Inventory: Major network communication events in the first half of 2020

In the blink of an eye, half of 2020 has passed. During this period, remote work ushered in a new development trend under the instigation of the "black swan" epidemic. New infrastructure has pressed the "accelerator" of industrial digitalization, promoting investment in new infrastructure such as 5G, Internet of Things, Internet of Vehicles, and Industrial Internet. Acquisitions by Internet giants are also emerging in an endless stream. Next, the editor will give you an inventory of some hot events that occurred in the Internet industry in the first half of the year.

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1. The Wi-Fi Alliance announced the Wi-Fi 6E standard, supporting the 6GHz frequency band

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In January 2020, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced that Wi-Fi 6 will expand from the existing 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands to the 6GHz band, and the Wi-Fi 6 that supports the 6GHz band will be uniformly named "Wi-Fi 6E".

The newly added 6GHz in Wi-Fi 6E can solve the problem of insufficient Wi-Fi frequency bands by providing continuous spectrum bands to accommodate 14 additional 80MHz channels and 7 additional 160MHz channels.

Wi-Fi 6E has more channels and a wider spectrum space; interference between Wi-Fi networks will be reduced; it will be faster and more stable, etc.

"Given the huge potential of 6 GHz Wi-Fi, its use is likely to increase rapidly," said Phil Solis, research director at IDC.

Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of the Wi-Fi Alliance, said, “6 GHz will help meet the increasing demand for Wi-Fi spectrum bands for smart devices and provide users with a superior user experience.”

2. The country vigorously promotes new infrastructure investment, and the curtain is raised on 5G network construction

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In December 2018, the Central Economic Work Conference redefined infrastructure construction, defining 5G, artificial intelligence, industrial Internet, and Internet of Things as "new infrastructure construction." In July 2019, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting and proposed to "accelerate the construction of new infrastructure such as information networks."

In March 2020, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting, emphasizing that "investment in public health services and emergency material support should be increased, and the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G networks and data centers should be accelerated." At this point, the new infrastructure sector has "taken the lead."

New infrastructure will accelerate the fourth wave of industrial revolution in my country. It will boost the industrialization of the digital economy and bring huge investments to industries such as information infrastructure and big data. It will fundamentally transform traditional industries and form an industrial Internet of Things with subversive significance. With the support of policies, new infrastructure projects such as 5G are accelerating in various places.

3. MIIT issued the Notice on Deeply Promoting the Comprehensive Development of Mobile Internet of Things

In May 2020, the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially issued the "Notice on Deeply Promoting the Comprehensive Development of Mobile Internet of Things". Among them, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology deployed five key tasks, including network construction, technical standards, industry applications, industrial system, and security assurance.

It aims to accurately grasp the evolution trend of global mobile Internet of Things technology standards and industrial landscape, promote the migration and transfer of 2G/3G Internet of Things services, and establish a comprehensive mobile Internet of Things ecosystem with the coordinated development of NB-IoT (narrowband Internet of Things), 4G (including LTE-Cat1, i.e. 4G network of rate category 1) and 5G.

On the basis of deepening 4G network coverage and accelerating 5G network construction, NB-IoT will be used to meet most low-speed scenario requirements, LTE-Cat1 (hereinafter referred to as Cat1) will be used to meet medium-speed IoT and voice requirements, and 5G technology will be used to meet higher-speed and low-latency networking requirements.

By the end of 2020, the NB-IoT network will achieve universal coverage in the main urban areas of cities at the county level and above, and in-depth coverage in key areas; the number of mobile IoT connections will reach 1.2 billion; the price of NB-IoT modules will be pushed to converge with that of 2G modules, and new IoT terminals will be guided to migrate to NB-IoT and Cat1; a number of NB-IoT application benchmark projects and NB-IoT application scenarios with a scale of millions of connections will be created.

4. Cisco announces acquisition of Fluidmesh to enhance IoT access capabilities

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In April 2020, Cisco announced that it would acquire Fluidmesh Networks, which mainly provides wireless backhaul systems for connecting IoT devices. The move will enable Cisco to sell network connectivity to transportation companies, mining operations and other companies that want to have their own private wireless networks.

Fluidmesh’s technology is valuable because it enables zero data transmission loss when trains are moving quickly or in situations where Wi-Fi coverage is patchy, and the company’s platform is used in a variety of operations, including rail, ports and public transportation.

Cisco said the plan is to incorporate Fluidmesh into Cisco's Internet of Things business unit in order to expand its industrial wireless services to more industries and customer areas. In addition, Cisco plans to use Fluidmesh's professional sales team and system integrator relationships to expand the scope of its Internet of Things business.

Vikas Butaney, vice president of Cisco's IoT business, said, "Cisco has worked with Fluidmesh Networks for many years, using the company's backhaul technology for specific IoT deployments." Over the past few years, Cisco has made a big investment in IoT, with a primary goal of delivering intent-based networking at the edge.

5. VMware acquires Nyansa to expand into SD-WAN

In January 2020, VMware announced plans to acquire Nyansa, a Palo Alto, California-based company that provides AI-based network analytics. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first quarter of VMware's 2021 fiscal year, and the terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

VMware plans to combine Nyansa Voyance, an AIOps platform for network analytics and IoT security, with VeloCloud's VMware SD-WAN. This combination will help VMware further expand its product portfolio to enterprise campuses and branches by adding software-defined capabilities to Wi-Fi and LAN devices, so that users can get 360-degree data on network traffic and application performance.

“The acquisition of Nyansa will accelerate VMware’s ability to deliver end-to-end monitoring and troubleshooting for LAN/WAN deployments in our industry-leading SD-WAN solution,” said Sanjay Uppal, vice president and general manager of VMware’s VeloCloud business unit, in a statement. “Nyansa is a proven solution that addresses many of the shortcomings of today’s vendor-specific solutions.”

VMware's existing SD-WAN services, based on its 2017 acquisition of VeloCloud, provide troubleshooting and optimization over wide area networks. Nyansa will extend those services to the LAN, and VMware has previously provided optimization services in the data center through its vRealize Network Insight (VRNI).