Tag Archive for China

| February 18, 2009
Comments Off on Terabit Ethernet

Terabit Ethernet

Terabit EthernetOver at The Register, there is an article heralding the coming of Terabit Ethernet. Apparently, researchers from Australia, China, and Denmark think they have opened the door to terabit per second Ethernet links using multiplexed 10Gbit/s data streams and small chalcogenide demux chips to demultiplex the 10 gig streams.

In the paper, entertainingly entitled Breakthrough switching speed with an all-optical chalcogenide glass chip: 640 Gbit/s demultiplexing, the researchers describe how injecting multiple 10gig data streams into optical cables is not a problem using existing optical technology (electro-optic modulator per stream) and optical time-division multiplexing (OTDM).

Recombining the data streams

The obstacle has been recombining those separate data streams at the end of the link and doing it fast enough. Apparently despite the recent hype about 40Gb Ethernet, the receiving and recombination of these streams is a problem at output rates higher than 40Gbits according to the research paper published in Optics Express, Vol. 17, Issue 4, on February 16th.

Until now the re-combination has been carried out using photo-detectors that can operate up to 40 Gbit/s or so. That limits us to just four 10gig streams. Achieving higher data rates this way means we have to send more parallel data streams down the cable and demultiplex – switch or recombine them – into one data stream faster still. This latest research uses waveguides just 5cm long by making them from chalcogenide glass chips with switching speeds measured in femtoseconds, a billionth of a millionth of a second, or a quadrillionth.

The researchers conclude that their test results confirm the enormous potential of chalcogenide-based waveguides for ultrafast optical signal processing.

They believe their technology can be extended to demultiplex 100 10Gbit/s data streams and so achieve a terabit Ethernet capability. The article points out that commercialization of such technology is, of course, if it takes place at all, many years away.

rb-

Seems like its time to add another synonym for huge to our vocabulary petabyte, exabyte, zettabyte

Some thoughts from Bob Metcalfe on TB Ethernet

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| January 14, 2009
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Nortel Declares Bankruptcy

Chinese hackers had widespread access to Nortel's corporate computer networkUpdated 02-14-12 The Wall Street Journal reported that for nearly a decade before Nortel collapsed  Chinese hackers had widespread access to its corporate computer network.

According to the article, the hackers used seven passwords stolen from top Nortel executives, including the chief executive. The suspected Chinese hackers penetrated Nortel’s computers at least as far back as 2000 and over the years downloaded technical papers, research-and-development reports, business plans, employee emails, and other documents.

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Updated 03-12-09 WirelessWeek is citing The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Nortel is in talks to sell its core wireless equipment business as well as a separate unit that builds telecom systems for offices, according to anonymous sources in the WSJ.

The WSJ reported that Nortel is talking to Nokia Siemens Networks, to sell its wireless business. Avaya and Siemens Enterprise Communications, a joint venture of Siemens and technology private equity firm Gores Group, are interested in the company’s enterprise unit. Cisco Systems reportedly looked at the enterprise unit but wasn’t expected to bid. Nortel declined to comment.

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Nortel Declares Bankruptcy113-year-old Canadian technology firm Nortel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. Nortel’s losses in the third quarter ballooned to $3.41 billion and 1,300 people had to be let go. CEO and President Mike Zafirovski wrote on the company’s Website. “Most importantly, Nortel is still very much in business.”

Next steps for the former Northern Telecom may include selling various business units or receiving a capital investment as a way to go private, According to Avi Cohen, managing partner at analyst firm Avian Securities, on TheStreet.com, “The most likely bidders for Nortel’s assets are Ericsson, Huawei (002502), Nokia Siemens, and Cisco (CSCO). We believe Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) and Motorola are less likely bidders because they are struggling with their own challenges and would have a hard time financing such a purchase.”

UBS analyst Maynard Um speculated on CED that the acquisition of Nortel by Huawei would be a possible outcome giving the Chinese firm a significant increase in market access in North America. However, this scenario may run into trouble with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) regulations.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| September 5, 2008
Comments Off on Time to Rethink Off-Shoring

Time to Rethink Off-Shoring

Time to Rethink Off-ShoringMcKinsey Consulting published an article, Time to Rethink Off-Shoring in the September 2008 edition of the McKinsey Quarterly that may be a silver lining in the current U.S. economic recession. McKinsey identifies three factors in the current economic conditions that may cause firms to re-evaluate off-shoring practices. The consultants believe that energy costs, wage inflation, and the weakness in the US dollar are factors that firms should evaluate as part of their off-shoring analysis.

Energy costs According to the article, CIBC World Markets estimates that in 2000, when oil prices were near $20 a barrel, the costs embedded in shipping were equal to a 3 percent tariff on imports. Today, that figure is 11 percent, representing a threefold increase in shipping costs since 2000. The article goes on to point out that increasing energy costs not only impact exports but also increases the price manufacturers pay for raw materials. As an example, McKinsey points out that it now costs about $100 to ship a ton of iron from Brazil to China-more than the cost of the mineral itself.

Wage inflation McKinsey states, that in dollar terms, annual wage inflation in China has averaged 19 percent since 2003. An average production worker paid $1,740 a year in 2003, makes $4,140 today. By contrast, wage inflation in the United States has averaged only 3 percent.

McKinsey suggests that the combination of increased shipping expenses driven by higher energy costs, wage inflation in off-shore countries, and the weak U.S. dollar has eliminated the cost benefits that many firms sought by off-shoring jobs.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| April 27, 2007
Comments Off on Low Voltage Cable Costs Rising

Low Voltage Cable Costs Rising

Updated – 03-05-08 – Military tensions in South America are driving the costs of copper and oil up even more.

Low Voltage Cable Costs RisingLast year, there was a large jump in copper telecom cable costs as manufacturers passed along raw material price increases in copper and petroleum. These price increases have affected all wire and cable products including plenum and non-plenum products; Cat 3, Cat 5e, Cat 6, Cat 6a, multi-pair cables, outside plant cables, and all low voltage electronic wire. Despite a market correction at the end of 2006, copper and petroleum prices used to manufacture cable are headed up again-meaning copper telecom cable will be following suit soon.

[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]The fundamental cause for increasing copper telecom cables is the continuing global demand for copper and petroleum. China and Asia lead the demand for Copper. The U.S. demand is for copper is down due to the collapsing housing market, however, if the U.S. housing market ever takes off again, more demand pressure will drive copper prices higher.

China which is the world’s largest consumer of copper accounting for 20% of the world’s supply imported 61% more copper in March 2007 than in March of 2006. The U.S. consumes 13% of the world’s copper. Demand for copper has reduced the worldwide supply of available copper to less than four days of global use.

[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]The upward pressure on copper telecom cables will follow technological globalization. The per capita demand for copper rises as GDP per capita rises. BaseMetals.com indicates that Japan consumes around 12kg per capita, North America consumers around 10kg per capita, and Europe around 9kg per capita. The large populations of China, India, Eastern Europe and South America are consuming less than 2kg per capita.

WTI crude oil pricesIn addition to copper price pressure, the cost of oil also impacts telecom cable prices. George Bush’s war in Iraq and declining world oil production have led to price increases in gasoline and petrochemicals such as PVC resins and polyethylene which are derivatives of crude oil and used in the manufacture of telecom cables. Escalating crude oil prices have also increased transportation costs leading to increased freight charges and other transportation costs across the value chain.

The dual price pressures of copper and petroleum will continue to push up the cost of all cabling.

Related articles
  • BT denies it is sitting on a ‘copper mine’ worth £50bn (telegraph.co.uk)

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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