Microsoft validates Lenovo ThinkSystem SE350 edge server for Azure Stack HCI

Microsoft and Lenovo have teamed up to validate the Lenovo ThinkSystem SE350 for Microsoft's Azure Stack HCI program. The ThinkSystem SE350 was designed and built with the unique requirements of edge servers in mind. It is versatile enough to stretch the limitations of server locations, providing a variety of connectivity and security options and can be easily managed with Lenovo XClarity Controller. 

The ThinkSystem SE350 solution has a focus on smart connectivity, business security, and manageability for the harsh environment.

The ThinkSystem SE350 is the latest workhorse for the edge. Designed and built with the unique requirements for edge servers in mind, it is versatile enough to stretch the limitations of server locations, providing a variety of connectivity and security options and is easily managed with Lenovo XClarity Controller. 

The ThinkSystem SE350 is a rugged compact-sized edge solution with a focus on smart connectivity, business security, and manageability for the harsh environment.

The ThinkSystem SE350 is an Intel Xeon D processor-based server, with a 1U height, half-width and short depth case that can go anywhere. Mount it on a wall, stack it on a shelf, or install it in a rack. This rugged edge server can handle anything from 0-55°C as well as full performance in high dust and vibration environments.

Information availability is another challenging issue for users at the edge, who require insight into their operations at all times to ensure they are making the right decisions. The ThinkSystem SE350 is designed to provide several connectivity options with wired and secure wireless Wi-Fi and LTE connection ability. This purpose-built compact server is reliable for a wide variety of edge and IoT workloads.

Azure Stack HCI solutions bring together highly virtualized compute, storage, and networking on industry-standard x86 servers and components. Combining resources in the same cluster makes it easier to deploy, manage, and scale, while managing command-line automation or Windows Admin Center.

Consumers can achieve virtual machine (VM) performance for server applications with Hyper-V, the foundational hypervisor technology of the Microsoft cloud, and Storage Spaces Direct technology with built-in support for non-volatile memory express (NVMe), persistent memory, and remote direct memory access (RDMA) networking.

Abside Networks debuts new private LTE user device powered by Sequans’ Cassiopeia LTE-advanced chip platform

Sequans Communications announced that Abside Networks has introduced its second end user device based on Sequans’ Cassiopeia LTE-advanced technology.  The Ravelin Gen3 uE is a Class 1 FR1 uE designed to operate in specialized, non-3GPP frequency LTE networks and Sequans modified its Cassiopeia technology to allow operation on non-standard frequencies. 

The rugged design of the Ravelin Gen3 uE combined with the customizations of Sequans have resulted in a high-performance solution that is now available to Abside’s private LTE customers. The Ravelin Gen3 uE is a highly integrated, multi-band product designed to replace the non-homogenous technologies currently used in defense, PMR, and private network ecosystems.

The Abside Networks’ Ravelin Gen3 uE is the second device to come to mass market via the Abside/Sequans collaboration. The Ravelin Gen3 a high power (+1Watt / +30 dBm) ruggedized IP54, extended temperature (70℃) uE operating across multiple non-3GPP bands in either FDD or TDD modes and supporting LTE standard bandwidths of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz. Ravelin Gen3 is also designed to counter interferences from challenging radio environments. 

In addition, Ravelin Gen3 is fully interoperable with Bastion, the Abside eNodeB infrastructure that also supports non-3GPP LTE frequency ranges of 1780 to 1850 MHz, 2200 to 2300 MHz, and 4400 to 5000 MHz for a combination of more than 760 MHz of total addressable spectrum across 16 LTE bands. 

The Ravelin Gen3 peak data rates are DL 150 Mbps with 2X2 MIMO, and UL 50 Mbps with 1X2 MIMO. The Ravelin Gen3 is 73mm x 34mm x 148mm and ~750 gr.

