The need for increased bandwidth in telecommunications networks has given rise to many new innovations. What does the future hold for the WAN?     With traditional telecom service providers’ revenue finally growing again, so are their capital expenditures – both at about 5% annual growth rates. However, bandwidth demands are growing at anywhere fromRead More

As enterprises begin to adopt passive optical LAN (POL) technology, they face a number of design and implementation challenges and choices.     When it comes to premises networks made of fiber, system integrators, installers, and customers are faced with choosing between pre-terminated plug-and-play fiber assemblies or terminating the fibers to length on site duringRead More

As connectors continue to shrink in size, we wonder how much smaller they can go. Bob Stanton of Omnetics discusses the factors that will enable further miniaturization, as well as what limitations there might be.     What’s happening with connector sizes these days? The evolution of connectors in our phones and laptops, the changeRead More

Automotive is the fastest growing market sector for fiber optic connectors.     The market for fiber optic connectors, after years of promising predictions, is finally (really) taking off. From plastic optical fiber (POF) used in automobile communications systems to embedded optics in high-performance computing (HPC), fiber-optic connector use is growing. The largest revenue opportunitiesRead More

From its inception, silicon/CMOS photonics was supposed to revolutionize optical communications, but has yet to come to fruition. How much progress has been made so far?   Both Intel and Luxtera have been working on silicon/CMOS photonics for more than 13 years. While we have a few products, its promise of lower-cost, lower-power-consumption optical devicesRead More

Optical modules are key components in networking equipment, and specifying the right modules can heavily influence overall system performance. Here, Erin Byrne of TE offers tips on key considerations. Optical modules are key components in networking equipment, and specifying the right modules can heavily influence overall system performance. There are several issues to consider whenRead More

As patient records, diagnostic information, and even the operating theater increasingly rely on networked electronics, the amount of data that must be managed has grown dramatically. Here we’ve excerpted a detailed white paper by Berk-Tek Leviton Technologies on some of the available solutions for increasing speed and efficiency in a facility’s cabling infrastructure.   Hospitals and otherRead More

The rapid growth of cloud computing requires data centers to scale up, but traditional copper presents limitations in distance, bandwidth, and efficiency.   The business of today’s data-driven world is being conducted in the Cloud. The rapid growth of cloud computing requires data centers to dramatically scale up in order to handle the oceans ofRead More

Fiber optics are poised to enable network functionality like never before with increased data rates and bandwidth inside the data center.   The need to change the data center network from a hierarchal one to a leaf-spine or more meshed one has arisen from the ever-increasing need for compute and storage access and the useRead More

With a record-breaking number of exhibitors, this year’s International Microwave Symposium featured state-of-the-art developments in RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave products.   The International Microwave Symposium presented by the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) is the premier International event for microwave theory and practice. In addition to the flagship IMS Conference, “Microwave Week 2015”Read More

Molex OptoConnect Custom Optical Enclosures offer a high-density fiber optic routing management solution that integrates sophisticated fiber circuitry features. Molex Incorporated launched its OptoConnect Custom Optical Enclosures, which are designed to simplify complex fiber optic mapping issues. The OptoConnect fiber-routing system uses integrated FlexPlane circuitry for a complete end-to-end optical management system for high-density telecom and datacom equipmentRead More

Top-of-rack switching has become the norm in data centers. What does that mean for data center connectivity solutions?   With the advent of top-of-rack (ToR) switching and SFP+ direct-attach copper cables, more data centers are able to quickly implement cost-effective 10G-and-beyond connections. ToR designs originally popped up because data center managers ran out of roomRead More