Hakusan and Nippon Sheet Glass jointly develop immersion-cooled multifiber optical connector exhibited at COMNEXT as "world's first"

Data center cooling technology contributes to energy conservation

Hakusan Inc. (Headquarters: Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture; CEO & President: Tatsuya Yonekawa; hereinafter referred to as "Hakusan") and Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Munehiro Hosunuma; hereinafter referred to as "NSG") are pleased to announce that they will be exhibiting the world's first immersion-cooled multifiber optical connector" GrinEB Connector," which they are jointly developing, at the 2nd COMNEXT [Next Generation] Communications Technology & Solutions Exhibition, to be held at Tokyo Big Sight from June 26th.

The recent spread of cloud services and generative AI has led to a dramatic increase in data traffic, which has led to an increase in the energy load required to cool servers and other equipment in data centers.
In this context, immersion cooling technology*1, which cools server equipment by directly immersing it in a refrigerant liquid, has been undergoing numerous demonstration experiments in Japan as a key technology for reducing power consumption in data centers due to its excellent energy-saving performance, and the development of related peripheral technologies is also being accelerated.

This new product, which meets the growing need for optical connectors*2 for liquid immersion cooling, was developed by utilizing Hakusan 's technology, which holds the second largest global market share for multifiber optical connector component "MT Ferrule *3," and the features of our company's extremely thin lens (125 µm, the same diameter as optical fiber)*4 that can be used in refrigerant liquids.

When conventional optical connectors were used in immersion cooling equipment, there was an issue of communication failure due to the inclusion of refrigerant liquid. However, this developed product is able to ensure communication quality by using the lens to expand and collimate the beam.

Please see below for details of our exhibit. We look forward to seeing you there.

that's all

[Exhibition Overview (Exhibitor: Hakusan Inc.)]

Exhibition Name	COMNEXT 2nd Next Generation Communication Technology & Solutions Exhibition
Date	June 26th (Wed) - 28th (Fri), 2024 10:00-18:00 (final day closes at 17:00)
venue	Tokyo Big Sight (South Exhibition Hall) Access: https://www.bigsight.jp/visitor/access/
Exhibit location	Optical Communications World (FOE) Booth "3-20"
Organizer	RX Japan Co., Ltd.
How to enter	* Advance registration required. Registration is available at the following link: https://www.cbw-expo.jp/ja-jp/register.html?code=1039964825505211-NEE

[Terminology]

^*1 Liquid immersion cooling technology

This technology effectively cools devices such as servers by immersing them entirely in a special liquid that does not conduct electricity and directly contacting the device with the refrigerant liquid. Due to the dramatic increase in data communication volume and data centers, it is predicted that the amount of power consumed by data communication in the world in 2030 will reach the annual power consumption in 2022*, making it an urgent issue to curb power consumption. 30-40% of the power consumed by these data centers is used to cool equipment, and it is believed that energy savings can be achieved by efficiently cooling servers.

*Source: Japan Science and Technology Agency, Center for Low Carbon Society Strategy (2019) "The impact of the development of the information society on energy consumption (Vol. 1) - Current status and future predictions of power consumption of IT devices"

^*2 Optical connector

An optical connector is a part for connecting optical fibers together. It consists of a "connector body," a "ferrule" that secures the fiber, and a "mating mechanism" that provides a mechanical connection between the connector body and the device. multifiber optical connector is a connector for connecting multiple optical fibers [MT[Shun1], and is used to ensure the transmission quality and reliability of signals in optical fiber communication systems. Multi-core optical connectors generally come in 2-core, 4-core, 8-core, 12-Fiber, 24-Fiber, and other types depending on the number of multifiber optical connector fibers.

■Explanatory website: https://hakusan-mfg.co.jp/news/243/

^*3 MT Ferrule

It is a key part of a connector called multifiber optical connector that mechanically connects optical fibers together. The end face of this coffee bean-sized part has fiber holes into which multiple optical fibers can be inserted.

■Product information site: https://hakusan-mfg.co.jp/products/optical/

^*4 Ultra-thin lens ^SELFOC® Micro Lens

This product is compatible with the all-optical networking of communication infrastructure and liquid immersion cooling technology that are being considered for the Beyond 5G era, when an explosive increase in communication traffic and network-connected devices is expected. The use of a lens with a diameter of 125 μm, the same diameter as an optical fiber, enables the miniaturization and high performance of equipment that connects optical fibers and individual terminals with optical signals, while also making a significant contribution to energy conservation measures, which have become a concern in recent years.

■Product information site: https://selfoc.jp/product/sml/

About NSGGroup (Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. and its group companies)

NSG Group is one of the world's largest glass manufacturers, operating in the architectural and automotive glass and creative technology sectors. The architectural glass business manufactures and sells various types of glass for buildings and glass for solar panels.
The Automotive Glass business operates in the areas of original equipment (OE) glass and aftermarket (AGR) glass.

The main products of the Creative Technology business are lenses used in printers and scanners, special glass fibers, glass flakes, mainly glass cord used as a reinforcing material for timing belts, and fine glass. https://www.nsg.co.jp

About Hakusan Inc.

Hakusan Inc., Ltd. is a company that behind the scenes supports communication infrastructure and contributes to the realization of a society where people are connected through networks. The company's main product, the multifiber optical connector part "MT Ferrule," currently holds the second largest market share in the world.

In addition, in 2019, NTT proposed the IOWN concept, a low-power consumption, low-latency, high-capacity, high-quality communications network. To realize this concept, we are working on developing optical connection technologies and products that contribute to the key technology of "Photonics-Electronics-Convergence technology."

2020Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry certified Global Niche Top Company

＜Inquiries＞

(出展・製品に関すること）
株式会社白山           　IOWN推進部          　　　 　 Email:info.iown@hakusan-mfg.co.jp
日本板硝子株式会社　情報通信デバイス事業部　　 https://selfoc.jp/contact/

(報道関係等）
株式会社白山　　　　広報チーム　　　　　　　 Email:p-relations@hakusan-mfg.co.jp
日本板硝子株式会社　広報部          　             　　 Tel：03-5443-0100

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