The Ravelin-G is based on Sequans’ Cassiopeia LTE Cat 6 Platform, a member of Sequans’ StreamrichLTE product family for high performance devices. The work with Abside is one of the development Sequans has undertaken as part of its Custom Technology Solutions initiative where Sequans experts have addressed some difficult communications challenges. 

In addition to private network LTE, Sequans has adapted its technology for projects in aviation, transportation, satellite, and government.

Intel opposes Qualcomm’s appeal in US District Court; files brief supporting FTC

Intel files a brief supporting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and opposing Qualcomm’s appeal of the judgment rendered in May against Qualcomm by the United States District Court, Northern District of California. 

The District Court found that “Qualcomm’s licensing practices have strangled competition in the CDMA and premium LTE modem chip markets for years, and harmed rivals, OEMs and end consumers.” The District Court also found that Qualcomm’s conduct “unfairly tends to destroy competition itself.”

Intel agrees with the District Court’s findings. Intel suffered the brunt of Qualcomm’s anticompetitive behavior, was denied opportunities in the modem market, was prevented from making sales to customers and was forced to sell at prices artificially skewed by Qualcomm. 

Qualcomm would have you believe that its position in the market today — as the last surviving U.S. supplier of premium modem chips — is due to its “ingenuity and business acumen,” and that its rivals in the market failed simply because “they did not offer good enough chips at low enough prices.” This is simply not true.

Instead, as detailed in the District Court’s opinion and in our brief, Qualcomm maintained its monopoly through a brazen scheme carefully crafted and implemented over many years. This scheme consists of a web of anticompetitive conduct designed to allow Qualcomm to coerce customers, tilt the competitive playing field and exclude competitors, all the while shielding itself from legal scrutiny and capturing billions in unlawful gains.

The victims were Qualcomm’s own customers (original equipment manufacturers or OEMs), the long list of competitors it forced out of the modem chip market, including Intel, and ultimately consumers. 

Intel fought for nearly a decade to build a profitable modem chip business, and invested billions, hired thousands, acquired two companies and built innovative products that eventually made their way into Apple’s iPhones, including the most recently released iPhone 11. 

But when all was said and done, Intel could not overcome the artificial and insurmountable barriers to fair competition created by Qualcomm’s scheme and was forced to exit the market this year.

“As I have pointed out before, the District Court’s decision finding Qualcomm violated the antitrust laws comes on the heels of governmental entities around the globe reaching the same conclusion,” wrote Steven R. Rodgers is executive vice president and general counsel at Intel, in a post. “As a result of its anticompetitive practices, Qualcomm has been fined nearly $1 billion in China, $850 million in Korea, $1.2 billion by the European Commission and $773 million in Taiwan (later reduced in settlement). The FTC, however, did not seek monetary relief. Instead, it sought injunctive relief to prevent Qualcomm from continuing to engage in its unlawful conduct.”

Among other things, the District Court prohibited Qualcomm from continuing to implement the central component of its scheme, its coercive “no license, no chips” (NLNC) policy. Under the policy, Qualcomm cuts off handset OEMs’ purchases of modem chips unless they enter into a patent license agreement on Qualcomm’s terms. These onerous, one-sided terms enable Qualcomm to artificially lower the price of its modems while simultaneously inflating customers’ costs of using modem chips manufactured by competitors, like Intel, by charging royalties as large as the price of the modems themselves. 

The District Court concluded that the NLNC policy, together with other anticompetitive behavior on Qualcomm’s part, unlawfully distorted and, in fact, destroyed the competitive playing field.

The world benefits from fair competition in the wireless technology market. Given the importance of wireless technology to the future of connected computing, including the revolutionary promise of 5G, we strongly support the efforts of the FTC and other law enforcement agencies to require Qualcomm to obey the laws and compete on a level playing field.

“We hope our amicus brief will help in clarifying the full extent of the harm that Qualcomm’s unlawful behavior has caused and will continue to cause if left unchecked,” Stevans added.

