As part of our line of network appliances, UEP2025 combines an FPGA SoC with our ENET Flow Processor FPGA code and a software stack for Layer 2 switching functionality. Together this creates an appliance that is competitively priced compared with ASIC-based telco switches, while also including the programmability to address the ever-changing demands of evolving telecom markets.

UEP2025 Features

UEP2025 is a Carrier Ethernet switch device with advanced hierarchical QoS, CFM/OAM, and complete Layer 2 functionality. Optionally, UEP2025 can include Sync-E and Power-over-Ethernet capabilities as well. Various port configurations are available, all including 25GbE SFP+, 10GbE RJ45, and 10GbE SFP ports.

Moreover, the UEP2025 comes with Ethernity’s patented link bonding, which offers the ability to load balance a single flow’s traffic over multiple ports, with support for reordering to compensate for differentiated delay. This enables connecting multiple point-to-point wireless radio devices, with an option to include other transport interface types.

By incorporating this bonding technology into a flexible switch device, Ethernity ensures optimum performance and improves the transmitted throughput by dynamically distributing data along multiple wireless links of different speeds and technologies. This allows operators to increase the maximum transmission distance and overcome interruptions or slow wireless transmission due to inclement weather.

Ethernity’s bonding technology is also vendor agnostic, which means it is capable of working with any vendor’s radios. This flexibility means that features can be chosen to fit the particular application requirements without being tied to a given vendor and its specific feature set. Additionally, vendor-agnostic platforms lead to lower overall costs, since there is natural competition among vendors.

Primary Applications

The fundamental versatility of the UEP2025 family of programmable network appliances makes it suitable for a wide variety of telco/cloud network edge applications. That said, it is particularly targeted for fronthaul and backhaul network edge infrastructure solutions and enterprise campus connectivity. Furthermore, it is designed for 5G networks as a wireless backhaul indoor/outdoor unit with integrated link bonding.

A base model of the UEP2025 is also available, primarily targeted toward Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs). Most WISPs are small businesses that own or lease a few towers to provide broadband access and that invest their startup money primarily in supporting a backhaul network. Ethernity’s bonding technology allows these WISPs the flexibility to connect to any radio unit, from any vendor, via any frequency. This introduces a previously unexpected measure of cost-savings into the WISP deployment.

How UEP2025 Stands Out

The device utilizes a single FPGA SoC to run the switch data path, IPSec, MACSec, and the link bonding architecture. By combining this control capability with the 10G and 25G ports, UEP2025 devices are perfectly suited to serve as network appliances for aggregation and demarcation of the WAN from LAN networks.

The beauty of the UEP2025 family is that it is customizable toward a specific purpose within the network. Both the hardware configuration and the FPGA can be customized to meet the demand for various networking functions, different transmission types, and security requirements (as all ports are connected through the FPGA), while achieving maximum performance in a compact, affordable device.

One potential customer recently referred to the UEP2025 as a “Magic Box” because it is such a versatile product that can be used for so many possible applications, and because of the bonding technology that enables dynamic load balancing without data loss. Throw in its complete interoperability with any vendor, and the UEP2025 is the ultimate tool for today’s disaggregated network.

The following is a summary of this year’s experience, with some notes on the feedback we received from the industry moguls.

Wireless Bonding

There was a lot of excitement regarding Ethernity’s unique link bonding technology from the people we spoke to, especially among companies that are featuring dual-band (both e-band and microwave) on their radio towers.  In fact, one potential customer went so far as to call Ethernity’s technology “a no-brainer” in such circumstances, since LAG cannot provide a comparable solution.

PON

Fiber is really a hot topic in the industry right now, with companies all searching for ways to make these deployments more efficient.  As such, Ethernity was conducting meetings from many different angles throughout the show.  One company was interested in using our new UEP3808 OLT to provide both XGS-PON and CPON from a single appliance.  Another especially large company was excited to hear about all our PON devices and eager to see how we can enhance their existing product line by incorporating our technology with their own.

Perhaps most encouraging was the reaction to the previews we provided to our forthcoming new PON solution.  One potential customer saw an immediate opportunity for the solutions for implementation in dense population areas and could anticipate a large market for it in his home country in Asia.

5G User Plane Offload

While Ethernity is concentrating on maximizing its short- and medium-term revenues via the Bonding and PON lines of business, we are still in discussions with companies that are seeking a 5G UPF offload or RU aggregation with vRouter and CU offload solution.

Overall, MWC was really a confirmation that our bonding technology and PON products are truly something special that should have some serious uptake with potential customers over the near and mid-term future.

This week, Ethernity announced the newest of its PON devices, leveraging the power and flexibility of FPGAs for use in PON networks.

The UEP3808 Combo PON OLT appliance has an integrated switch and can be used as a complete PON OLT, offering open interfaces for all control and management functions. By incorporating up to 4 FPGAs within a single box, it provides incredible agility of interfaces, enabling the use of XGS-PON, CPON, and GPON from a single unit.  Incredibly, this is all accomplished from the same hardware design, just using pin-compatible FPGAs of various sizes and capabilities.  And as with all Ethernity products, the UEP3808 also provides hardware acceleration of the data plane with advanced traffic management and high quality of service, creating a lower cost option compared to products based on merchant silicon.

Accompanying this announcement, you can now find a product page on our website for all of Ethernity’s current PON Devices. This new section features both appliances and Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) that integrate PON functionality onto an FPGA, providing high performance and the programmability to address the ever-changing demands of an evolving market.

