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Insights

March 22, 2023

Transceivers in the Age of AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) will have a significant role in making optical networks more scalable, affordable,…

Artificial intelligence (AI) will have a significant role in making optical networks more scalable, affordable, and sustainable. It can gather information from devices across the optical network to identify patterns and make decisions independently without human input. By synergizing with other technologies, such as network function virtualization (NFV), AI can become a centralized management and orchestration network layer. Such a setup can fully automate network provisioning, diagnostics, and management, as shown in the diagram below.

Figure 1: Example of a carrier network with different applications (mobile, home, office) automated via NFV control and AI management.

However, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms are data-hungry. To work optimally, they need information from all network layers and ever-faster data centers to process it quickly. Pluggable optical transceivers thus need to become smarter, relaying more information back to the AI central unit, and faster, enabling increased AI processing.

Faster Transceivers for the Age of AI

Optical transceivers are crucial in developing better AI systems by facilitating the rapid, reliable data transmission these systems need to do their jobs. High-speed, high-bandwidth connections are essential to interconnect data centers and supercomputers that host AI systems and allow them to analyze a massive volume of data.

In addition, optical transceivers are essential for facilitating the development of artificial intelligence-based edge computing, which entails relocating compute resources to the network’s periphery. This is essential for facilitating the quick processing of data from Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices like sensors and cameras, which helps minimize latency and increase reaction times.

400 Gbps links are becoming the standard across data center interconnects, but providers are already considering the next steps. LightCounting forecasts significant growth in the shipments of dense-wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) ports with data rates of 600G, 800G, and beyond in the next five years. We discuss these solutions in greater detail in our article about the roadmap to 800G and beyond.

Figure 2: Shipments of high-speed DWDM ports by data rate (historical data and forecast). Source: LightCounting Optical Communications Market Forecast, April 2022.

Coherent Modules Need to Provide More Telemetry Data

Mobile networks now and in the future will consist of a massive number of devices, software applications, and technologies. Self-managed, zero-touch automated networks will be required to handle all these new devices and use cases. Realizing this full network automation requires two vital components.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms for comprehensive network automation: For instance, AI in network management can drastically cut the energy usage of future telecom networks.
Sensor and control data flow across all network model layers, including the physical layer: As networks grow in size and complexity, the management and orchestration (MANO) software needs more degrees of freedom and dials to turn.

These goals require smart optical equipment and components that provide comprehensive telemetry data about their status and the fiber they are connected to. The AI-controlled centralized management and orchestration layer can then use this data for remote management and diagnostics. We discuss this topic further in our previous article on remote provisioning, diagnostics, and management.

For example, a smart optical transceiver that fits this centralized AI-management model should relay data to the AI controller about fiber conditions. Such monitoring is not just limited to finding major faults or cuts in the fiber but also smaller degradations or delays in the fiber that stem from age, increased stress in the link due to increased traffic, and nonlinear optical effects. A transceiver that could relay all this data allows the AI controller to make better decisions about how to route traffic through the network.

A Smart Transceiver to Rule All Network Links

After relaying data to the AI management system, a smart pluggable transceiver must also switch parameters to adapt to different use cases and instructions given by the controller.

Let’s look at an example of forward error correction (FEC). FEC makes the coherent link much more tolerant to noise than a direct detect system and enables much longer reach and higher capacity. In other words, FEC algorithms allow the DSP to enhance the link performance without changing the hardware. This enhancement is analogous to imaging cameras: image processing algorithms allow the lenses inside your phone camera to produce a higher-quality image.

Figure 1 Simplified diagram of a network link with Forward Error Correction (FEC). — Figure 3: Simplified diagram of a network link with forward error correction (FEC). The FEC encoder adds redundant bits (overhead) to the transmitted data stream. The receiver can use this overhead to check for errors without asking the transmitter to resend the data.

A smart transceiver and DSP could switch among different FEC algorithms to adapt to network performance and use cases. Let’s look at the case of upgrading a long metro link of 650km running at 100 Gbps with open FEC. The operator needs to increase that link capacity to 400 Gbps, but open FEC could struggle to provide the necessary link performance. However, if the transceiver can be remotely reconfigured to use a proprietary FEC standard, the transceiver will be able to handle this upgraded link.

Reconfigurable transceivers can also be beneficial to auto-configure links to deal with specific network conditions, especially in brownfield links. Let’s return to the fiber monitoring subject we discussed in the previous section. A transceiver can change its modulation scheme or lower the power of its semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) if telemetry data indicates a good quality fiber. Conversely, if the fiber quality is poor, the transceiver can transmit with a more limited modulation scheme or higher power to reduce bit errors. If the smart pluggable detects that the fiber length is relatively short, the laser transmitter power or the DSP power consumption could be scaled down to save energy.

Takeaways

Optical networks will need artificial intelligence and machine learning to scale more efficiently and affordably to handle the increased traffic and connected devices. Conversely, AI systems will also need faster pluggables than before to acquire data and make decisions more quickly. Pluggables that fit this new AI era must be fast, smart, and adapt to multiple use cases and conditions. They will need to scale up to speeds beyond 400G and relay monitoring data back to the AI management layer in the central office. The AI management layer can then program transceiver interfaces from this telemetry data to change parameters and optimize the network.

Tags: 800G, 800G and beyond, adaptation, affordable, AI, artificial intelligence, automation, CloudComputing, data, DataCenter, EFFECT Photonics, FEC, fiber quality, innovation, integration, laser arrays, machine learning, network conditions, network optimization, Networking, optical transceivers, photonic integration, Photonics, physical layer, programmable interface, scalable, sensor data flow, technology, Telecommunications, telemetry data, terabyte, upgrade, virtualization

Insights

February 13, 2023

What DSPs Does the Network Edge Need?

Operators are strongly interested in 100G pluggables that can house tunable coherent optics in compact,…

Operators are strongly interested in 100G pluggables that can house tunable coherent optics in compact, low-power form factors like QSFP28. A recently released Heavy Reading survey revealed that over 75% of operators surveyed believe that 100G coherent pluggable optics will be used extensively in their edge and access evolution strategy.

These new 100G coherent pluggables will have very low power consumption (less than six Watts) and will be deployed in uncontrolled environments, imposing new demands on coherent digital signal processors (DSPs). To enable this next generation of coherent pluggables in the network edge, the next generation of DSPs needs ultra-low power consumption, co-designing with the optical engine, and industrial hardening.

