Page 53 - SAMENA Trends - February 2020

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Nokia Snaps Up Optical Networking Vendor Elenion

Nokia announced that it’s buying privately readily integrated into Nokia’s product build optical engines at both 1310 nm and
held optical networking company Elenion offerings and address multiple high growth 1550 nm, at speeds up to 600G on a single
Technologies, but didn’t say how much it segments including 5G, cloud and data wavelength of light. The applications for
was paying. Elenion designs and develops center networking. When combined with its technology range from hyperscale
integrated system-on-chip optical engines Nokia, Elenion technologies will accelerate computing to telecommunications.
for telecom, data center and networking the growth and scale of Nokia’s optical Elenion was founded in 2014 and worked
applications. Nokia is buying Elenion to networking business, while enabling us closely with Coriant prior to coming out of
beef up its optical networking business and to cost-effectively address new markets.” stealth mode in 2016. The planned deal
broaden its portfolio to telecom operators. Having ownership of Elenion’s key is expected to close in the first quarter of
New York City-based Elenion makes assets brings time-to-market and cost 2020, subject to regulatory approvals and
integrated, low-cost silicon photonics advantages to Nokia’s broad portfolio of customary closing conditions. Last year
technologies for short-reach and high- networking solutions by controlling the Cisco paid $2.6 billion to buy coherent
performance optical interfaces. “As a scale and economies of silicon design and optics company Acacia Communications.
world-class provider of silicon photonics manufacturing to the optical supply chain. Acacia had three product categories—
solutions, advanced packaging and Elenion builds integrated photonic engines pluggable modules, semiconductors and
custom design services, Elenion provides a based on its silicon photonics platform, embedded modules—that were folded
strong strategic fit for Nokia,” said Nokia’s running in a major CMOS (complementary into Cisco’s Optical Systems and Optics
Sam Bucci, head of optical networking, metal–oxide–semiconductor) foundry. division.
in a statement. “Its solutions can be Within this platform, the company can

Nokia Completes 5G Core Standalone Network Trial with Japan’s KDDI

Nokia and KDDI Corporation, a leading scalability, velocity and flexibility. The trial Machine Type Communication (eMTC) and
telecoms company in Japan, have allows KDDI to highlight how a 5G control Ultra Reliable Low Latency Connectivity
completed a 5G core standalone (SA) plane can utilize the communication (URLLC). John Harrington, Head of Nokia
network trial, moving the operator closer to model of today’s web services to create Japan, said: “For Nokia, 5G is much more
being able to provide 5G-enabled services. multiple software instances in a cloud than radio. It’s an end-to-end network
The standalone trial, using Nokia’s 5G environment. As KDDI plans to evolve from transformation. We are pleased to have
AirGile cloud-native core solution, was a non-standalone (NSA) 5G core network successfully completed this 5G core SA
conducted entirely independently of to a full 5G SA core, the trial ensures both network trial together with KDDI, as it
previous generations’ mobile network parties understand the key requirements, marks a crucial milestone for KDDI’s 5G
architecture. With a comprehensive 5G roadmap and performance of a 5G core SA SA deployment as well as for Japan’s 5G.
core portfolio, Nokia is well placed to deployment. With a 5G core SA network, Nokia will continue to contribute to the best
assist KDDI in analyzing the network consumers can experience the true of 5G and the cloud to enhance business
evolution steps and early deployment of benefits of 5G by fully leveraging enhanced processes and bring new applications and
5G core Stand Alone services, like network Mobile Broadband (eMBB), enhanced benefits to more markets and consumers.”
slicing in which service providers virtually
partition network capacity to subscribers
based on customized use case needs.
Nokia’s 5G AirGile cloud-native core
can be rolled out in a traditional network
environment or a cloud environment and is
fully compliant with 3GPP Release 15 5G
core functions. Evolution of the core is key
to the success of 5G, and decoupling data
plane and control plane functions allows
for more efficient, automated management
of increasingly complex networks. In
this trial NOKIA applied a service-based
architecture to the 5G control plane,
moving control functions completely
into a cloud-based environment which
provides operators with improved

53 FEBRUARY 2020