One of the key added values of our PON devices is disaggregation. A vendor-agnostic, disaggregated solution means that PON providers can avoid vendor lock-in, which could restrict their ability to develop and integrate software at will. This approach allows telecom service providers to pace their own developments and extend them to their access networks without waiting for lengthy standardizations by international entities or for the vendor to fit new customized or proprietary feature requests into tight software roadmaps.

As always, Ethernity Networks is staying ahead of the curve when it comes to offering valuable FPGA-based products for our customers.

The recent past has taught us that we need to adapt both mentally and technologically to changes that came as a result of COVID-19. In a crisis, we feel the effects on our lives, but the bigger question is, will it change our future and how?

In many places the pandemic is very much still a reality. Elsewhere, there is a promising trend of recovery. In both cases, some of the changes COVID-19 set off are likely to remain in its wake. Many industries are doing their part; here’s how telecom has helped during the crisis and its aftermath, and continues to help in areas that are still experiencing the effects of the pandemic.

Telecom and COVID-19

COVID-19 has changed the way we live our lives – from how we get to work to our entertainment, social interactions, and doctor visits – just to name a few examples. For some, nearly every aspect of our lives has become remote. As we mentioned in an earlier blog post, this has placed a great strain on existing networking and telecommunications infrastructure and forced those in the telecom industry to adapt and expand in accordance with the demand.

If we check the numbers, bandwidth has increased by 50% in the past year alone.

However, the purpose of this blog is to focus more on the human side of the telecom industry than on the technical aspects of what we do. So let’s take a closer look at the changes that have occurred in our lives over the past year, and how the telecom industry has adapted in order to ensure that we emerge from this crisis.

Working and Learning from Home

When it became clear how serious the pandemic was, everyone that could work from home began to do so. In other cases, people were unfortunately let go as many businesses folded or went into “hibernation mode.” If possible, they began to look for other ways to make a freelance income online. Either way, this now meant virtual work.

Add to that all the remote education that began in 2020 and it became commonplace for homes to have several people trying to connect via video applications such as Zoom, Teams, Skype, and others. Suddenly, a simple Wi‑Fi home internet system that had always been more than adequate was now painfully sluggish. In an effort to get a decent connection, many were forced to create a hotspot with their phone from which they could work or learn. But that meant that the mobile network would become overburdened as well.

Social Distancing

Although we were required to socially distance for our own health, it became very taxing on our emotional state. As humans, we have a basic need to connect to others, especially to our family and friends. When we couldn’t go out to restaurants and movies, or even to each other’s homes, the alternative often became social media, phone calls and texting, and video chats. Yet another aspect of our lives had moved, to a lesser or greater extent, to virtual channels, placing greater strain on our telecommunications networks.

Psychological Impact

Depending on their location and health risk category, many have remained in government-ordered or self-administered lockdown for quite a long time. As with social contact, we also have a basic human need to expand our horizons, both physically and mentally, even if that means something as simple as a visit to the supermarket from time-to-time. With some people relegated to remaining in one place for weeks or months at a time, the next best option has been to replace their daily routines (coffee, restaurants, shopping, etc.) with virtual outlets, such as online shopping, ordering-in food, and lots of Netflix, further adding to the demand for telecom services.

Emergency Health and Safety

From mobile health stations to virtual doctor appointments, we can see a direct parallel between work-from-home and healthcare from home. Doctors’ offices and hospitals are prime locations for COVID-19 to spread, so it is often encouraged or mandated that all appointments must be performed remotely when possible.

There has also been a severe impact on the health systems and hospitals, which have been stressed to the breaking point with COVID patients. Hospitals rely heavily on their data systems to ensure that patients receive correct, appropriate care, and these systems must be able to communicate with zero delay and with 100% reliability.

It is also crucial to have open lines of communication to notify everyone about the day-to-day health situation, along with relevant rules, regulations, and recommendations.

Entertainment

Finally, entertainment has taken a major blow in the current pandemic. In many situations, it became impossible or at least inadvisable to go to theaters, restaurants, museums, sporting events, and other attractions. This sector of the economy understandably was one of the hardest hit. That said, many different channels attempted to provide a virtual form of entertainment where possible. Now people can go on virtual tours of museums, for example. They watch TV and movies from the comfort (and safety) of their homes, and they have embraced the world of video games, an industry whose user base has skyrocketed over the last 12 months. Such efforts to adapt our routine to the virtual world must be accompanied by high-speed, high-bandwidth telecom performance, or they will fail miserably.

Conclusion

It can be argued that we have been moving toward a more virtual existence for decades already, as many virtual services can provide advantages in terms of convenience and accessibility. But COVID-19 put this trend into hyperdrive, often forcing the hand of those who were reluctant to make such a transition. While we all look forward to a safer, healthier world that we hope is returning soon, many of the changes we have made during this past year are likely to remain in a post-pandemic world.

In order to maintain this level of reliance on virtual services in our lives, it falls upon networking and telecommunications companies to create and maintain systems and infrastructure that can provide the bandwidth necessary to support this. The telecom industry provides a crucial life resource to support this change in our culture.

While some countries are at the tail end of the long and painful COVID crisis, others are still battling this threat and remain very far from the life they used to know. Whether we like it or not, our lives as we knew them have changed, and we are required to react and adapt to this new reality.

We at Ethernity Networks take this very seriously. We understand that crises like COVID-19 change our lives, and we are committed to giving the world the technology needed to bridge the gap from our old lives to the new and evolving life we are all trying to create. It is our mission and our privilege to provide a small but important part of the technology necessary to support this.

By Brian Klaff