HP Announces Support for New Mini-MT Transceiver Platform; HP and AMP/Lytel to Drive Open Industry Standard

Business Wire, Feb 18, 1997

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 1997--Hewlett- Packard Company today announced plans to support the Mini-MT Fiber Optic Connector with a new, open, industry-standard Mini-MT transceiver platform. The requirement for higher port density fiber-optic connectors is currently under consideration in several communications-industry standards bodies, including ANSI X3T11 Fibre Channel, IEEE 802 Ethernet, ATM Forum and connector/building wiring standards bodies TIA/EIA and ISO/IEC.

As part of the company's plan to endorse the Mini-MT connector, HP has entered into a multisource agreement with AMP/Lytel to establish an open industry standard for Mini-MT transceivers for multimode and single-mode fiber-optic transceiver modules. HP and AMP/Lytel are actively seeking support from other fiber-optic transceiver vendors for this new open Mini-MT transceiver platform. This joint agreement is intended to speed time to market for the innovative, small duplex Mini-MT connector, which is expected to lower network infrastructure costs.

"By leveraging HP's technology expertise and high-volume manufacturing capabilities, we plan to address the market need for increased port density -- at the industry's lowest cost -- with our Mini-MT transceiver modules," said William P. (Bill) Sullivan, general manager of HP's Communications Semiconductor Solutions Division.

A key feature of the new Mini-MT platform is its package width. The Mini-MT transceiver package is approximately half the size of the current industry-standard 1 x 9 transceiver with a duplex SC interface. The port density (center line to center line) of the Mini-MT transceiver is equal to the 0.550-inch density achievable with the RJ-45 UTP interface. This means that the optical interface will no longer be a factor limiting port density on hubs, switches and I/O cards. Increased fiber-optic port density will allow OEMs to double the number of fiber-optic channels on a given system I/O card, which, ultimately, should result in lower costs per port to end-users.

"Furthermore, the Mini-MT connector utilizes proven technology to address both multimode and single-mode fiber applications," said Sullivan. "Our existing customers, who have been using our 850nm VCSEL-based 1 x 9 duplex SC transceivers for the last year for greater than one gigabit-per-second (>1 Gb/s) applications, such as Gigabit Ethernet, FC and Serial HiPPI, are pleased with our intentions to introduce a family of Mini-MT transceivers with a variety of emitter technologies."

The new Mini-MT transceivers are expected to be available in both 10- and 20-pin dual-in-line-package (DIP) modules, with feature sets comparable with those of the current 1 x 9- and 2 x 9-pin duplex SC-connector transceiver modules.

HP is expected to begin sampling the Mini-MT transceiver products later this year. These products are targeted for the 100Mb/s to >1Gb/s Premise Backbone markets. The Fast Ethernet (125MBd), FDDI (125MBd) and SONET/SDH ATM OC-3 (155 MBd) products will be based on 1,300nm LED and 1,300nm laser sources for multimode and single-mode fiber interfaces. The Gb/s modules for Fibre Channel (1063 MBd), Gigabit Ethernet (1250 MBd) and SONET/SDH ATM (1244 MBd) will utilize 850nm VCSEL sources for multimode fiber interfaces and 1,300nm laser technology for both multimode and single-mode fiber interfaces.

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global manufacturer of computing, communications and measurement products and services recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 112,000 employees and had revenue of $38.4 billion in its 1996 fiscal year.

Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com . -0-

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