January 2007. Fujitsu Releases the First Compact Optical SFF and SFP GPON Transceivers Capable of Operating From -40°C to 85°C

Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. today announced the development of the world's first optical transceiver technology capable of operating across a temperature range of -40°C (-40°F ) to 85°C (185°F). These devices, which can also receive burst signals widely with varying optical power, are designed for application in Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) systems that are being deployed primarily in North America to enable high speed broadband access.

Fujitsu plans to begin sales of two optical transceiver products for Optical Line Terminal (OLT) systems based on this new technology in SFP(1) and SFF(2) formats at the end of April 2007. These products will ensure system margins that tolerate wide variations in the received optical power, resulting in dramatic improvements in optical transmission performance and enabling GPON equipment to be much more compact. These features, in turn, enable much greater flexibility in network deployments.

With ever-increasing demand for broadband access bandwidth on both backbone networks and residential networks, there is a strong need for optical transceivers that can support highly-reliable, high-capacity networks capable of delivering a wide range of applications.

Fiber-optic lines are being deployed in residential networks to support subscribers’ increasing bandwidth requirements. These lines initially supported transmission speeds of 150 Mbps, but currently offer gigabit-level speeds. In North America, the ITU-T(3) GPON standard is viewed as a likely candidate for its affinity to existing SONET networks, with demand expected to rise considerably. In a GPON network, the central office equipment is connected to subscriber premises via a star coupler, receiving subscriber signals with time-division multiplexing. Because distances to subscriber premises will vary, the central office equipment must be able to receive burst signals that vary in the received optical powers by a factor of up to 100 times.

Furthermore, since the central office equipment may be located outdoors, it must be able to operate over a wide temperature range, and a single unit should be able to accommodate multiple optical transceivers, meaning that the transceivers themselves should be compact.

The new Fujitsu transceivers meet these challenges thanks to the following technological achievements.

A proprietary chip capable of receiving high-speed signals, with burst signals varying in the received optical powers by a factor of more than 1000 times,

High-efficiency heat-dissipation construction and control circuitry for steady operation over broad temperature ranges,

High-density mounting technology.

Fujitsu aims to increase its share of the North American optical transceiver market for optical subscriber line systems with the introduction of these products.

Key Features
1. ITU-T standard optical transceivers

These transceivers fully comply with ITU-T G.984.2 Class B+, the standard for GPON, with support for separate upstream and downstream signal frequencies.

2. Wide dynamic range for incoming burst signals gives greater system expandability

Fujitsu's proprietary CMOS chip and burst-reception technology allow for incoming signals with received optical powers that vary by more than 1000 times. These transceiver performance improvements enable GPON deployments supporting more than the type 32 subscribers per port and at longer distances than the industry standard 20 km.

3. Ability to withstand a broad range of temperatures for outdoor installations

High-efficiency heat-dissipation construction and control circuitry for stable operation over a wide temperature range mean these transceivers can operate reliably at temperatures from -40°C (-40°F ) to 85°C (185°F), which make them well-suited for installation in demanding outdoor environments.

4. Plug-and-pull compatible for ease of maintenance and expansion

Fujitsu's proprietary compact device technologies and high-density mounting technologies result in a product roughly 20% smaller than existing optical transceivers in the SFP format. These devices will make it easier to maintain or expand networks without disrupting existing services.

Availability: End of April 2007

Notes
1) SFP: Small Form-Factor Pluggable. A compact transceiver package for industry-standard gigabit bands designed to be able to be inserted with power supply in place.
2) SFF: Small Form-Factor. An industry-standard compact transceiver package with standardized dimensions and pin layouts.
3) ITU-T: International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunication Sector. International body that sets standards for telephony and electronic communications.

November 2006. Fujitsu's line of cutting-edge, high-performance optical components contribute to build the next generation G-PON broadband optical backbone network for telecom and datacom.

