Category: Copper

Fischer Connectors enhances IIoT connectivity with ultra-rugged solutions using Single Pair Ethernet and USB 3.2 protocols

Fischer Connectors has developed new high-speed data and power connectivity solutions combining Single Pair Ethernet and USB 3.2 Gen 2 high-speed protocols with the rugged, high-density and miniature features of its flagship product lines. They enable space-saving and cost-efficient integration in industrial automation and robotics, chemical plants, food processing, automotive production lines, outdoor sensing and unmanned systems.

Honoring the ICT industry’s innovative advancements

At the 2022 BICSI Fall Conference took place in late September, Cabling Installation & Maintenance announced recipients of this year’s Cabling Innovators Awards. The awards program recognizes organizations and people who drive the information and communications technology (ICT) industry forward. It awards ingenuity and innovation wherever it is found in the value chain of cabling-system specification, design, installation, and administration.

Inching toward a greener, future-proof cabling infrastructure

This year saw noteworthy milestones in the development of cabling infrastructure standards for smart buildings. In March, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) released the ANSI/TIA-568.5 Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) cabling standard. Four months later, TIA released the ANSI/TIA-862-C Intelligent Building standard with technical updates and topologies that facilitate connecting and powering IoT devices, including the addition of SPE standards (in alignment with 568.5). Recently, the National Fire Protection Association Standards Council voted to issue the 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC) with Class 4 fault-managed power that will expand the use of energy-saving direct current (DC) power over low-voltage cabling, which is incentivized by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED version 4 pilot credit Direct Current Power Systems.
These milestones encourage cabling infrastructure design and implementation practices that improve connectivity and sustainability in smart buildings—but the market remains in its infancy. The lack of actual products available on the commercial market complicates new-project design. But technology providers can adopt strategies today to help future-proof infrastructure for tomorrow.

What’s the deal with Industry 4.0 (and how do we deal with it)?

Whereas the third Industrial Revolution was defined by widespread digitalization (the rise of computers, process logic controllers, etc.), the fourth Industrial Revolution is all about fusing digital, physical and virtual resources to create intelligent processes that think, do and respond faster and more accurately than humans alone can. The fourth Industrial Revolution is a way of describing the blurring of boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological worlds. It’s a fusion of advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, IoT, 3D printing, genetic engineering, quantum computing, and other technologies.

Ethernet Alliance gears up for 50th anniversary plus 10G-800G demo at OFC 2023

The Ethernet Alliance this week revealed details of its upcoming multivendor technology demonstration at the 2023 Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC 2023), among the world’s premier telecom and data center optics events, to be held March 7-9, 2023, at the San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California.
Ethernet Alliance said this year’s multivendor interoperability display uniquely captures Ethernet technology’s 50-year track record of success, while illustrating the need for a “living lab” of next-generation technologies, and setting the stage for its next evolutionary phase.
Peter Jones, chairman of the Ethernet Alliance, remarked: “We’re now at the half-century mark, and Ethernet’s star continues to rise. As a profoundly resilient technology that’s getting progressively faster, it is an innovation engine that drives market diversification and fuels business growth. As the volume and variety of applications expand, bridging between legacy systems and emerging technologies is increasingly critical. The Ethernet Alliance OFC 2023 demo underscores the importance of interoperability and perfectly frames Ethernet’s ability to operate seamlessly across disparate industries and environments.”
Featuring 18 different participating member companies, the Ethernet Alliance interoperability demo in its OFC booth #5417 will span diverse Ethernet technologies, ranging from 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) to 800GbE.
This year’s interoperability display will feature a live network between the Ethernet Alliance and the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), EXFO Inc., Spirent Communications, and Viavi Solutions Inc. booths.
The network will leverage single-mode optical fibers with high-speed traffic originating from an array of switches, routers, interconnects, including copper and optical cables.
It will also showcase various interconnects using multiple pluggable form factors such as OSFP, QSFP-DD, QSFP, and SFP, and multiple interface types including OIF 400ZR, OpenZR+ MSA 400ZR+, and 800G-ETC-CR8.
Finally, there will be live demonstrations from BERT and AN/LT test equipment.

Belden intros Single Pair Ethernet connectivity line to enable IIoT, Industry 4.0

Global network and digitization solutions supplier Belden on Jan. 13 announced the introduction of its new Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) line of connectivity products.
The new Belden SPE portfolio includes: IP20-rated PCB jack, patch cords and cordsets for clean-area connections. IP65/IP67-rated circular M8/M12 patch cords, cordsets and receptacles for reliable field device industrial Ethernet connections.
The products are designed to optimize Ethernet connection possibilities in harsh environments, including industrial and transportation operations.