wiredinUSA March 2014

INDEX

Low-cost multi-fiber connector Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd and Furukawa Electric Co Ltd have collaborated to develop a new multi-fiber optical connector to join and align multiple optical fibers for optical interconnects. The conventional method of connecting optical fibers is an expensive process, requiring high-precision polishing to align the tips of the fibers. Fujitsu Laboratories and Furukawa Electric have developed a connector that can accommodate different lengths of optical fiber and which, with a spring mechanism that obviates the need for the polishing process, will cut the costs of connecting optical fibers by a half. This new connector is said to achieve performance on a par with conventional connectors while simplifying the task of installing high capacity optical interconnects. It is anticipated that the technology will increase data transmission speed between boards, so increasing overall server performance. High-speed copper? Korea’s KT Corporation has developed a technology to enable copper telephone cables to provide Internet service at speeds “never before accomplished”. The company exhibited its technology during the Mobile World Congress at the end of February. Many old buildings still use copper telephone cables with optical cable or unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables to provide an Internet service, but services

through copper wire using VDSL (very high bit-rate DSL) are limited to 100Mbps. KT has announced its FTTH-G solution, said to provide a two-way service of at least 200Mbps using a pair of telephone lines. KT said download speeds can be much faster than 200Mbps. For example, download speed can be 300Mbps if the upload speed is reduced to 100Mbps.

Models show KT’s FTTH-G technology at the company’s booth during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Photograph courtesy of KT KT’s FTTH-G solution saves building owners the cost of replacing copper wires with more advanced cables, the company said, and it will run a pilot project for the technology in some older apartment buildings in Gangnam district to demonstrate the service. “We will further enhance FTTH-G and create a technology that provides at least 300Mbps Internet speed next year,” said a KT official. “We will utilize various types of wires and enable old buildings to provide Internet at gigabytes-per-second speeds.”

wiredInUSA - March 2014

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