• Fujitsu’s networking subsidiary, 1Finity, has teamed up with virtualised routing platform specialist Arrcus 
• The partners are to target the evolving needs of network operators that need to manage increasing volumes of AI-related data traffic

1Finity, the networking subsidiary created by Fujitsu earlier this year, has teamed up with virtualised routing and switching vendor Arrcus to tackle the evolving needs of network operators that are set to face a deluge of AI-related data traffic. 

And if various voices in the industry are to be believed, that deluge is coming soon and most current networks aren’t ready for it. Last month, Ciena and research firm Heavy Reading reported that telcos expect data traffic volumes to ramp up significantly in their metro and long-distance optical transport networks over the next few years due to AI workloads – see Are telco data transport networks ready for AI?

Only days later, disaggregated routing specialist RtBrick warned that “operators are at risk of being overwhelmed by the demands of streaming bandwidth in the next five years”. It had commissioned a survey of 200 telco decision-makers in the US, UK and Australia and found that 81% of the respondents “concede their current architectures are not well suited to handling the future increases in bandwidth demand, suggesting they may struggle with the next wave of AI and streaming traffic”. As you’d expect, RtBrick suggested this challenge can, in part, be solved by the deployment of disaggregated routing infrastructure and, it claimed, the survey respondents agreed. “The industry recognises it needs to adopt next-generation disaggregated networks to survive,” noted RtBrick.

1Finity’s take is more high level but on the same lines. “As AI continues to be deployed throughout society and the services available become more sophisticated, AI-related data traffic is increasing exponentially. This trend is driving a growing need for network infrastructure that can seamlessly connect datacentres, cloud platforms, 5G/6G networks and edge environments,” it noted in this announcement.

This plays to the strengths of Arrcus, which has for years been developing its networking software, including its Network OS stack, for deployment in software-oriented, disaggregated networks. And it has had a great deal of success, boasting more than 50 customers and investments from multiple venture capital, private equity, network operator and tech companies, including Nvidia – see Nvidia sprinkles its gold dust on Arrcus.

Like its virtualised routing peers, including RtBrick and DriveNets, Arrcus’s pitch is that its software-oriented approach provides greater scalability, improved efficiency and can operate on the latest white box hardware running the most advanced networking processors, which means it’s not tied to an integrated, single-vendor platform lifecycle. 

Now the potential for Arrcus to expand further is being enhanced through its relationship with 1Finity, which boasts a range of optical networking and radio access network (RAN) systems in its portfolio – see Fujitsu targets Europe, Asia with new telecom business.

Under the partnership agreement, 1Finity is to resell “the complete range of Arrcus solutions… and will jointly develop go-to-market plans to expand its business globally with a primary focus on Japan, targeting network operators, enterprise customers and datacentre operators,” noted 1Finity. It also plans to extend the joint offering to “business partners on a global scale, not limited to the Fujitsu Group, and build comprehensive total solutions covering network design to maintenance and operation by managed service collaboration to provide optimal value to customers.”

CEO of 1Finity Masaaki Moribayashi, who is also a corporate executive officer and director at Fujitsu, stated: “As the amount of AI-related data transfer increases in both volume and complexity, the role of networks has become more important than ever before. Arrcus’s products, including its Network OS software, are innovative and offer exceptional performance, which will help us to provide optimal network solutions and meet our customers’ needs. We look forward to achieving breakthroughs in networking through this partnership.”

Arrcus chairman and CEO Shekar Ayyar added: “Flexible networks that combine innovation in software, silicon and optics are of critical importance for AI datacentres and 5G/6G connected inference edges. We are super excited to announce our strategic partnership with Fujitsu and 1Finity to bring our combined strengths for Fujitsu internal use, as well as for enterprises, service providers and cloud/neo-cloud operators worldwide.”

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV