SENKO Advanced Components, Inc. in July announced a further collaboration with Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., this time to develop and deliver the new connector interface, SN-MT connector system.
At the OFC 2021 show, SENKO announced the official release of its SN-MT product, a next-generation multi-fiber connector. The SN-MT interface carries a maximum of 16-fibers in a single row ferrule contained within a regular SN connector footprint.
SENKO contends the design improves connector density by 2.7x over MPO-16F and 1.3x over MPO-32F designs, and is suitable for many applications that require high-density solutions.
A renewed collaboration
Sumitomo Electric is now jointly working with SENKO to design and support the SN-MT connector system globally, including the release of its own ferrule. With the renewed collaboration, the SN-MT connector will be available from both SENKO and Sumitomo Electric, in a move intended to resolve multi-vendor concerns from customers, said the partners.
In 2019, the two companies teamed on the introduction of the AirMT noncontact multi-fiber connector technology, positioned as an alternative to standard MPO designs.
“Sumitomo Electric is one of the leading companies in optical connectivity solutions, having a high influence in the data center market, and we are pleased with this collaboration,” commented Jim Hasegawa, Executive Vice President of SENKO. “We can satisfy the multi-vendor requirement of critical components from end-users and we believe this would be a key for the quick adoption of SN-MT products in the market.”
The SN-MT 16F can accommodate up to 3456F connection in a 1RU patch panel. Having the same footprint as a regular SN connector, 4x SN-MT connectors can fit in QSFP-DD and OSFP footprints, resulting in a total of 64F connections per transceiver, a SENKO statement observed.
"This type of high-density solution is perfect for a 1RU height Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) 51.2T switch, which can use 64x SN-MT 16F (1024F) on the top of the face plate while keeping enough space for an External Laser Source (ELS)," added SENKO.
SN® is a Registered Trademark of Senko Advanced Components, Inc.
Shinsuke Niiyama, General Manager, Opto Interconnectivity Department, Lightwave Network Products Division at Sumitomo Electric, concluded, “A high-density optical connectivity solution will be one of the key elements to support the increasing data traffic. With SN-MT being the highest density multi-fiber connector, using the proven SN connector footprint, we believe we can provide the most practical and valuable solutions to users along with our precision molding technology and know-how.”
More information can be found at www.senko.com and https://sumitomoelectric.com/.