Enabling Broadband: Nokia Launches Beacon 10 Wi-Fi 6E Gateway; Itron Ramps Rural Focus with Fiber Mini Access Point

Enabling Broadband is a new monthly online news feature that Broadband Communities is developing to track ongoing product innovations.

You can also send us relevant broadband product news to sean@bbcmag.com. You can also tune in for new issues of Enabling Broadband here.

Nokia Targets 10G in-home Broadband Opportunities with Beacon 10 Wi-Fi 6E Gateway
During the recent Mobile World Congress show, Nokia launched the Beacon 10, its first gateway supporting Wi-Fi 6E and high-capacity mesh networking. As a tri-band device, Beacon 10 offers 10 Gbps Wi-Fi throughput. It includes a 10G WAN interface to pair with 10 Gbps fiber modems for multi-gigabit services to the home. Additionally, Nokia has upgraded its Nokia Wi-Fi Cloud Controller to act as a User Services Platform (USP) controller. USP is the standard protocol (Broadband Forum TR-369) to manage services and configurations in network devices (either remotely by a cloud application or locally by a mobile app). Nokia’s USP agent in the Beacon 10 is based on the open-source OB-USPA, so any USP controller, including the Nokia Wi-Fi Cloud Controller, can manage it. Nokia’s Beacon 10 includes an all-in-one console for Wi-Fi management and optimization. The console will be available to customer care operators, network administrators, onsite technicians, and level 3 support staff to optimize Wi-Fi, troubleshoot, and manage. Nokia has established an ecosystem of app developers to ensure service providers can offer customers value-added services such as cybersecurity applications from F-Secure.

Clearfield’s SeeChange Enables Operators to Accelerate Fiber Deployments
Clearfield is looking to help community broadband and 5G network operators overcome industry-wide supply chain constraints and a shortage of skilled technicians with its SeeChange Terminal and hardened connector system. The small access terminal is ideal for any fiber network deployment requiring a plug-and-play approach. As a readily available plug-and-play terminal and hardened connector system, SeeChange is a pre-packaged solution that requires minimal training in any deployment scenario, tested to withstand even the most extreme environments. SeeChange hardened fiber assemblies are available with a multi-fiber MPO or a single-fiber SC APC connector. An integrated rear shell provides the feature that engages and fully seals a connection to the SeeChange Terminal.

The connection is ideal for harsh OSP environments and is rated for installations below or above grade, including aerial installations on strands. An MPO input port allows four subscriber drop ports and an MPO Express output port that feeds downstream terminals, enabling the operator to push fiber deeper into the neighborhood. The compact size can be deployed in various locations, including pedestal, vault, flowerpot, pole-mount, smart-pole, or strand-mounted options. SeeChange works alongside Clearfield’s other terminal products designed so that engineers can deliver fiber services supporting any size fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), fiber-to-the-business (FTTB), or 5G network, with minimal training needed for installation and service activation. Both hardened connector styles can be secured into open terminal ports and cleaned and inspected using a special optical probe tip, making it a complete solution for quick installations using entry-level technicians.

Itron Targets Smart Rural Communities with Fiber Mini Access Point
Itron has unveiled its Fiber Mini Access Point (Fiber MiniAP), which helps electric cooperatives leverage fiber network assets for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), distributed intelligence, distribution automation, low-voltage network management, smart lighting and more to enable grid modernization beyond meter-to-cash. Rural electric cooperatives often recognize the synergy and interdependency between broadband and smart grid networks. It is common amongst electric cooperatives to deploy fiber for both utility and commercial connectivity. By leveraging these fiber assets, the Fiber MiniAP extends industrial IoT (IIoT) network coverage in rural areas with low meter-per-mile density while reducing infrastructure and the total cost of ownership. Itron will test the Fiber MiniAP with electric cooperatives in 2023 and the solution will be commercially available in North America in the first half of 2024.

Huawei Debuts 50G POL Prototype for Wi-Fi 7 Campus Networks
During the Mobile World Congress 2023 (MWC 2023) show, Huawei launched a 50G POL prototype to help industry customers build next-generation Wi-Fi 7 campus networks. Based on Fifth-generation fixed network (F5G) technologies, the Huawei FTTO solution has been used commercially by more than 6,000 industry customers worldwide. Huawei said in a release that it launched the 50G POL (passive optical LAN) prototype to help customers build Wi-Fi 7-oriented green ultra-broadband campus networks that can support innovative applications. The 50G POL prototype released by Huawei includes symmetric 50G PON OLTs and ONUs and campus networks from 10G PON to 50G PON:

• Zero change on OLT: The 50G PON combo optical module supports both 10G PON and 50G PON modes. Customers can build networks on demand and upgrade to 50G PON, protecting initial network construction investments.
• Zero change on ODN: 50G PON supports 40 km long-haul transmission and uses algorithms to enable larger optical link budgets, eliminating the need to change existing ODNs.
• Zero change on ONU: The 50G PON ONUprototype supports 10GE and 25GE interfaces. In the future, the upgrade from Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 7 does not require ONU changes.

