SENKO touts adoption of SN Connector, including for optical transceivers

May 14, 2020

The company adds that an ecosystem of production and field equipment, testers, and cleaning and inspection tools is now in place.

Stephen Hardy

Senko Sn Connector Inside Transceiver 5ebd81602e68e

SENKO Advanced Components, Inc. reports that a variety of optical transceiver and connector suppliers have adopted and licensed its SN Connector technology. Licensees include Applied Optoelectronics Inc., Cisco, Delta, Eoptolink, Juniper Networks, Molex, and Sicoya. In addition, the SFP-DD multisource agreement (MSA) has adopted the SN as an independent duo-style interface, mainly for wireless fronthaul applications, SENKO says.

The company adds that an ecosystem of production and field equipment, testers, and cleaning and inspection tools is now in place.

The duplex SN Connector leverages LC-style 1.25-mm O.D. Zirconia ferrules, with four connectors combined into a single interface. Designed to be more efficient, reliable, and scalable than MPO connectors, the SN naturally pairs with quad-style transceiver form factors such as QSFP, QSFP-DD, and OSFP. Its primary application is expected to be the support of high-speed breakout requirements in hyperscale data centers, alongside the SFP-DD based use in mobile network support. Use of the SN in leaf-and-spine architectures offers significant simplification and cost reduction versus a traditional MPO and LC based approach, where fiber shuffle boxes between switches might be required, says SENKO. The connector also improves front-panel fiber density, from the 144 fibers per 1RU patch panel to 432.

“SENKO is pleased to license SN technologies out to all these companies. With the support from them and other suppliers working on SN connectors, we foresee SN to be adopted in numerous applications, including DCI [data center interconnect] and wireless fronthaul connectivity, especially with the standardization effort of the SN at the IEC,” said SENKO Executive Vice President Jim Hasegawa. “We express our deepest appreciation and gratitude to all our partners for their expert support and also their trust in the SN technology.”

The SN Connector received a score of 4.0 in the 2019 Lightwave Innovation Reviews. More about the connector can be found in this video.

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.