OFC 2025 Showcased the Future of Optical Networking and Communications

In the 2025 Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC), leading brands such as Cambridge Industries USA, Inc., CIENA Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., Coherent Corp, Corning Incorporated, Go!Foton, Infinera, Lumentum, Marvell, Semtech Corporation and TeraHop US Inc. showcased innovations in key areas like 800G, 1.6 Terabit technology, Coherent PON, Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO) and multicore fiber, making OFC 2025 the ultimate destination for collaboration, exploration and the emergence of practical solutions.

益崧科技祝您好運連連、事事如意！

ESGT appreciates your support in the past year, and wishes you a prosperous year full of peace and joy! 

Season's Greetings!

The Essentials about Busbar

A busbar is a metallic strip or bar used to conduct electricity from a power source (such as a transformer or generator) to various electrical loads. Busbars provide connection points for electrical devices, such as circuit breakers, fuses, switches, and other components that are mounted directly onto the busbar or connected to it via bolts, clamps, or other means.

As Heat Sinks are Concerned

Heat sinks provide thermal management in electronic or mechanical devices for components that can’t sufficiently dissipate heat to moderate temperature. Heat moves through the heat sink to the medium (air or liquid coolant) because of natural conduction, which occurs when the ambient temperature is cooler than the heat sink. Heat sink materials absorb heat energy and transfer it to the environment for efficient cooling.

What is multimode cable?

Multimode fiber cables come in several types, categorized by core diameter and bandwidth capabilities. OM1 has a core diameter of 62.5 microns and supports Ethernet speeds up to 1 Gb/s over short distances. OM2, with a 50-micron core, offers improved bandwidth, suitable for Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet applications. OM3 and OM4, also 50-micron cores, are designed for higher speeds like 10 Gigabit Ethernet, with OM4 supporting longer distances at these speeds. OM5, a newer addition, supports multiple wavelengths for increased network capacity over extended distances, known as Wideband Multimode Fiber (WBMMF). 

Artificial Intelligence: Impact on the Connector Industry

High-speed backplane, midplane, and orthogonal connectors, as well as I/O connectors, will be required, but so will device sockets and high-density, low-profile cable-to-PCB connectors. Pluggable optical transceivers, including QSFP-DD, OSFP, and OSFP-XD, are being rapidly adopted to provide high-bandwidth interconnection among remote AI clusters.

New Connectivity Solutions for the AI Data Center

Advanced connectivity solutions, including high-speed board-to-board connectors, next-generation cables, backplanes, and near-ASIC connector-to-cable solutions operating at speeds up to 224 Gb/s-PAM4 are critical to new data center designs.

Global revenue from AI chips sales to surge by 33% in 2024

Market research firm Gartner said revenue from AI chips in the computer electronics market is likely to hit $33.4bn – 47% of the total revenue for AI chips. Meanwhile, the share occupied by automotive electronics will be approximately $7.1bn, while sales of AI chips in consumer electronics will generate revenues of $1.8bn. 

DIN Standard Connectors

The term “DIN connector” refers to a wide range of connectors that adhere to standards set by the Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN) or German Institute for Standardization. DIN connectors vary in size, pin configuration, and type, and serve a wide variety of markets and purposes, including audio, video, data, power, and signal transmission. Common DIN connectors include DIN 41612, Circular DIN, Mini DIN, and various other configurations with different pin counts (e.g., 7-pin, 8-pin, 13-pin, 14-pin, 15-pin, 19-pin, etc.).

NBASE-T and Integrated Connector Modules Speed Up Networks

The NBASE-T Alliance was formed in 2014 to develop a standard for intermediate transmission speeds on common CAT 5 and CAT 6 cable (in 2019 the NBASE-T Alliance merged into the Ethernet Alliance). In 2016 the new standard was approved by the IEEE standards association as IEEE Std 802.3bz. The original impetus was to satisfy backhaul requirements for 802.11ac wireless access points, but it soon became apparent the standard could be a useful upgrade alternative to Gigabit Ethernet. The speeds specified are 2.5 Gb/s and 5 Gb/s (or 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T, respectively).

What are HDMI connectors?

An HDMI connector is a standardized interface used for transmitting high-definition audio and video signals between a source and display. For more than two decades, HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) connectors have served as a bridge between multimedia devices such as gaming equipment, televisions, computer monitors, automotive technologies, cameras, and audiovisual receivers. HDMI connectors facilitate the transmission of high-resolution audio and video content, supporting resolutions up to 4K, high refresh rates, and multi-channel audio formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.

益崧科技祝您財源廣進、龍年吉祥！

ESGT appreciates your support in the past year, and wishes you a new year full of fortune and joy! 