The Power Requirements of the Network Edge

Several applications in the network edge can benefit from upgrading their existing 10G DWDM, or 100G grey links into 100G DWDM, such as the aggregation of fixed and mobile access networks and 100G data center interconnects for enterprises. However, network providers have often chosen to stick to their 10G links because the existing 100G solutions do not check all the required boxes.

100G direct detect pluggables have a more limited reach and are not always compatible with DWDM systems. “Scaled down” coherent 400ZR solutions have the required reach and tunability, but they are too expensive and power-hungry for edge applications. Besides, the ports in small to medium IP routers used in edge deployments often do not support QSFP-DD modules commonly used in 400ZR but QSFP28 modules.

The QSFP28 form factor imposes tighter footprint and power consumption constraints on coherent technologies compared to QSFP-DD modules. QSFP28 is slightly smaller, and most importantly, it can handle at most a 6-Watt power consumption, in contrast with the typical 15-Watt consumption of QSFP-DD modules in 400ZR links. Fortunately, the industry is moving towards a proper 100ZR solution in the QSFP28 form factor that balances performance, footprint, and power consumption requirements for the network edge.

These power requirements also impact DSP power consumption. DSPs constitute roughly 50% of coherent transceiver power consumption, so a DSP optimized for the network edge 100G use cases should aim to consume at most 2.5 to 3 Watts of power.

Co-Designing and Adjusting for Power Efficiency

Achieving this ambitious power target will require scaling down performance in some areas and designing smartly in others. Let’s discuss a few examples below.

Modulation: 400ZR transceivers use a more power-hungry 16QAM modulation. This modulation scheme uses sixteen different states that arise from combining four different intensity levels and four phases of light. The new generation of 100ZR transceivers might use some variant of a QPSK modulation, which only uses four states from four different phases of light.
Forward Error Correction (FEC): DSPs in 400ZR transceivers use a more advanced concatenated FEC (CFEC) code, which combines inner and outer FEC codes to enhance the performance compared to a standard FEC code. The new 100ZR transceivers might use a more basic FEC type like GFEC. This is one of the earliest optical FEC algorithms and was adopted as part of the ITU G.709 specification.
Co-Designing DSP and Optical Engine: As we explained in a previous article about fit-for-platform DSPs, a transceiver optical engine designed on the indium phosphide platform could be designed to run at a voltage compatible with the DSP’s signal output. This way, the optimized DSP could drive the PIC directly without needing a separate analog driver, doing away with a significant power conversion overhead compared to a silicon photonics setup, as shown in the figure below.

Figure 2: Comparison between the drive power and power consumption of three different PIC + DSP pairings: standard DSP with a silicon PIC, standard DSP with an InP PIC, and an optimized DSP with an InP.

Industrial Hardening for DSPs

Traditionally, coherent devices have resided in the controlled settings of data center machine rooms or network provider equipment rooms. These rooms have active temperature control, cooling systems, dust and particle filters, airlocks, and humidity control. In such a setting, pluggable transceivers must operate within the so-called commercial temperature range (c-temp) from 0 to 70ºC.

On the other hand, the network edge often involves uncontrolled settings outdoors at the whims of Mother Nature. It might be at the top of an antenna, on mountain ranges, within traffic tunnels, or in Northern Europe’s severe winters. For these outdoor settings, transceivers should operate in the industrial temperature range (I-temp) from -40 to 85ºC. Higher altitude deployments provide additional challenges too. Because the air gets thinner, networking equipment cooling mechanisms become less effective, and the device cannot withstand casing temperatures as high as they can at sea level.

Industrial Hardening: Coherent Goes Outdoors — Making an I-temp transceiver means that every internal component—lasers, optical engine, DSP—must also be I-temp compliant. Thus, it’s essential to specifically design DSPs that can reliably work within the I-temp range.

Takeaways

The network edge could benefit from switching their existing direct detect or grey links to 100G DWDM coherent. However, the industry needs more affordable and power-efficient transceivers and DSPs specifically designed for coherent 100G transmission in edge and access networks. By realizing DSPs co-designed with the optics, adjusted for reduced power consumption, and industrially hardened, the network edge will have coherent DSP and transceiver products adapted to their needs.

Tags: 100ZR, access network, co-design, controlled, edge, fit for platform DSP, InP, low power, pluggables, power consumption, power conversion, QSFP 28, QSFP-DD

Pluggables have becomes mainstream in datacom applications.

Insights

February 8, 2023

A Story of Standards: From 400ZR and Open ROADM to OpenZR+

Coherent optical transmission has been crucial in addressing network operator problems for the last decade. In this time, coherent technology has expanded from a solution reserved only for premium long-distance links to one that impacts data center interconnects, metro, and access networks…

Coherent optical transmission has been crucial in addressing network operator problems for the last decade. In this time, coherent technology has expanded from a solution reserved only for premium long-distance links to one that impacts data center interconnects, metro, and access networks, as explained in the video below.

The development of the 400ZR standard by the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) proved to be a milestone in this regard. It was the result of several years of progress in electronic and photonic integration that enabled the miniaturization of 400G coherent systems into smaller pluggable form factors. With small enough modules to pack a router faceplate densely, the datacom sector could profit from an ideal solution for high-capacity data center interconnects. Telecom operators wanted to implement a similar solution in their metro links, so they combined the Open ROADM standardization initiative with the 400ZR initiative to develop the OpenZR+ agreement that better fits their use cases.

This article will elaborate on these standardization projects—400ZR, OpenROADM, and OpenZR+—and explain what use cases each was designed to tackle.

What Is 400G ZR?

To cope with growing bandwidth demands, providers wanted to implement the concept of IP over DWDM (IPoDWDM), in which tunable optics are integrated into the router. This integration eliminates the optical transponder shelf and the optics between the routers and DWDM systems, reducing the network capital expenditure (CAPEX). This is shown in the figure below.

Figure 1: Implementation of a traditional coherent transport architecture (left), with the router connected to a transponder line card and a Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (ROADM). In contrast, an IPoDWDM solution (right) has 400ZR pluggable transceivers that go directly into the router and use passive multiplexing filters. The IPoDWDM solution eliminates the line card and additional optics, reducing network CAPEX.

However, widely deploying IPoDWDM with coherent optics forced providers to face a router faceplate trade-off. Since DWDM modules have traditionally been much larger than the client optics, plugging DWDM modules into the router required sacrificing roughly half of the costly router faceplate capacity. This was unacceptable for datacom and telecom providers, who approached their suppliers and the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) about the need to develop a compact and interoperable coherent solution that addressed this trade-off.