Zyxel boosts speed and reliability of Powerline with release of G.hn Wave 2 offering

Zyxel Communications launched Monday its PLA6456 G.hn Wave 2 Powerline Pass-Thru Gigabit Ethernet adapter. Twice as fast as existing HomePlug AV standards, the PLA6456 G.hn Wave 2 Powerline Adapters provide better anti-interference performance and improved reliability to optimize the streaming of data-heavy content such as 8K video streams.

Available in sets of two adapters ($99.99 street), the PLA6456 G.hn Wave 2 Powerline adapters simply plug into standard home power outlets and connect instantly to transform the outlets into an ultra-fast network for extending Internet access throughout the home. 

Zyxel provides a complete portfolio of multi-service LTE, fiber and DSL broadband gateways, home connectivity solutions, smart home devices and enterprise-class Ethernet switches, security and Wi-Fi equipment for small to mid-size businesses. 

Zyxel offers integrated, interoperable network solutions based on open standards. Headquartered in Anaheim, California, Zyxel offers its partners service-rich solutions backed by a domestic team of logistic, sales, and technical support professionals.

The PLA6456 delivers blazing fast data speeds up to 2,400 Mbps to any Ethernet-enabled device making it an ideal solution for data-heavy and bandwidth-intensive applications such as UHD video streaming and virtual reality gaming. By transporting network data over the electrical wiring, PLA6456 solves WiFi issues caused by issues such as concrete walls, multiple stories, and dense RF environments.

The PLA6456 G.hn Wave 2 Powerline Adapters connect Ethernet-enabled devices at Gigabit speeds to wherever desired in the home; superb performance and low latency makes the PLA6456 an ideal solution for streaming content to home entertainment systems. It delivers secure connectivity that protects the data on the network by simply pressing a sync button on both devices to enable 128-bit data encryption throughout the existing powerline network.

The adapters come in plug and play for fast, easy deployment; color indicator lights provide network performance status; automatically switches to standby mode to save power when not in use to improve energy consumption. Its compact design with integrated electrical power outlet allows users to keep existing powered devices connected to the outlet and an embedded noise filter eliminates static from the connected electrics to further improve network quality.

Sunwave and Mavenir partner to expand ecosystem for enterprise OpenRAN environments

Mavenir and Sunwave announced Tuesday integration of Mavenir’s virtual RAN architecture with an Open digital interface into Sunwave’s CrossFire product portfolio and that first customer trials are now underway.

The companies will jointly or independently support OpenRAN deployments in the enterprise private LTE market and take end to end responsibility.

Existing Distributed Antenna System (DAS) deployments using the CrossFire platform can now be upgraded to support OpenRAN architectures and have an immediate path to 5G. The combination of Mavenir’s OpenRAN and enterprise communication portfolio together with Sunwave’s enterprise portfolio, provide the industry with a true OpenRAN production-proven platform supporting 4G/5G for enterprise and private LTE.

The evolved RAN architecture, designed with cloud-native virtualization techniques, enables the RAN to flex and adapt based on usage and coverage. This flexibility provides expanded and more convenient network location choices for the baseband processing. 

Therefore, this architecture naturally fits in existing networks’ backhaul infrastructure and is future-proof for evolution towards a fully virtualized and cloud RAN architecture. In addition, it offers a strategic differentiation by enabling the Remote Radio Units (RRUs) to interwork with the Virtualized Baseband Unit (vBBU) over a non-ideal fronthaul (i.e. ethernet), overcoming the traditional constraints of CPRI over fiber.

Conventional RAN platforms have been based on proprietary hardware and rely on long life-cycles in development, deployment, and operation. With each generation of radio interface change, these radios are typically replaced with the newer versions at a significant investment and inconvenience to the CSPs. 

Furthermore, radio infrastructures based on this approach are designed based on the peak capacity without granular power and interference management capabilities. This creates the vendor lock-in and the inability to keep pace with technology and demographic transitions.