An electronics consortium consisting of Hitachi Cable Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (Panasonic), Sony Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, and connector makers Molex Incorporated, SMK Corporation and Taiko Denki Co. today announced plans to support a new miniature plastic optical fiber (POF) interface.

The common specifications will cover the connector, transceiver and cabling, and the group is already promoting the concept to various POF-related companies.

Plastic Optical Fiber (POF) is suitable for high-speed data transmission and
offers advantages of flexibility, high bandwidth and low cost. POF has been adopted in certain high-speed digital interfaces such as ATM and IEEE 1394.

In those interfaces, however, comparatively larger PN-type POF connectors are used, which has driven the need for a smaller standard. The interface proposed by the consortium includes optical fiber connectors about half the size of the current

PN-type. The smaller overall interface size will help meet the miniaturization needs of future digital home applications, and enable more devices to be connected to one unit.

The new POF interface is targetted for future high speed requirements such as IEEE 1394, which are expected to enable data transmission rates up to 1Gbps.

Features of the new POF interface design include no EMI, high-speed data transfer capabilities, and easy handling to meet next generation high speed needs.

The consortium plans to introduce the new POF interface to industry standard organizations inside and outside of Japan in order to establish it as a future global standard.

Press Contacts(U.S.)

Hitachi Cable Ltd.
Louis Marra
Hitachi Cable America
Tel: 1-914-993-0990

lmarra@hitachi-cable.com

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic)
Jim Reilly
Matsushita Electric Corporation of America
Tel: 1-201-392-6067
Fax: 1-201-348-7579

reillyj@panasonic.com

Sony Corporation
Mack Araki
Sony Electronics Inc.
Tel: 1-408-955-5673

Mack_Araki@ccmail.sel.sony.com

Toshiba Corporation
Kenichi Sugiyama
Toshiba Corporation
Tel: 81-3-3457-2105

kenichi.sugiyama@toshiba.co.jp

Molex Incorporated
Aki Tezuka
Molex Incorporated
Tel: 1-630-969-4550
Fax: 1-630-969-1352

atezuka@molex.com

SMK Corporation
Kory Waragai
SMK Electronics Corporation, USA
Tel: 1-619-216-6400

Kory.Waragai@smk.usa.com

Taiko Denki Co., Ltd.
Ken Yamauchi
Tel: 1-408-738-6943

yamauchi@taiko-e.com

Press Contacts(Europe)

Hitachi Cable Ltd.
K. Mazaki
Hitachi Cable International, Ltd. London Branch
Tel: 44-171-494-1956

koji_mazaki@cc.hitachi-cable.co.jp

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic)
Brendon Gore
Matsushita Electric Europe
Tel: 44-181-899-2216
Fax: 44-181-899-2218

Brendon.Gore@matsushita-europe.com

Sony Corporation
Daniel Lintz
Sony Corporation
Tel: 81-3-5448-6800

lintz@ccom.sony.co.jp

Toshiba Corporation
Kenichi Sugiyama
Toshiba Corporation
Tel: 81-3-3457-2105

kenichi.sugiyama@toshiba.co.jp

Molex Incorporated
Aki Tezuka
Molex Incorporated
Tel: 1-630-969-4550
Fax: 1-630-969-1352

atezuka@molex.com

SMK Corporation
Hideo Suzuki
SMK Europe N.V.
Tel: 32-2-720-9883
Taiko Denki Co., Ltd.
Toshinori Unno
Tel:81-3-3759-0378

tunno@taiko-denki.co.jp

Press Contacts (ASIA)

Hitachi Cable Ltd.
T. Kaburaki
Hitachi Cable International, Ltd.
Hong Kong Branch
Tel: 852-2721-2077

toru_kaburaki@cc.hitachi-cable.co.jp

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic)
Keiji Furukawa
Asia Matsushita Electric (Singapore)
Tel: 65-390-8470
Fax: 65-390-3510

furukawa.keiji@ams.panasoniccom

Sony Corporation
Daniel Lintz
Sony Corporation
Tel: 81-3-5448-6800

lintz@ccom.sony.co.jp

Toshiba Corporation
Kenichi Sugiyama
Toshiba Corporation
Tel: 81-3-3457-2105

kenichi.sugiyama@toshiba.co.jp

Molex Incorporated
Aki Tezuka
Molex Incorporated
Tel: 1-630-969-4550
Fax: 1-630-969-1352

atezuka@molex.com

SMK Corporation
Yoshitugu Tamamura
SMK Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
Tel: 60-3-816-0166

tamasan@smk.co.jp

Taiko Denki Co., Ltd.
Toshinori Unno
Tel:81-3-3759-0378

tunno@taiko-denki.co.jp