At the 2nd International Workshop on Polymer Microwave Fiber Technology, held this week at the Irish College in Leuven, representatives from universities, research centers and industry came together to discuss advances in the development of chips, couplers, fibers, materials and product prototypes. The latest results on PMF communication systems show data-rate - distance products of more than 300 Gbps.m. Several companies presented their efforts to bring PMF technology to real-life products, stressing not only the low energy consumption, expressed in pJ/bit/m, but also the low cost per Gbps. The main challenge to reach widespread adoption of PMF technology is the further build-up of the ecosystem, including cables and connectors, and the standardization of the communication protocols. The PMF community has shown a great commitment to bring the technology to the market.