These discussions and technology development led the OIF to publish the 400ZR implementation agreement in 2020. 400ZR specifies a (relatively) low-cost and interoperable 400 Gigabit coherent interface for a link with a single optical wavelength, using a double-polarization, 16-state quadrature amplitude modulation scheme (DP-16QAM). This modulation scheme uses sixteen different constellation points that arise from combining four different intensity levels and four phases. It doubles the usual 16-QAM transmission capacity by encoding information in two different polarizations of light.

The agreement specified a link reach of 80 kilometers without amplification and 120 kilometers with amplification. For forward error correction (FEC), the 400ZR standard supports a concatenated FEC (CFEC) method. CFEC combines inner and outer FEC codes to enhance the performance compared to a standard FEC code.

The 400ZR agreement does not specify a particular size or type of module, but its specifications targeted a footprint and power consumption that could fit in smaller modules such as the Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable Double-Density (QSFP-DD) and Octal-Small Form-Factor Pluggable (OSFP). These form factors are small enough to provide the faceplate density that telecom and especially datacom operators need in their system architectures. So even if we often associate the 400ZR standard with QSFP-DD, other form factors, such as CFP2, can be used.

What Is Open ROADM?

In parallel with the 400ZR standardization efforts, telecom network operators had a different ongoing discussion.

Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs) were a game-changer for optical communications when they entered the market in the 2000s. Before this technology, optical networks featured inefficient fixed routes and could not adapt to changes in traffic and demand. ROADMs allowed operators to remotely provision and manage their wavelength channels and bandwidth without redesigning the physical network infrastructure.

However, ROADMs were proprietary hardware with proprietary software. Changing the proprietary ROADM platform needed extensive testing and a lengthy integration process, so operators were usually reluctant to look for other platform alternatives. Besides, ROADMs still had several fixed, pre-defined elements that could have been configurable through open interfaces. This environment led to reduced competition and innovation in the ROADM space.

These trends drove the launch of the Open ROADM project in 2016 and the release of their first Multi-Source Agreement in 2017. The project aimed to disaggregate and open up these traditionally proprietary ROADM systems and make their provisioning and control more centralized through technologies such as software-defined networks (SDNs, explained in the diagram below).

Figure 2: In a traditional network paradigm (left), switches contain both the hardware that forwards traffic (the data plane), as well as the software that sets the rules of where to forward said traffic (the control plane). The SDN paradigm (right) separates the switching hardware from the software, effectively decoupling the data plane from the control plane. The language between this controller and the switches is an open protocol, with OpenFlow being the most commonly used one. The Open ROADM initiative proposed its own open protocol called NETCONF.

The Open ROADM project defined three disaggregated functions (pluggable optics, transponder, and ROADM), all controlled through an open standards-based API that could be accessed through an SDN controller. It defined 100G-400G interfaces for both Ethernet and Optical Transport Networking (OTN) protocols with a link reach of up to 500km. It also defined a stronger FEC algorithm called open FEC (oFEC) to support this reach. oFEC provides a greater enhancement than CFEC at the cost of more overhead and energy.

What Is OpenZR+?

The 400ZR agreement was primarily focused on addressing the needs of large-scale data center operators and their suppliers.

While it had some usefulness for telecom network operators, their transport network links usually span several hundreds of kilometers, so the interface and module power consumption defined in the 400ZR agreement could not handle such an extended reach. Besides, network operators needed extra flexibility when defining the transmission rate and the modulation type of their links.

Therefore, soon after the publication of the 400ZR agreement, the OpenZR+ Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) was published in September 2020. As the diagram below explains, this agreement can be seen as a combination of the 400ZR and Open ROADM standardization efforts.

Figure 3: Diagram of how different elements from the 400ZR and Open ROADM standardization projects were combined to form the OpenZR+ MSA. Diagram provided by the OpenZR+ website.

To better fit the telecom use cases of regional and long-haul transport links, OpenZR+ added a few changes to improve the link reach and flexibility over 400ZR:

Using the more powerful oFEC defined by the Open ROADM standard.
Multi-rate Ethernet that enables the multiplexing of 100G and 200G signals. This provides more options to optimize traffic in transport links.
Support for 100G, 200G, 300G, or 400G transport links using different modulation types (QPSK, 8QAM, or 16QAM). This enables further reach and capacity optimization for fiber links.
Higher dispersion compensation to make the fiber link more robust.

These changes allow QSFP-DD and OSFP modules to reach link lengths of up to 480 km (with optical amplifiers) at a 400G data rate. However, the FEC and dispersion compensation improvements that enable this extended reach come at the price of increased energy consumption. While the 400ZR standard targets a power consumption of 15 Watts, OpenZR+ standards aim for a power consumption of up to 20 Watts.

If operators need more performance, distances above 500 km, and support for OTN traffic (400ZR and OpenZR+ only support Ethernet), they must still use proprietary solutions, which are informally called 400ZR+. These 400ZR+ solutions feature larger module sizes (CFP2), higher performance proprietary FEC, and higher launch powers to achieve longer reach. These more powerful features come at the cost of even more power consumption, which can go up to 25 Watts.

Takeaways

The following table summarizes the use cases and characteristics of the approaches discussed in the article: 400ZR, Open ROADM, OpenZR+, and 400ZR+.

Technology	400ZR	Open ROADM	OpenZR+	400ZR+ Proprietary
Target Application	Edge Data Center Interconnects	Carrier ROADM Mesh Networks	Metro/Regional Carrier and Data Center Interconnects	Long-Haul Carrier
Target Reach @ 400G	120 km (amplified)	500 km (amplified)	480km (amplified)	1000 km (amplified)
Target Power Consumption	Up to 15 W	Up to 25 W	Up to 20 W	Up to 25W
Typical Module Option	QSFP-DD/OSFP	CFP2	QSFP-DD/OSFP	CFP2
Client Interface	400G Ethernet	100-400G Ethernet and OTN	100-400G Ethernet (Multi-rate)	100-400G Ethernet and OTN
Modulation Scheme	16QAM	QPSK, 8QAM, 16QAM	QPSK, 8QAM, 16QAM	QPSK, 8QAM, 16QAM
Forward Error Correction	CFEC	oFEC	oFEC	Proprietary
Standards / MSA	OIF	Open ROADM MSA	OpenZR+ MSA	Proprietary

400ZR is an agreement primarily focused on the needs of data center interconnects across distances of 80 – 120 kilometers. On the other hand, OpenROADM and OpenZR+ focused on addressing the needs of telecom carrier links, supporting link lengths of up to 500 km. These differences in reach are also reflected in the power consumption specs and the module form factors typically used. The 400ZR and OpenZR+ standards can only handle Ethernet traffic, while the Open ROADM and 400ZR+ solutions can handle both Ethernet and OTN traffic.