The product lineup includes:

• 300pin MSA 10Gb/s Transponders
• 10 Gigabit Small Form Factor Pluggable (XFP / X2/Xenpak MSA)
• Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFP) MSA Transceivers
• Optical Modules for Passive Optical Networks (B-PON / G-PON / GE-PON)
• Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3) External Modulators
• Variable Chromatic Dispersion Compensator using Virtually Imaged Phased Array Technology ( VIPA-VDC)

January 31, 2006. Fujitsu Components America, Inc. today announced that touch panel product orders accepted after January 31, 2006 for out-of-stock standard products will be supported with lead-free, RoHS-compliant, equivalent product.

The change affects all products in Fujitsu’s 4- and 7-wire resistive touch panel line. The new panels will be manufactured with a Gold-plated, flat flexible cable that replaces the current Tin-Lead plated flex cable.

The new devices are drop-in replacements for the company’s existing touch panel products, however, a Gold-plated connector is necessary for terminating the new Gold-plated flex tails to prevent corrosion at the connector contact points.

The RoHS-compliant touch panels have new part numbers to differentiate them from the existing products. A cross-reference table is available at RoHS compliant Part Number Cross Reference. Panel pricing is the same as or similar to the current offering.

January 2006. Fujitsu Components America, Inc. announced that its line of high-transparency touch panels was awarded the 2005 Editors' Choice Award in the Human-Machine Interface category by Control Engineering magazine.

Fujitsu’s high-transparency touch panels were among 45 products from various categories selected by Control Engineering editors for this year’s awards. Products receiving the award are voted to be the most significant innovations from the thousands featured in the 2005 North American print edition of Control Engineering, in its monthly and weekly e-mailed newsletters, and on its www.controleng.com Web site. Editors judged the products based on service to the industry, technological advancement and market impact.

Fujitsu’s 4- and 7-wire high-transparency touch panels provide OEMs, VARs and integrators with a large variety of cost-effective, off-the-shelf touch solutions for LCDs used in high ambient light applications. The panels feature proprietary Index Matching coatings on the glass and film layers to lower reflectance losses for higher transmissivities, which are available up to 92%. Over 10 different standard sizes are available with various optical enhancements, including Fujitsu’s industry-leading Anti-Smudge (AS) surface.

September 2005. Fujitsu Components America, Inc. announced an update of downloadable Windows® drivers for its thermal printer units, mechanisms and subassemblies. Customers can access the drivers from the company’s website.

The drivers optimize the printer’s performance when working in a Windows environment. They permit the printing of bar codes, data, graphics or special characters, which are built into the thermal printer, in different Windows applications.

Fujitsu has the following driver software available to download: Windows 95/98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, and Windows Pocket PC. These include USB, serial and parallel drivers.

The Windows drivers apply to Fujitsu’s current thermal printer product series, when using both the mechanism and I/F board, FTP-627, -637 series; FTP-628, -638 series; FTP-628WSL; FTP-629, -639 series, and FTP-639USL.

Fujitsu’s 24-volt and battery-operated thermal printers provide rapid, quiet printing for various applications including medical and scientific instrumentation, point-of-sale, kiosks, transportation and field sales. The printers, which are available in 2-inch, 3-inch and 4-inch sizes, can be purchased with optional interface boards and with or without auto-cutters.

April 2005. Xmultiple's newest product is the FlashPoint ShareDrive. USB flash drives are a new wave in portable data storage. FlashPoint ShareDrives takes this technology one step further…….data on FlashPoint pen Drives can be copied from one pen drive to another. And this is not the only thing different about FlashPoint pen drives. FlashPoint ShareDrives have an integrated female USB connector so you can now plug a cable or another device into the same USB port in which the FlashPoint ShareDrive is attached. With all of this added technology to the FlashPoint ShareDrives physical size remains the same as most existing pen drives. FlashPoint ShareDrives are available in three colors including white, black and silver.

With the FlashPoint drive technology a user does not need a computer, laptop or palm computer to copy files on the go. FlashPoint solves the problem of copy files from your machine to a friends machine when you all you have is your pen drives. FlashPoint is a simple solution. Current USB Flash Memory Drives can support up to 8-GB of flash memory. And this capacity will grow within the next few months. This makes the importance of FlashPoint data copy capability even more important. Transporting, copying and accessing data with Flashpoint ShareDrive is as simple as carrying a pen. And because FlashPoint is a plug and play device you just place it in a USB slot and it will register with the computer as a removable drive almost instantaneously. With FlashPoint ShareDrive the pen drive will also have a subdirectory called "Share" which is the file that all files will copy from when you attach to FlashPoint drives together and copy files. In addition, because it is a hub, you can simply plug another device into the female connector and it recognizes more than one device.