DZS Adds Xtreme Access to its Cloud Software Line
DZS has expanded its DZS Cloud software portfolio with DZS Xtreme Access to deliver service providers a suite of access service automation and orchestration capabilities. AI-driven DZS Cloud software gives service providers orchestration capabilities, including service-level design, deployment, monitoring, optimization and experience management from the Optical EDGE to the Access EDGE and Subscriber EDGE. The new access solution expands on Xtreme’s 5G, cloudification and slicing DNA and includes the benefits touted by Telus. DZS claims Xtreme Access reduces the operational burden and cost of integrating each new element that is part of an access service and dramatically reduces the time to market for new services.

VIAVI Serves Up Near Real-Time Discovery of Network Ecosystem on ServiceNow Store 
Viavi Solutions is putting its acquisition of CanGo Networks to work with the debut of its NITRO Discovery platform, which provides real-time discovery of physical or virtual network assets on the ServiceNow Store. The integration is a Certified Service Graph Connector into the ServiceNOW Telecommunications Network Inventory (TNI) Platform. NITRO Discovery integrates an auto-discovery and reconciliation framework with ServiceNow CMDB Telco CI Classes for near real-time network inventory (NI) updates, ensuring up-to-date sync of the natural time network ecosystem. It is based on a multi-vendor, multi-domain and multi-technology inventory management system comprising information on physical, logical and network resources, with real-time data collection and reporting, at scale.

Allconnect's Chameleon Digital Application Targets Home Broadband Services
Allconnect, a comparison marketplace platform that simplifies connecting home services, has launched Chameleon. Allconnect, part of the Red Ventures portfolio, built Chameleon on patented technology with proprietary data structures and machine learning to enhance the experience for consumers searching for broadband solutions available in their area. At the heart of Chameleon is an engine that identifies multiple providers over 99 percent of the time and blends into a publisher’s brand guidelines. Further, it allows consumers to quickly compare and order the services that make the most sense for them.

Calix Adds Automated IPv4 Address Management Capability to Intelligent Access EDGE Solution
Calix partners deploying Intelligent Access EDGE solution can now utilize the Automated Access Network Gateway capability, which automates the allocation and assignment of IPv4 addresses. To support subscriber growth as the industry faces the challenges of IPv4 address exhaustion, BSPs are forced to implement multi-netting to allow for address assignments from different subnets. Manually configuring and tracking these subnets can quickly become overwhelming, creating an urgent need for an automated solution and using multi-netting leaves valuable IP address resources stranded. The new Automated Access Network Gateway capability on Intelligent Access EDGE eliminates the time-consuming tasks of implementing, managing and configuring the network that materializes when using complex multi-netting solutions. AcenTek, which serves communities across southeast Minnesota, northeast Iowa, and Michigan, leverages the Calix platform to simplify network deployment, deliver operational efficiency, reduce time to market, and provide exceptional energy savings in network access.

MaxLinear AnyWAN Expands Focus to Fiber Home Gateway Units and Fixed Wireless Access Applications
MaxLinear’s integrated AnyWAN home gateway SoC has been certified for XGS-PON and GPON deployments as part of the Broadband Forum’s BBF.247 Optical Network Unit (ONU) Certification Program. MaxLinear AnyWAN is a low-power SoC with a scalable quad-core CPU, packet routing accelerator for up to 30 million packets per second, and all required high-speed interfaces for home gateways and home routers. With its XFI and PCIe gen4 interfaces and the embedded 2.5GE PHYs, AnyWAN is an ideal SoC for the next generation of fixed-wireless-access gateways with 5G WAN and Wi-Fi 7. AnyWAN SoC variants with embedded 10G PON MAC support most 10G PON standards, including XGS-PON, G-PON, and NG-PON2. The chips suit next-gen Wi-Fi 7 multi-gigabit fiber home gateways units (HGU).

Sean Buckley is the Editor in Chief of Broadband Communities and hosts the Broadband Ripple Podcast.  

Free E-Newsletter and print magazine subscriptions
Subscribe now to receive Broadband Communities free e-newsletters based on your interests. Subscribe here. You can also sign up for our print magazine, Broadband Communities. Subscribe here.