Tags: 400ZR, Data center, demand, disaggregation, extend, fiber, interoperable, Open ROADM, power, size, ZR+

Photonic technology more available to all Industries

Insights

February 7, 2023

Coherent Optics In Space

When it started, the space race was a competition between two superpowers, but now there…

When it started, the space race was a competition between two superpowers, but now there are 90 countries with missions in space.

The prices of space travel have gone down, making it possible for more than just governments to send rockets and satellites into space. Several private companies are now investing in space programs, looking for everything from scientific advances to business opportunities. Some reports estimate more than 10,000 companies in the space industry and around 5,000 investors.

According to The Space Foundation’s 2022 report, the space economy was worth $469 billion in 2021. The report says more spacecraft were launched in the first six months of 2021 than in the first 52 years of space exploration (1957-2009). This growing industry has thus a growing need for technology products across many disciplines, including telecommunications. The space sector will need lighter, more affordable telecommunication systems that also provide increased bandwidth.

This is why EFFECT Photonics sees future opportunities for coherent technology in the space industry. By translating the coherent transmission from fiber communication systems on the ground to free-space optical systems, the space sector can benefit from solutions with more bandwidth capacity and less power consumption than traditional point-to-point microwave links.

It’s all About SWaP

One of the major concerns of the space industry is the cost of sending anything into space. Even during the days of NASA’s Space Shuttle program (which featured a reusable shuttle unit), sending a kilogram into space cost tens of thousands of dollars. Over time, more rocket stages have become reusable due to the efforts of companies like SpaceX, reducing these costs to just a few thousand. The figure below shows how the cost of space flight has decreased significantly in the last two decades.

Figure 1: The cost of a kilogram of payload into space since 2000. Source: Visual Capitalist (data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies)

Even though space travel is more affordable than ever, size, weight, and power (SWaP) requirements are still vital in the space industry. After all, shaving off weight or size in the spacecraft means a less expensive launch or perhaps room for more scientific instruments. Meanwhile, less power consumption means less drain on the spacecraft’s energy sources.

Using Optics and Photonics to Minimize SWaP Requirements

Currently, most space missions use bulkier radio frequency communications to send data to and from spacecraft. While radio waves have a proven track record of success in space missions, generating and collecting more mission data requires enhanced communications capabilities. Besides, radiofrequency equipment can often generate a lot of heat, requiring more energy to cool the system.

Decreasing SWaP requirements can be achieved with more photonics and miniaturization. Transmitting data with light will usually dissipate less than heat than transmission with electrical signals and radio waves. These leads to smaller, lighter communication systems that require less power to run.

These SWaP advantages come alongside the increased transmission speeds. After all, coherent optical communications can increase link capacities to spacecraft and satellites by 10 to 100 times that of radio frequency systems.

Leveraging Electronics Ecosystems for Space Certification and Standardization

While integrated photonics can boost space communications by lowering the payload, it must overcome the obstacles of a harsh space environment, which include radiation hardness, an extreme operational temperature range, and vacuum conditions.

*Mission Type*	*Temperature Range*
Pressurized Module	+18.3 ºC to 26.7 °C
Low-Earth Orbit (LEO)	-65 ºC to +125 °C
Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (GEO)	-196 ºC to +128 °C
Trans-Atmospheric Vehicle	-200 ºC to +260 ºC
Lunar Surface	-171 ºC to +111 ºC
Martian Surface	-143 ºC to +27 ºC

Table 1. Temperature Extremes by Mission Type. Source: NASA

The values in Table 1 show the unmanaged environmental temperatures in different space environments. In a temperature-managed area, these would decrease significantly for electronics and optics systems, perhaps by as much as half. Despite this management, the equipment would still need to deal with some extreme temperature values.

Fortunately, a substantial body of knowledge exists to make integrated photonics compatible with space environments. After all, photonic integrated circuits (PICs) use similar materials to their electronic counterparts, which have already been space qualified in many implementations.

Much research has gone into overcoming the challenges of packaging PICs with electronics and optical fibers for these space environments, which must include hermetic seals and avoid epoxies. Commercial solutions, such as those offered by PHIX Photonics Assembly, Technobis IPS, and the PIXAPP Photonic Packaging Pilot Line, are now available.

Takeaways

Whenever you want to send data from point A to B, photonics is usually the most efficient way of doing it, be it over fiber or free space.

Offering optical communication systems in a small integrated package that can resist the required environmental conditions will significantly benefit the space sector and its need to minimize SWaP requirements. These optical systems can increase their transmission capacity with the coherent optical transmission used in fiber optics. Furthermore, by leveraging the assembly and packaging structure of electronics for the space sector, photonics can also provide the systems with the ruggedness required to live in space.

Tags: certification, coherent, electronics, existing, fast, growing, heat dissipation, miniaturization, Optical Communication, Photonics, power consumption, size, space, space sector, speed, SWAP, temperature, weight

Insights

February 1, 2023

The Impact of Optics and Photonics on the Agrifood Industry

Precision farming is essential in a world with over 10 billion people by 2050 and…

Precision farming is essential in a world with over 10 billion people by 2050 and a food demand that is expanding at an exponential pace. The 2019 World Resources Report from the World Economic Forum warns that at the current level of food production efficiency, feeding the world in 2050 would require “clearing most of the world’s remaining forests, wiping out thousands more species, and releasing enough greenhouse gas emissions to exceed the 1.5°C and 2°C warming targets enshrined in the Paris Agreement – even if emissions from all other human activities were entirely eliminated.”

Technology can help the agrifood industry improve efficiency and meet these demands by combining robotics, machine vision, and small sensors to precisely and automatically determine the care needed by plants and animals in our food supply chain. This approach helps control and optimize food production, resulting in more sustainable crops, higher yields, and safer food.

Sensors based on integrated photonics can enable many of these precision farming applications. Photonic chips are lighter and smaller than other solutions so they can be deployed more easily in these agricultural use cases. The following article will provide examples of how integrated photonics and optical technology can add value to the agriculture and food industries.

How The World’s Tiny Agricultural Titan Minimizes Food Waste

The Netherlands is such a small country that if it were a US state, it would be among the ten smallest states, with a land area between West Virginia and Maryland. Despite its size, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ranked the Netherlands as the second largest exporter of food in the world by revenue in 2020, only behind the Americans and ahead of countries like Germany, China, or Brazil. These nations have tens or hundreds of times more arable land than the Dutch. Technology is a significant reason for this achievement, and the Dutch are arguably the most developed nation in the world regarding precision farming.

