OFS joins Terabit BiDi MSA group

OFS announced that it has joined the Terabit BiDi Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) group.
OFS is a global designer, manufacturer, and supplier of fiber-optic network products. The Terabit BiDi MSA specification addresses short-reach applications including the critical high-volume interconnects between switches in modern data centers.
The MSA’s specifications utilize the widely adopted dual wavelength bidirectional (BiDi) transmission technology. This provides an upgrade path to the large-scale deployed parallel MMF cabling infrastructure.
The Terabit BiDi MSA specifications are built upon the 100 Gb/s Ethernet MMF specifications. Terabit BiDi MSA participants are responding to an industry need for lower cost and lower power consumption solutions in the 800 Gb/s and 1.6 Tb/s form factors that bidirectional MMF technology can provide

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.

Ransomware attackers are setting the agenda in cybersecurity

Following news that Royal Mail has been hit by a ransomware attack, David Bicknell, principal analyst on the Thematic Intelligence team at GlobalData, offers his view on how companies can improve their cybersecurity measures.
“This attack is a sharp reminder that no company is immune from attack,” he said. “The silver lining is that an attack like this should jolt every chief executive into scrutinizing their cyber-readiness plans.

From Glass Fiber to Coherent Transmission and Pluggable Optics: The Evolution and Future of Optical Networks

During the last decade, a new technology called coherent transmission made enormous scaling in optical network transmission possible. Combining the technology of digital signal processors (DSPs) with the application of phase modulation techniques (also common in mobile networks) to optical signals, coherent transmission technology enabled a further 100-fold increase in wavelength speed over what was possible with OOK technology since it was first introduced a decade ago.