According
to a newly released report from industry analyst firm CIR, the
addressable market for chip-level optical interconnects could
eventually run into billions of units and revenues in this market
will total almost $520 million by 2019 going on to reach $1.02
billion by 2021.
Charlottesville,
VA, USA (October 7, 2013) -- According to a newly released report
from industry analyst firm CIR,
the addressable market for chip-level optical interconnects could
eventually run into billions of units and revenues in this market
will total almost $520 million by 2019 going on to reach $1.02
billion by 2021. The new report is titled "Revenue Opportunities
for Optical Interconnects: Market and Technology Forecast - 2013 to
2020 Volume II: On-Chip and Chip-to-Chip" and continues the
firm's coverage of this market dating back to 2009.
Further
details of the report are available at
http://www.cir-inc.com/reports/current-reports/oicvii/.
The
report covers four kinds of chip-level interconnect: optical engines,
photonic integrated circuit (PIC)-based interconnects, silicon
photonics and free-space optics. It includes nine-year (volume and
value) forecasts with breakouts by active components along with fiber
and waveguide transmission media. Compound semiconductor, silicon and
polymer waveguides are covered, as are VCSELs, silicon lasers and
quantum dot lasers. In addition, the report contains assessments of
the latest business and technology strategies in the chip-level
optical interconnect space.
Companies
discussed in this report include Avago, Cisco, Corning, Dow Chemical,
Dow-Corning, DuPont, Finisar, Fujitsu, Furukawa, IBM, Intel, Juniper,
Kotura, Micron, Novellus, Optical Interlinks, QD Laser, Reflex
Photonics, Samtec, Sumitomo, TeraXion, Tokyo Electron, ULM Photonics,
and VI Systems.
This
report is a follow on to a previously issued report, "Revenue
Opportunities for Optical Interconnects: Market and Technology
Forecast - 2013-2020. [Vol. I Board-to-Board and Rack-Based]"
that the firm issued in August. Details of that report are available
at:
http://www.cir-inc.com/cir-report-forecasts-big-data-and-green-data-centers-will-drive-optical-interconnect-market-to-2-2-billion-by-2018/.
From
the Report:
The
growing popularity of parallel computing, and the arrival of
multicore processors and 3D chips are leading to data traffic jams
both on-chip and chip-to-chip. However, CIR's report believes that
these trends are also creating opportunities for chip-level optical
interconnects.
Avago,
Finisar, IBM and Samtec have all proposed optical engines for
chip-level interconnect. These miniaturized optical assemblies are
currently the most mature technology available for this application
and will generate revenues of $235 million in 2019. However, with
their attached connectors and heat sinks, optical engines may prove
too large for complex optical interconnection environments, such as
in the coming generation of Exascale supercomputers.
Meanwhile,
the arrival of multicore processors and 3D chips means that computer
power now depends on how fast each CPU can talk to each other and to
memory devices. So reliable, low-loss, high-speed interconnects
between chips then becomes crucial. Interconnect data rate
requirements could reach hundreds of times what they currently.
Because
of the limitations of optical engines, there are emerging
opportunities for compact PIC- based interconnect devices based on
indium phosphide and gallium arsenide. CIR says these opportunities
will generate $120 million in 2019 increasing to $275 million by
2021. However, bonding PIC interconnects onto a silicon processor or
memory chip is both technically challenging and expensive. So far,
only a few PIC and VCSEL technology companies have pursued the
interconnect opportunity.
Although
silicon photonics has compelling advantages, firms - especially Intel
-- have struggled for years to make active optical devices using
silicon. A breakthrough in silicon laser technology would be the
single most important development in optical interconnects allowing
the full integration of both electronic information processing and
optical integration. Faster VCSELs will also be important for the
development of chip-level optical interconnect. Several firms and
research institutes have announced high-speed VCSELs, operating all
the way up to 55 Gbps, although such lasers await extensive
commercialization. Quantum dot-enhanced VCSELs have also been
proposed and these, too, may have applications in interconnection.
About
CIR:
Communications
Industry Researchers has been publishing hype-free industry analysis
of the high-speed optical networking market for more than 20 years.
It has recently published reports on rack-level and board-to-board
optical interconnection and on active optical cabling. Visit
http://www.cir-inc.com
for a full listing of CIR's reports and other services.
Media
Contact:
Robert
Nolan
Ilumatech
5330
Twin Hickory Rd
Glen
Allen, Virginia 23059
(804)
938-0030