The hub of Dutch agrifood research and development is called the Food Valley, centered in the municipality of Wageningen in Gelderland province. In this area, many public and private R&D initiatives are carried out jointly with Wageningen University, a world-renowned leader in agricultural research.

When interviewed last year, Harrij Schmeitz, Director of the Fruit Tech Campus in Geldermalsen, mentions the example of a local fruit supplier called Fruitmasters. They employ basic cameras to snap 140 photographs of each apple that travels through the sorting conveyor, all within a few milliseconds. These photographs are used to automatically create a 3D model and help the conveyor line filter out the rotten apples before they are packaged for customers. This process was done manually in the past, so this new 3D mapping technology significantly improves efficiency.

These techniques are not just constrained to Gelderland, of course. Jacob van den Borne is a potato farmer from Reusel in the province of North Brabant, roughly a half-hour drive from EFFECT Photonics’ Eindhoven headquarters. Van den Borne’s farm includes self-driving AVR harvesters (shown in the video below), and he has been using drones in his farms since 2011 to photograph his fields and study the soil quality and farming yield.

The drone pictures are used to create maps of the fields, which then inform farming decisions. Van den Borne can study the status of the soil before farming, but even after crops have sprouted, he can study which parts of the field are doing poorly and need more fertilization. These measures prevent food waste and the overuse of fertilizer and pesticides. For example, Van den Borne’s farms have eliminated pesticide chemicals in their greenhouses while boosting their yield. The global average yield of potatoes per acre is around nine tons, but his farms yield more than 20 tons per acre!

If you want to know more about Van den Borne and his use of technology and data, you can read this article.

Lighting to Reduce Power Consumption and Emissions

Artificial lighting is a frequent requirement of indoor plant production facilities to increase production and improve crop quality. Growers are turning to LED lighting because it is more efficient than traditional incandescent or fluorescent systems at converting electricity to light. LED lights are made through similar semiconductor manufacturing processes to photonics chips.

LED lighting also provides a greater variety of colors than the usual yellow/orange glow. This technology allows gardeners to pick colors that match each plant’s demands from seedlings through cultivation, unlike high-pressure sodium or other traditional lighting systems. Different colors of visible light create different chlorophyll types in plants, so LED lights can be set to specific colors to provide the best chlorophyll for each development stage.

For example, suppose you roam around the Westland municipality of the Netherlands. You might occasionally catch a purple glow in the night skies, which has nothing to do with UFOs or aliens wanting to abduct you. As explained by Professor Leo Marcelis of Wageningen University (see the above video), researchers have found that red light is very good for plant growth, and mixing it with five to ten percent blue light gives even better results. Red and blue are also the most energy-efficient colors for LEDs, which helps reduce energy consumption even more. As a result, the farmers can save on light and energy use while the environment profits too.

Improving Communication Networks in the Era of Sensors

Modern farmers like Jacob van den Borne collect a large quantity of sensor data, which allows them to plan and learn how to provide plants with the perfect amount of water, light, and nutrients at the proper moment. Farmers can use these resources more efficiently and without waste thanks to this sensor information.

For example, Van den Borne uses wireless, Internet-of-Things sensors from companies like Sensoterra (video below) to gauge the soil’s water level. As we speak, researchers in the OnePlanet Research Center, a collaboration including the Imec R&D organization and Wageningen University, are developing nitrogen sensors that run on optical chips and can help keep nitrogen emissions in check.

These sensors will be connected to local servers and the internet for faster data transfer, so many of the issues and photonics solutions discussed in previous articles about the cloud edge and access networks are also relevant for agrifood sensors. Thus, improving optical communication networks will also impact the agrifood industry positively.

Takeaways

In a future of efficient high-tech and precision farming, optics and photonics will play an increasingly important role.

Optical sensors on a chip can be fast, accurate, small, and efficient. They will provide food producers with plenty of data to optimize their production processes and monitor the environmental impact of food production. Novel lighting methods can reduce the energy consumption of greenhouses and other indoor plant facilities. Meanwhile, photonics will also be vital to improving the capacity of the communications networks that these sensors run in.

With photonics-enabled precision processes, the agrifood industry can improve yields and supply, optimize resource use, reduce waste throughout the value chain, and minimize environmental impact.

Tags: atmosphere, demand, emissions, energy consumption, environment, future, high tech farming, high volume, Integrated Photonics, population growth, Precision agriculture, precision farming, process, resource, sensors, supply, waste

Insights

December 29, 2022

Torbay Hi-Tech Cluster is fast becoming the Silicon Valley of the South West of England

Undeniably, the COVID-19 crisis has had an unparalleled worldwide impact. Companies and employees have had…

Undeniably, the COVID-19 crisis has had an unparalleled worldwide impact. Companies and employees have had to get used to social distancing and new ways of interacting to keep the work going. Besides the day-to-day discomforts, we have all been witness to the adverse effects on business, communities and society. Mankind is resilient, however. Teleworking, webinars and teleconferences are now considered normal practice, and may well continue even when the pandemic is finally over. For many, the need to commute each day or move to another city will come to an end, or at least become less common.

At the same time, the crisis has created new opportunities for businesses. Home working has generated increasing demand for extra bandwidth and speed, resulting in enormously increased internet traffic. In addition, as our social lives have been limited to our homes, download movies, teleshopping, gaming or just surfing the web are now at the core of our daily life. The next generation of 5G communications networks will have to enable all those extra applications and implement the necessary functionality into smartphones and tablets. These are now becoming essential aids to living, whether at home or on the move.

The companies that will sustain our new way of living see a bright and promising future. One place in the world where this life-changing technology is taking shape is the Torbay Hi-Tech Cluster, in the south west of England. It is composed of firms supported by academic partners including South Devon College and regional universities, local governments, the Torbay Development Agency, and the Electronics and Photonics Innovation Centre (EPIC). Based in Paignton, Devon, EPIC offers brand-new, dedicated, ready-to-use lab and clean room facilities for relocating tech companies. According to the BusinessLive article, the attractiveness of the Torbay cluster lies not only in its concentration of highly skilled workers and the advantages of engaging easily with other high tech companies: ambitious SMEs may also benefit from special funding programmes to move all or part of their company there.

Without a doubt, Torbay is now one of the most important locations in the UK for advanced microelectronics, and particularly photonics. With a growing cluster of hi tech businesses, Torbay is fast becoming the Silicon Valley of the South West with a diverse mix of EU and US multinationals. The services and applications developed here use advanced, leading-edge technology and telecom products designed by an impressive collection of companies. They include established international organisations, like Lumentum, II-VI, Gooch & Housego and Spirent, and new innovative organisations built on local talent, like Bay Photonics, Davies & Bell and EFFECT Photonics.

