JOHN WILLIAMSON CORNING
Left: Reel success – Corning has been recognized for its empowering contribution to TV distribution.
Below: Corning also develops a range of fittings and enclosures.
producer of harsh environment and tactical interconnect products and services.
cabling system specifically designed for the data centre environment. EDGE solutions have been deployed in over 50,000 data centres in 30 countries around the world. An addition to the EDGE range – the EDGE8 – was launched in mid-2015. EDGE8 is billed as the industry’s first modular, tip-to-tip optical cabling system to feature an eight-fibre (Base-8) cabling design that maximises per rack unit density for better network scalability and improved link performance. Corning notes that technology road maps of transceiver, switch, server, and storage makers clearly illustrate that data centre transmission speeds ranging from 4 to 400 Gbits/s will be based on either 2- or 8-fibre connectivity solutions, and maintains that Base-8 connectivity provides the most future-ready solution to support 400G transmission requirements. In May 2016 it was reported that the EDGE8 solution had been awarded first prize in the category “Data Centers – IT and Network Infrastructures” at the 2016 German Data Centre Awards in Darmstadt, Germany. STRONG STUFF Corning’s diversification strategy also extends to corporate acquisition. At the end of last year, the company announced that it had acquired full ownership of STRAN Technologies, the US-based
STRAN serves the military/aerospace and oil/gas industries. As an OEM designer and manufacturer of rugged fibre-optic and hybrid fibre/power connectivity solutions, STRAN Technologies’ products are qualified and specified for use on mission-critical infrastructure. As well as highly regarded engineering, installation, and maintenance services, the acquisition brings design and manufacturing expertise that will allow Corning to reach new customers. “The acquisition of STRAN Technologies enhances Corning’s market access to military and aerospace, and oil and gas segments through the addition of harsh environment optical and power connectors and cable assemblies,” said Kinlin. “It also augments our innovation product and technology portfolios, strengthening our ability to deliver new integrated solutions to network operators worldwide.” BROADBAND WAGON ROLLING On the evidence of its participation in industry events such as Futurecom 2016, in São Paulo, Brazil, CES 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the FTTH Europe 2017 Conference in Marseille, France, the access network continues to be a prime focus of Corning activity in the optical communications business. In the future, the company looks to be committed to spreading the overall broadband access message to a wider audience. At Futurecom, for example, Corning took part in two panel discussions. One, titled “ISPs contributing to the universalisation of broadband and the services in small and medium towns”, discussed the role of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in bringing broadband to locations outside major urban centres, and the factors that need to be taken into account to help ensure profitability of smaller-scale deployments. A second, “Fiber-to-the-Home Evolution and Network Convergence”, addressed the benefits of di erent network architectures and their evolution that will allow the convergence of next-generation residential and business service o erings.
318 million fibre km in the first three quarters of that year. Fibre and optical communications have also progressively expanded their areas of application, from long haul telecommunications into wide area, metro and access networks. In the FTTx/ FTTH arena Corning itself is an industry- leading supplier of FTTH product solutions, with over 10 years of experience and in excess of 25 million homes passed. In the meantime, the tra c carrying capacity of fibre is approaching almost implausible levels, with multiple terabits/s now transmitted over a single fibre. NEW HORIZONS In recent years Corning has diversified its optical communications portfolio to include products for data centres. Notable among these are its EDGE solutions, the industry’s first pre-terminated optical
LANscape fibre optic closet connector housings are rack- mounting enclosures.
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ISSUE 8 | Q1 2017
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