As the size of our networks grew during the last decade, we saw a shift from classical 3-tier network architectures to a flatter and wider Spine-and-Leaf architecture. With its fully meshed connectivity approach, Spine-and-Leaf architecture provided us with the predictable high-speed network performance we were craving and reliability in our network switch fabric.
What kinds of use cases will ultimately become killer apps on the 5G network? Without question, 5G will improve existing services and support expanded capabilities for the future. With reliable always-on connectivity, low latency, and substantial increases in bandwidth, tomorrow’s 5G networks will fundamentally transform the way that businesses and consumers interact with technology. Arguably the most important feature of 5G will be seamless connectivity across multiple device types and settings. The internet of things (IoT), along with other technologies at the edge of the network, will leverage this capability to enhance traditional markets and create entirely new ones. In fact, in a 2018 Gartner survey, 66% of companies surveyed plan to deploy 5G-based IoT applications by 2020.
Furukawa Electric Co. and Superior Essex Inc. are pursuing global collaboration, targeting the Chinese and North American markets.The companies established German joint venture company, “Essex Furukawa Magnet Wire Europe GmbH” (Superior Essex: 51%, Furukawa: 49%), in March 2017 with the intent to supply high-voltage winding wire and other sophisticated products such as HVWW to the European market.
Seasoned industry professionals may recall the excruciating, painstaking days of installing and connecting countless fibers, one at a time. As the number of data centers grew exponentially in the 2000s, designers and installers were tasked with managing hundreds and even thousands of single- and 2-fiber connector solutions. To accommodate the high volume of connectors within ever-tighter space constraints, installers and designers were forced to create more elaborate storage and routing solutions that came with their own set of challenges. Fortunately, those days are long gone – thanks in large part to the emergence of the multi-fiber push-on (MPO) connector. The MPO format dramatically reduced the amount of time, effort, and space required to install and deploy network technologies, particularly in parallel optic applications.
How does fiber actually work? When a device like your computer has information to send, that data starts out as electrical energy. A laser in the computer converts the signals to photons – tiny particles of electromagnetic energy, otherwise known as light – and sends them in rapid succession down the core of the hair-thin fiber. Photons travel in waves through the inner core of the fiber. Because this core region has higher refractive index (i.e. light travels more slowly) than does the fiber’s outer cladding, the light signal is focused within the core and prevented from radiating out of the fiber. In addition, fiber cores are made from very high purity materials (typically Silica and Germania) to assure that the light energy is not absorbed or scattered by impurities. Radiation, absorption, and scattering are all forms of energy loss, also known as attenuation. By keeping such losses as low as possible, fiber allows light and the information it carries to travel great distances from the original source.
Let’s take a look at the #6 and #7 Dumb Things that smart people do when testing network cabling systems— Using a non-EF compliant tester for testing multimode fiber and choosing the two-cord reference for Tier 1 optical loss testing.
A speck of dust you can’t see on an MPO connector can bring down a high-speed trunk, potentially affecting thousands of users. This video covers techniques for cleaning MPO connections using both dry and wet methods and shows how fast and easy it is to inspect them to make sure the job is done right.
Gigabit broadband remains the gold standard for triple-play service delivery — and fiber to the premises remains the most future-proof method of delivering such services. Join OFS and Lightwave Magazine in this webcast to review the current state of fiber-based gigabit services, describes the options carriers are considering, and provides tips on improving FTTP deployments.
TIA’s ANSI/TIA 5017 standard, which specifies requirements for analyzing security levels and develops an individualized security framework for telecommunications infrastructures is now officially under consideration to become an international standard. ANSI/TIA-5017 was created based on U.S. federal government requests to improve the security of commercial buildings and reduce the possibility of disruptions to telecommunications infrastructure.
CommScope has extended its Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) portfolio with the introduction of its RD1322 2×2 Remote PHY Device (RPD). The new module installs directly into NC4- and OM4-series fiber nodes and will extend the benefits of DAA to both traditional segmented and fiber-deep architectures.