Unlike existing pen drives, FlashPoint ShareDrives do have a battery integrated inside…….this provides the power to transfer data from one FlashPoint ShareDrive to another ….but it is an extremely small battery which occupies virtually no room in the pen drive. FlashPoint is the first product to take flash drive technology to a point where the a users data and information can be easily transported and copied. FlashPoint works With All USB Devices and are designed to work on both Windows and Mac platforms, and with all USB devices, including USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed).

April 2004. Fujitsu Components America has expanded its 7-wire resistive touch panel offering with the addition of a 17-inch (diagonal) standard product. The company now offers OEMs and VARs a line of standard 7-wire touch panels ranging in size from 8.4 inches to 17 inches. The new 17-inch panel is targeted for man-machine interface functions in instrumentation, process controls, intelligent kiosks and other emerging applications such as electronic voting machines. It accepts either pen or finger input, has a minimum input life of ten million operations, 80 percent minimum transparency and an operating temperature range of –5 to 60 degrees C.

Click for datasheet | Click for more information on Fujitsu.

April 2003. Fujitsu Components America, Inc. has introduced a new series of compact thermal printer mechanisms with 200mm-per-second print output speeds. The company also added a high-speed serial and USB interface board to the series in addition to its standard serial and parallel offerings.

The 24VDC-driven, FTP-609MCL054/354 printer series is targeted to applications such as kiosks, POS/ECR, ticketing machines, label printers, banking machines, test/measurement devices, and medical equipment. The printers have a print resolution of 8 dots/mm and are capable of outputting a variety of characters and graphics in two colors (red/black or blue/black) if desired.

The series includes both 2-inch and 3-inch mechanisms with optional auto cutters capable of full or partial cuts. A 2-inch printer with a mounted cutter measures a compact 40.5mm (D) x 82.2mm (W) x 20.5mm (H). A 3-inch model has a width of 104.2mm.

The printers are constructed of die-cast metal, which provides mounting stability as well as shock and vibration resistance. This metal frame also functions as both a heat sink and an outlet for electrostatic discharge. It also enables the printers’ extended operating temperature range of -10°C to +55°C.

The printer series is designed with rear paper insertion, allowing a straight paper path for labels or tickets. A platen release lever allows access to the print head without tools for easy maintenance.

October 2002. Fujitsu Components America, Inc. today announced it has added a line of 4-wire resistive touch panels for high-temperature applications. The new touch panels meet the temperature, humidity, vibration, and shock requirements for the automotive environment, as well as other high-temperature environments such as factory floors, warehouses, and remotely located control stations.

The full-custom, FID-554 series consists of film-on-glass touch panels designed for use with transmissive and transflective LCDs. Available in various sizes up to 12.1-inches diagonal, the panels address touch-interface applications such as instrumentation, control systems, GPS navigation systems, electronics entertainment, and telematics.

The touch panels have a continuous operating temperature range of -30 to +85 degrees C at up to 95% humidity. They measure 1.4mm thick, have a 3H minimum surface hardness rating, and an operating life of more than one million operations.

Fujitsu offers the new panels with a range of options for specific applications. These include polarization filters, anti-reflection coatings, and anti-glare treatments to enable high contrast, sunlight readability, and up to 92% transmissivity.

September 2002. Fujitsu Components America, Inc. has updated its list of drivers for use with its lines of thermal printers, resistive touch panels, keyboards and other input devices.

Follow this link to be taken to the drivers page on the Fujitsu website!

September 2002. A compact and ultra-high-speed thermal printer unit is now available from Fujitsu Components America, Inc. The unit’s high reliability and compact design is targeted to high-end kiosk output applications such as POS, ATM, receipt and ticket issuing equipment.

To download a complete datasheet detailing this new printer assembly, click here.