Here are a few things we are likely to see from the TIA-942-B data center standard. This may be dull to some, but for those of you in the know, you know how important this could be. 

1. It incorporates Addendum 1 to the 942-A standard, which addressed data center fabrics, as a new Annex.
2. It adds 16- and 32-fiber MPO-style array connectors as an additional connector type for termination of more than two fibers. The 16- and 32-fiber connectors were recently standardized when ANSI/TIA-604-18 was published.
3. It adds Category 8 as an allowable type of balanced twisted-pair cable, and changes the recommendation for Category 6A balanced twisted-pair cable to Category 6A or higher.

 Checkout the full article from cablinginstall.com here and stay tuned for more up-to-date info. 

According to telco equipment maker Ericsson the Internet of Things will become a bigger connected-device category than smartphones in 2018--beleieve it or not. This could be mind-blowing (well, maybe not quite that severe, but significant, still). 5G take-up will be faster than 4G was, it thinks. One major reason for that speed-up is that “5G development is being driven by new use cases,” the report explains. “Greater capacity will allow more devices to be connected,” Ericsson says. “And lower energy requirements will extend device battery lives more than ten times what we see today.” I can certainly see how that could be. Check out the full article here from www.networkworld.com. And stay tuned to see if thsi prediction is true. [photo credit Ericsson]

BCC’s John Richard Rahn predicts changes in the use of  flow cytometry. The laser-based technique is used in an increasing number of bio-analysis applications.  He expects the industry to grow in importance to become a $6.3 billion industry by the end of the decade. He is predicting “significant changes” over the next five years as the technology establishes a growing base in biotechnology labs. Read the full article here as presented by optics.org.

FibreMaxHP is a second-generation 3-6 axis photonics alignment platform built on Aerotech’s proven ANT nanopositioning product line. Aerotech launches FibreMaxHP 3-6 Axis photonics alignment platform with plans to keep on growing. Thanks to http://opticalconnectionsnews.com for the story and here it is in its entirety. 

In a 46.8 million move IPG Photonics has purchased Menara. They hope that the purchase will broaden their telecommunications offerings in internationally and in North America. Read the full story here as written by fibre-systems.com.