EFFECT Photonics delivers highly integrated optical communications products based on its Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) optical System-on-Chip technology. Its engineers at Brixham, in the Torbay area of Devon of the UK , work very closely with their counterparts at the Netherlands facility in Eindhoven. Since 2015, the Brixham facility has been focusing on process design and development for (volume) manufacture, including assembly, quality testing and shipping processes.

To sustain the company’s staggering growth, EFFECT Photonics is looking for talented individuals; varying from high-quality manufacturing staff and specialised professionals to trainees. It particularly welcomes talent with ambitions to be part of a world-shaping industry in its early stages. The invitation from Brixham comes with a warning though: you will have hardly any time to look out of the windows and enjoy the fantastic view!

Get in touch with us for further information: https://old.effect.jkc-dev.nl/contact/

Tags: 5G, EFFECT Photonics, II-VI, Lumentum, Telecom, Torbay

Insights

December 29, 2022

The world of photonics and its applications

It seems like everybody agrees that photonics is one of the most promising sectors for…

It seems like everybody agrees that photonics is one of the most promising sectors for high-tech advancement. In this case, however, it is not the usual suspects, like the USA, Japan or China, that are leading the development. Instead, it is led by the tiny Netherlands, followed closely by the United Kingdom. Dutch newspapers including the Volkskrant and AD signalled the rising star and reported its origination from Eindhoven, sometimes described as the Silicon Valley of the Netherlands. It is no surprise that the fertile soil for its rapid growth was prepared by tech giant Philips and the renowned University of Eindhoven.

In January 2021, local newspaper Eindhovens Dagblad published an article to explain – in layman’s terms – the world of photonics and its applications by taking the reader on a seven-question journey. A résumé of the article follows.

What exactly is photonics?

Professor Martijn Heck of TU/e (Eindhoven University of Technology) describes it as “systems in which a laser sends a beam of light that is received by a detector”. By coding the light into ones and zeros, it can be used to transmit photos, TV images, sounds, and data from the internet. Glass fibre enables the laser light to travel large distances, if necessary.

What is the promise of photonics?

“All across the world, companies are working hard on the development of photonics and this field is expected to grow exponentially”, Professor Heck, Eindhoven University of Technology, Photonic Integration Group. “Thirty years ago, using technology developed by Philips, among others, the continents of the world were linked with glass fibres to establish telephone and video connections. Later, exchanges and data centres for TV and internet were connected with fibre optics. In recent years, fibre optics have entered into people’s houses. Technology is currently being developed to direct light to devices in the home. This can be achieved via fibre, but also by air through advances such as LiFi – an alternative to WiFi. In addition, many companies are working on incorporating photonics into the printed circuit boards and chips in various devices.”

How far has photonics developed?

According to Photon Delta, the Dutch organisation that supports, promotes and drives the Dutch photonics eco-system and the development of photonic chips, investments are starting to pay off. The number of participating companies is increasing and next year employment will rise from 315 to 550 employees – with turnover rising from 13 million to 60 million euros. Investments have quadrupled to 88 million euros. The TU/e was one of the drivers of Jeppix, an international collaboration network. Companies such as Smart Photonics and EFFECT Photonics are cooperating to help develop and produce photonic integrated products.

In the UK, the ecosystem has a lot to offer in the area of high-quality precision manufacturing. “That’s one of the key things we bring together in EFFECT Photonics – the high-tech from the PhotonDelta network combined with manufacturing experience from the UK, Boudewijn Docter, President EFFECT Photonics.

What advantages do photonics bring?

Laser light is as fast as… light. Nothing is faster. Moreover, light can be turned off and on very quickly. With a digital code, information can be sent very compactly. Another advantage is the lack of resistance. If you send the same information via copper wires, you are not only limited in speed and capacity, but you also have large losses. As a result, it costs a lot of energy. In data centres especially, photonics can save a lot of energy.

What role does photonics play in the self-driving car?

Electronics and communication devices in our cars will increasingly contain photonics, emphasizing the lidar phenomenon. In a lidar, a laser emits a beam of light in all directions and a sensor picks up its reflection. By measuring the minimal difference between sending and receiving, you can deduce the exact distance. This is how you create an image with depth, even in the dark. Waymo began Google’s first experimental self-driving cars had such a huge equipment on their roof that it cost about as much as the whole car. Now these devices are much smaller and can be deployed in many other applications, such as mobile phones.

Which other industries can already benefit from photonics?

Clearly, modern telecoms networks benefit from the ability to exchange enormous amounts of data, in internet usage for example. Healthcare is another good example. There are systems that enable doctors to shine a laser through the skin. By measuring the reflection of that laser with a sensor that distinguishes many colours, you get information about skin, blood vessels and blood. This can be used to make a diagnosis, for example, of skin cancer. Agriculture and horticulture could certainly reap benefits; the reflection of laser beams can also provide a lot of information about fruits and vegetables. There are already systems that can determine the colour, ripeness and location of an apple. By doing this, photonics can help in automatic harvesting of fruit and vegetable crops.

Article source: Dutch newspapers highlight opportunities for the photonics sector https://www.ed.nl/eindhoven/fotonica-hele-mensenlevens-flitsen-door-glasvezels~a85e306ef/

About EFFECT Photonics

EFFECT Photonics delivers highly integrated optical communications products based on its Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) optical System-on-Chip technology. The key enabling technology for DWDM systems is full monolithic integration of all photonic components within a single chip and being able to produce these in volume with high yield at low cost. With this capability, EFFECT Photonics is addressing the need for low cost DWDM solutions driven by the soaring demand for high bandwidth connections between datacentres and back from mobile cell towers. Headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, with additional R&D and manufacturing in South West UK, with sales partners worldwide. www.effectphotonics.com

Tags: 5G, EFFECT Photonics, Integrated Photonics, PhotonDelta, Telecom

Insights

December 9, 2022

Fit for Platform DSPs

Over the last two decades, power ratings for pluggable modules have increased as we moved…

Over the last two decades, power ratings for pluggable modules have increased as we moved from direct detection to more power-hungry coherent transmission: from 2W for SFP modules to 3.5 W for QSFP modules and now to 14W for QSSFP-DD and 21.1W for OSFP form factors. Rockley Photonics researchers estimate that a future electronic switch filled with 800G modules would draw around 1 kW of power just for the optical modules.