Pluggable Optical Transceivers Continue to Evolve

SFPs continued to evolve and dominate the network industry as they were constantly upgraded with the introduction of 10 Gb SFP+, 25 Gb SFP28, and 50 Gb SFP56. The original QSFP was a full duplex optical and copper solution featuring four 1 Gb independent transmit and receive channels which can replace up to four single channel SFP connectors. QSFP+ bumped up the speed to 10 Gb per channel bringing the aggregate bi-directional bandwidth to 40 Gb/s. QSFP28 bumped the aggregate speed to 50 Gb and 100 Gb, QSFP56 enabled aggregate speed to 200 Gb. QSFP-Double Density (QSFP-DD) and Octal SFP (OSFP), provide eight duplex channels operating at up to 50 Gb/s each to deliver 400 Gb performance.

Season's Greetings!

AI Everywhere

The launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI in November 2022 ignited the current flood of public interest and it was soon followed by announcements of next-generation iterations of generative AI  (DaVinci AI, AIVA, DALL_E)  applications and competitors (Google Bard, Microsoft Copilot, etc.). AI systems learn by being fed immense sets of general and application-specific data to make inferences and create new insights, much like a human neural network. Generative AI uses these insights and data to create entirely original information, including text, images, and audio, spanning such diverse industry segments as business, science, government, and entertainment.

Wi-Fi 6 Eases the Wireless Connectivity Traffic Jam

Several new technologies make Wi-Fi 6 more efficient by addressing reliability, lower latency, greater throughput, battery life, and security:
OFDMA (orthogonal frequency-division multiple access)
MU-MIMO (multiple-user, multiple-input, multiple-output)
Beamforming technology
BSS (basic service set) coloring
Target Wake Time (TWT)
WPA3
Wi-Fi 6e.
 

2023 Top Five European Connector Suppliers

Bishop & Associates has completed its 2023 European Customer Satisfaction Survey of the Electronic Connector Industry, an evaluation of 17 connector manufacturers. A total of 280 customers answered 17 questions relating to important issues such as quality, pricing, delivery, lead times, technical support, and more to determine the top five European connector suppliers.

What are Industrial RJ45 connectors? 

The Industrial RJ45 meets a number of industry standards:  

• ANSI/TIA 1096-A – physical dimensions, mechanical characteristics, and contact requirements.   
• T-568A and T-568B wiring standards for wiring and pinouts.  
• IEEE standards 802.3at, 802.3af and 802.3bt – Ethernet specifics and details for power over Ethernet (PoE) devices where the connector supplies electrical current to the end device.  
• IEEE 1394 – Data interface bus structure used with RJ45 devices. 

USB at a Glance

USB connectors are available in standard, mini, and micro sizes, as well as in different connector styles, such as circular connectors and Micro-D versions. The specifications commonly mentioned are: 

USB 3.0 (5 Gb/s) also known as USB 3.1 Gen 1, came out in 2008. It is currently known as USB 3.2 Gen 1 and works with USB Type A and USB Type C connectors.
USB 3.1 or USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gb/s) followed in 2014, currently known as USB 3.2 Gen 2 or USB 3.2 Gen 2×1, it works with USB Type A and USB Type C.

What are OSFP transceivers?

The OSFP (octal small form factor pluggable) is a type of transceiver that connects a network device, such as a switch, to fiber or copper cable. It is one of two form factors for 400G access networks and data centers, along with QSFP-DD (quad small form factor pluggable-double density).

Standards, Materials, and Testing for Four Types of Resistance

From choosing high-quality materials for housing, coating, plating, insulating, and sealing to protecting the insulation and conductor core against environmental challenges and chemical deterioration, material choices for connectors, and overmolding or jacketing for cables, helps maintain the integrity of the connection under extreme conditions, including rugged operating environments, sterilization processes, or mishandling.

FTTH/B Global Ranking 2023

An initiative of the FTTH Councils Global Alliance, the report analyses FTTH/B penetration rates across the globe. The data from September 2022 show that 22 countries have achieved penetration rates higher than 50 per cent. The UAE leads the ranking with 98.1 per cent, while Qatar rapidly caught up reaching the second position at 97.8 per cent (vs 84 per cent from the previous year). Singapore (96.5 per cent), Hong Kong (91.6 per cent), and China (89.4 per cent) complete the top 5 positions.

Connector Industry Books Record Sales in 2022

The connector industry achieved full year 2022 sales growth of +7.8%, reaching global sales of $84.1 billion. This is a new industry record for sales. North America achieved better sales growth than China in 2022. In fact, North America outperformed China in three of the past five years.