Katherine Bourzac of MIT's Technology Review writes in the latest issue of a process of wrapping solar cells around an optical fiber by which the dye-sensitized cells get a double boost from nanowires and optical fiber which could present a siginificant opportnity for POF. As Bourzac writes:

Dye-sensitized solar cells are flexible and cheap to make, but they tend to be inefficient at converting light into electricity. One way to boost the performance of any solar cell is to increase the surface area available to incoming light. So a group of researchers at Georgia Tech has made dye-sensitized solar cells with a much higher effective surface area by wrapping the cells around optical fibers. These fiber solar cells are six times more efficient than a zinc oxide solar cell with the same surface area, and if they can be built using cheap polymer fibers, they shouldn't be significantly more expensive to make.

The entire aticle can be found on the Technology Review website here:
Wrapping Solar Cells around an Optical Fiber

The MOST Cooperation - the organization through which the leading automotive multimedia network Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST) is standardized - proudly announces that the newest Specification Rev. 3.0 is on its way to production. Various car makers have already started with first series projects implementing this latest MOST Technology. MOST150 enables the use of a higher bandwidth of 150 Mbps, an isochronous transport mechanism to support extensive video applications, and an embedded Ethernet channel for efficient transport of IP-based packet data. It succeeds in providing significant speed enhancements and breakthroughs while keeping costs down. The new Intelligent Network Interface Controller (INIC) architecture complies with Specification Rev. 3.0 and expands the audio/video capability for next generation automotive infotainment devices such as Head Units, Rear Seat Entertainment, Amplifiers, TV-Tuners and Video Displays.

With the first car makers committing to the MOST150 network in selected vehicles from 2011 on, the suppliers of MOST devices, tools, and software solutions are focusing on optimizing their MOST150 product portfolio to ease the implementation in future car models. Key targets are cost efficiency and low power consumption while meeting MOST compliance requirements. MOST solutions and tools are already available to enable successful infotainment implementations at the OEM and supplier level. The built-in signal routing and enhanced power management features are important building blocks for successful MOST system design.

The MOST Cooperation gladly reports the fast-growing acceptance of MOST Technology worldwide. Since the first MOST car model in 2001, 80 vehicle models have implemented the MOST infotainment backbone. Besides Europe, MOST Technology is gaining widespread popularity in Asia's automotive market. Its latest vehicle models are the Toyota Land Cruiser and the Lexus HS250h. Representing the practical application of infotainment technology in hybrid vehicles, MOST multimedia networks feature in the Toyota Crown Hybrid, Prius, and in the hybrid version of the new Lexus RX SUV and Lexus HS250h. In addition, the use of MOST Technology in the Toyota Prius shows that the multimedia network has also made inroads into the mass-produced models of the mid-range sector. The new premium sector Hyundai Equus also relies on MOST for data transmission within its all-round driver information system. The vehicles presented so far along with the Hyundai Genesis, Kia Mohave, Lexus IS, SsangYong Chairman, and the Toyota models Alphard, Crown, Estima, Mark X ZiO, and Vellfire, add up to a grand total of 14 models manufactured by Asian automakers with MOST built in.

Whereas MOST25 Technology - based on optical data transmission using optical fibers and under development for many years in Europe - has established itself in the Korean market, the Japanese market in particular prefers MOST50, the second generation of the multimedia standard. The most significant new feature of MOST50 is that it allows electrical implementations instead of using plastic optical fiber (POF). It enables data transmission over an unshielded twisted pair (UTP) of copper wires while meeting stringent automotive electromagnetic compatibility requirements.

Attendance at the conference topped 120 from 19 countries:

• - Australia: 34     
• - Japan: 13
• - Spain: 9
• - Germany: 8
• - Korea: 6
• - U.S.: 6
• - Others: 4

The attendees were from industry, universities, and research organizations:

• - Universities: 71
• - Companies: 39
• - Other: 10

Abang Annuar Ehsan from the Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics, Malaysia (left) with speaker, Dr. Paul Polishuk of IGI Group and POFTO.

Cork, Ireland — September 15, 2009 — Firecomms Ltd., a leading developer of high speed Plastic Optical Fiber (POF) transceivers and Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs), today announces that several partner companies will showcase its OptoLock® Plastic Optical Fiber transceiver on their exhibits at technology shows in Europe and North America in September.