Around 50% of a coherent transceiver’s power consumption goes into the digital signal processing (DSP) chip that also performs the functions of clock data recovery (CDR), optical-electrical gear-boxing, and lane switching. Scaling to higher bandwidths leads to even more losses and energy consumption from the DSP chip and its radiofrequency (RF) interconnects with the optical engine.

One way to reduce transceiver power consumption requires designing DSPs that take advantage of the material platform of their optical engine. In this article, we will elaborate on what that means for the Indium Phosphide platform.

A Jack of All Trades but a Master of None

Transceiver developers often source their DSP, laser, and optical engine from different suppliers, so all these chips are designed separately from each other. This setup reduces the time to market and simplifies the research and design processes but comes with trade-offs in performance and power consumption.

In such cases, the DSP is like a Swiss army knife: a jack of all trades designed for different kinds of optical engines but a master of none. For example, current DSPs are designed to be agnostic to the material platform of the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) they are connected to, which can be Indium Phosphide (InP) or Silicon. Thus, they do not exploit the intrinsic advantages of these material platforms. Co-designing the DSP chip alongside the PIC can lead to a much better fit between these components.

Co-Designing with Indium Phosphide PICs for Power Efficiency

To illustrate the impact of co-designing PIC and DSP, let’s look at an example. A PIC and a standard platform-agnostic DSP typically operate with signals of differing intensities, so they need some RF analog electronic components to “talk” to each other. This signal power conversion overhead constitutes roughly 2-3 Watts or about 10-15% of transceiver power consumption.

Figure 2: Simplified diagram of the building blocks of a coherent transceiver in which the DSP drives the optical engine directly from its digital-to-analog converter (DAC). This setup can minimize the power conversion overhead of optical transceivers.

However, the modulator of an InP PIC can run at a lower voltage than a silicon modulator. If this InP PIC and the DSP are designed and optimized together instead of using a standard DSP, the PIC could be designed to run at a voltage compatible with the DSP’s signal output. This way, the optimized DSP could drive the PIC directly without needing the RF analog driver, doing away with most of the power conversion overhead we discussed previously.

Figure 3: Comparison between the drive power and power consumption of three different PIC + DSP pairings: standard DSP with a silicon PIC, standard DSP with an InP PIC, and an optimized DSP with an InP.

Additionally, the optimized DSP could also be programmed to do some additional signal conditioning that minimizes the nonlinear optical effects of the InP material, which can reduce noise and improve performance.

Taking Advantage of Active Components in the InP Platform

Russell Fuerst, EFFECT Photonics’ Vice-President of Digital Signal Processing, gave us an interesting insight about designing for the InP platform in a previous interview:

When we started doing coherent DSP designs for optical communication over a decade ago, we pulled many solutions from the RF wireless and satellite communications space into our initial designs. Still, we couldn’t bring all those solutions to the optical markets.

However, when you get more of the InP active components involved, some of those solutions can finally be brought over and utilized. They were not used before in our designs for silicon photonics because silicon is not an active medium and lacked the performance to exploit these advanced techniques.

For example, the fact that the DSP could control laser and modulator components on the InP can lead to some interesting manipulations of light signals. A DSP that can control these components directly could generate proprietary waveforms or use non-standard constellation and modulation schemes that can boost the performance of a coherent transceiver and increase the capacity of the link.

Takeaways

The biggest problem for DSP designers is still improving performance while reducing power use. This problem can be solved by finding ways to integrate the DSP more deeply with the InP platform, such as letting the DSP control the laser and modulator directly to develop new waveform shaping and modulation schemes. Because the InP platforms have active components, DSP designers can also import more solutions from the RF wireless space.

Tags: analog electronics, building blocks, coherent, dispersion compensation, DSP, energy efficiency, Intra DCI, Photonics, PON, power consumption, reach, simplified

How To Make a Photonic Integrated Circuit

Insights

December 1, 2022

How To Make a Photonic Integrated Circuit

Photonics is one of the enabling technologies of the future. Light is the fastest information…

Photonics is one of the enabling technologies of the future. Light is the fastest information carrier in the universe and can transmit this information while dissipating less heat and energy than electrical signals. Thus, photonics can dramatically increase the speed, reach, and flexibility of communication networks and cope with the ever-growing demand for more data. And it will do so at a lower energy cost, decreasing the Internet’s carbon footprint. Meanwhile, fast and efficient photonic signals have massive potential for sensing and imaging applications in medical devices, automotive LIDAR, agricultural and food diagnostics, and more.

Given its importance, we want to explain how photonic integrated circuits (PICs), the devices that enable all these applications, are made.

Designing a PIC

The process of designing a PIC should translate an initial application concept into a functioning photonics chip that can be manufactured. In a short course at the OFC 2018 conference, Wim Bogaerts from Ghent University summarized the typical PIC design process in the steps we will describe below.

Figure 1 Summary of the steps in a PIC design flow process

Concept and Specifications: We first have to define what goes into the chip. A chip architect normally spends time with the customer to understand what the customer wants to achieve with the chip and all the conditions and situations where the chip will be used. After these conversations, the chip application concept becomes a concrete set of specifications that are passed on to the team that will design the internals of the chip. These specs will set the performance targets of the PIC design.
Design Function: Having defined the specs, the design team will develop a schematic circuit diagram that captures the function of the PIC. This diagram is separated into several functional blocks: some of them might already exist, and some of them might have to be built. These blocks include lasers, modulators, detectors, and other components that can manipulate light in one way or another.
Design Simulation: Making a chip costs a lot of money and time. With such risks, a fundamental element of chip design is to accurately predict the chip’s behavior after it is manufactured. The functional blocks are placed together, and their behavior is simulated using various physical models and simulation tools. The design team often uses a few different simulation approaches to reduce the risk of failure after manufacturing.
Design Layout: Now, the design team must translate the functional chip schematic into a proper design layout that can be manufactured. The layout consists of layers, component positions, and geometric shapes that represent the actual manufacturing steps. The team uses software that translates these functions into the geometric patterns to be manufactured, with human input required for the trickiest placement and geometry decisions.
Check Design Rules: Every chip fabrication facility will have its own set of manufacturing rules. In this step, the design team verifies that the layout agrees with these rules.
Verify Design Function: This is a final check to ensure that the layout actually performs as was originally intended in the original circuit schematic. The layout process usually leads to new component placement and parasitic effects that were not considered in the original circuit schematic. These tests might require the design team to revisit previous functional or layout schematic steps.

The Many Steps of Fabricating a PIC

Manufacturing semiconductor chips for photonics and electronics is one of the most complex procedures in the world. For example, back in his university days, EFFECT Photonics President Boudewijn Docter described a fabrication process with a total of 243 steps!

