predicting the future. Its vision for a connected world is at once ambitious and admirable. This week, the company’s newly appointed chairman, Eric Schmidt, shared with MWC his vision for a society driven by mobile technology. In his keynote, Schmidt explored the rapid development in mobile processors, highlighting how these new chips will enable the growth of a whole range of new applications that are yet to be imagined. Telemedicine, retail, location, media. Every aspect of our lives will be governed in some way by our mobile devices. Schmidt also commented on the growth of smartphones, noting how they are now outselling PCs. A trend that Schmidt doesn’t see reversing.
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BBC iPlayer broadband connections broadband infrastructure Corporate Backbones Eric Schmidt Google Hamadoun Toure International Telecommunications Union iPad Mobile Backhaul mobile base stations Mobile Devices mobile processors mobile video Mobile World Congress national broadband plans network capacity smart cell smartphones spectrum