At Europe's largest optical communication conference and exhibition, ECOC (European Conference and Exhibition on Optical Communication), OptoLock will be featured on several exhibits, including:

ECOC will be held in Vienna, Austria on September 21 through 24. Additional information about ECOC is available at www.ecocexhibition.com.

Cork, Ireland — September 9, 2009 — Firecomms Ltd., a leading developer of high speed Plastic Optical Fiber (POF) transceivers and Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs), today announces that its OptoLock® Plastic Optical Fiber transceiver will be featured at The 18th International Conference on POF Fibers in Sydney, Australia on September 9-11.

The 18th International Conference on POF Fibers, which emphasizes the latest developments in research and innovation, brings together academic researchers from every major research lab worldwide with interest in POF technology and its application. Australia-based DiMoto, a leading developer of Ethernet over Plastic Optical Fiber networking solutions, will feature its OptoLock-based products on a booth at the prestigious conference.

Says Niall Keegan, Firecomms' general manager, Asia Pacific, "Of particular interest at the conference, Angelantonio Gnazzo of Telecom Italia Laboratories and Michael Stevens of DiMoto will give talks about about the latest developments in POF home networks for FTTH installations and in networking products utilizing Firecomms' innovative OptoLock POF transceivers." Additional information about this conference is available at pof2009.mtci.com.au.

The August 2009 issue of IEEE Communications magazine contains a 10-page article on the POF-ALL Project entitled:

"Plastic Optical Fiber Technology for Reliable Home Networking: Overview and Results of the EU Project POF-ALL"

The article is availabe on pgs 58-67 of the print magazine and is also available, to IEEE Communications subscribers, as a PDF here.

Below is the abstract from the article:

The rising performance of broadband connections for residential users, particularly in conjunction with fiber to the home, will present a new challenge for telecom operators in the short and medium terms: how to deliver the high bit rate digital signals with high quality-of-service to all consumer devices scattered inside the building of final users? Among the many different solutions for the home network, we review in this article the use of polymer optical fibers for short-reach and high-capacity optical communications for residential customer premises. POF is an easy-to-install, low-cost, and eye-safe solution for these networks, with the potential of being future-proof. In this article the state of the art in POF technology is presented by summarizing significant results achieved in the European project POF-ALL. Data transmission rates of more than 1 Gb/s over 50+ m and 100 Mb/s over 200+ m of standard step-index POF have been shown.

On March 25th, POFTO hosted the "POF Symposium @ NFOEC/OFC 2010" on the show floor. Over a dozen presentations were made over a three hour period on the latest development of POF and its applications. The audience filled up the main seating area and people were standing in the aisles.

Of special interest, was a presentation by AT&T on their experience in wiring four homes in the Northern California area. The objective was to learn how installers would react to POF and what was needed in the way of new equipment and interfaces to make this a viable option for AT&T installation of home wiring.

Cork, Ireland?July 30, 2009?Firecomms Ltd., a leading developer of high speed Plastic Optical Fiber (POF) transceivers and Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs), today announces that it has received notification from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that a patent has been granted for Firecomms’ OptoLock Plastic Optical Fiber Transceiver.

OptoLock, a widely deployed plugless interface for Plastic Optical Fiber, enables a simple to use Fiber Optic link in consumer applications. Ideal for 100 Mb Ethernet applications with stringent quality of service requirements such as IPTV gateways, Set-Top Boxes, and Residential Gateway, OptoLock significantly quickens and simplifies the connection of devices in communications and infotainment networks. The innovative design of OptoLock enables the fiber to be cut and terminated to the exact required length on site, allowing even the most novice consumer to quickly and easily terminate bare optical fiber.

"Not only does this patent attest to the innovation of the design team at Firecomms, it positions this inventive product for even faster growth,” says Declan O’Mahoney, CEO of Firecomms. “As Firecomms has licensed OptoLock technology to several major partners, the patent will assist our partners in protecting their investments in OptoLock-based products." Firecomms leads the development of devices to drive POF, a low-cost optical alternative to copper cabling. Due to its ease of use, large core tolerances, and low costs, POF is enjoying significant growth in a wide range of applications. Created for consumer, industrial, and automotive applications in which plastic fiber can be used more easilyand at lower cost than copper or glass fiber, POF is now used in millions of small area networks, such as those in use in many carmodels, and is rapidly gaining ground in home network and point-to-point interconnection. According to market research by Information Gatekeepers, the POF market is estimated to be worth over $1 billion per year by the end of 2009.