Yuqing Jiao, Associate Professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), explains the fabrication process in a few basic, simplified steps:

Grow or deposit your chip material
Print a pattern on the material
Etch the printed pattern into your material
Do some cleaning and extra surface preparation
Go back to step 1 and repeat as needed

Real life is, of course, a lot more complicated and will require cycling through these steps tens of times, leading to processes with more than 200 total steps. Let’s go through these basic steps in a bit more detail.

Figure 2 Basic steps of a semiconductor fabrication process that are repeated in a single fabrication cycle. An entire wafer manufacturing process requires tens of these cycles.

Layer Epitaxy and Deposition: Different chip elements require different semiconductor material layers. These layers can be grown on the semiconductor wafer via a process called epitaxy or deposited via other methods (which are summarized in this article).

Figure 3: Simplified example of PIC elements and the different material layers they require. Source: Smit et al. (2014)

Lithography (i.e. printing): There are a few lithography methods, but the one used for high-volume chip fabrication is projection optical lithography. The semiconductor wafer is coated with a photosensitive polymer film called a photoresist. Meanwhile, the design layout pattern is transferred to an opaque material called a mask. The optical lithography system projects the mask pattern onto the photoresist. The exposed photoresist is then developed (like photographic film) to complete the pattern printing.

Figure 4 Comparison of different optical lithography approaches. Contact and proximity printing keep the mask in contact with or close to the sample. Projection printing keeps the mask further away and is initially more expensive, but it is the technology of choice for high-volume manufacturing. Source: J. Shen, University of Waterloo PhD Thesis (2018)

Etching: Having “printed” the pattern on the photoresist, it is time to remove (or etch) parts of the semiconductor material to transfer the pattern from the resist into the wafer. There are several techniques that can be done to etch the material, which are summarized in this article.

Figure 5: Example of what a semiconductor wafer with resist (red color) on top of it looks like before and after an etching step.

Cleaning and Surface Preparation: After etching, a series of steps will clean and prepare the surface before the next cycle.
- Passivation: Adding layers of dielectric material (such a silica) to “passivate” the chip and make it more tolerant to environmental effects.
- Planarization: Making the surface flat in preparation of future lithography and etching steps.
- Metallization: Depositing metal components and films on the wafer. This might be done for future lithography and etching steps, or at the end to add electrical contacts to the chip.

Figure 6 summarizes how an InP photonic device looks after the steps of layer epitaxy, etching, dielectric deposition and planarization, and metallization.

Figure 6 Cross-section of a semiconductor wafer structure after: (a) epitaxial growth, (b) etching, (c) passivation and planarization, (d) metallization.

The Expensive Process of Testing and Packaging

Chip fabrication is a process with many sources of variability, and therefore much testing is required to make sure that the fabricated chip agrees with what was originally designed and simulated. Once that is certified and qualified, the process of packaging and assembling a device with the PIC follows.

While packaging, assembly, and testing are only a small part of the cost of electronic systems, the reverse happens with photonic systems. Researchers at the Technical University of Eindhoven (TU/e) estimate that for most Indium Phosphide (InP) photonics devices, the cost of packaging, assembly, and testing can reach around 80% of the total module cost. There are many research efforts in motion to reduce these costs, which you can learn more about in one of our previous articles.

Figure 7. Process cost breakdown of an InP PIC-based module as a percentage of the overall cost of manufacturing. Source: Latkowski et al., 2019

Especially after the first fabrication run of a new chip, there will be a few rounds of characterization, validation and revisions to make sure the chip performs up to spec. After this first round of characterization and validation, the chip must be made ready for mass production, which requires a series of reliability tests in several environmental different conditions. You can learn more about this process in our previous article on industrial hardening. For example, different applications need different certification of the temperatures in which the chip must operate in.

Temperature Standard	Temperature Range (°C)
Temperature Standard	Min	Max
Commercial (C-temp)	0	70
Extended (E-temp)	-20	85
Industrial (I-temp)	-40	85
Automotive / Full Military	-40	125

Table 1: Comparing the temperature ranges of different temperature hardening standards, including industrial and automotive/full military applications

Takeaways

The process of making photonic integrated circuits is incredibly long and complex, and the steps we described in this article are a mere simplification of the entire process. It requires tremendous amount of knowledge in chip design, fabrication, and testing from experts in different fields all around the world. EFFECT Photonics was founded by people who fabricated these chips themselves, understand the process intimately, and developed the connections and network to develop cutting-edge PICs at scale.

Tags: building blocks, c-temp, coherent, die testing, DSP, electron beam lithography, faults, I-temp, imprint lithography, InP, interfaces, optical lithography, reach, scale, wafer testing

Read about the latest technology trends, events, news, announcements and press releases regarding EFFECT Photonics.

Insights

November 22, 2022

EFFECT Photonics driving a flourishing photonics ecosystem in the Netherlands and the UK

Fiber-optic technologies are a thing of the present, yet not accessible to all considering the…

Fiber-optic technologies are a thing of the present, yet not accessible to all considering the requirements and complexities of different applications in a wide range of contexts. Making photonics applications universally accessible, affordable, and sustainable requires more than the unwavering commitment and concerted efforts of people in a single entity such as a company or an institution. Such a goal calls for the development of a sustainable ecosystem that promotes knowledge and experience sharing and can have a significant impact on customers, investors, and future applications.

PhotonDelta is a growth accelerator for the integrated photonics industry by providing its partners with funding, network and knowledge. Its European network consists out of chip designers, module companies, foundries, researchers, software developers as well as potential offtakers. As an ecosystem, it aims to accelerate the development and manufacturing of integrated photonics solutions through innovation, reducing time-to-market, and creating economy of scale. In the Netherlands, it operates to very high standards regarding photonics applications in R&D. Its strong link to the Technical University of Eindhoven (TU/E) through EFFECT Photonics and the University of Twente, provides access to knowledge and innovation – an indisputable advantage for the whole ecosystem.

At the end of April 2020, EFFECT Photonics proudly joined the “PhotonDelta Flagship project“. The project connects and involves the main Dutch industry players in integrated photonics, which are now jointly collaborating in the PhotonDelta ecosystem to make space quality communication modules, reaching for the highest grade in the industry. The consortium is chaired by LioniX International, BRIGHT integrated Photonics, EFFECT Photonics, SMART Photonics, PHIX Photonics Assembly, Technobis, VTEC Lasers & Sensors and TNO. The companies cover the entire supply chain from chip design, manufacturing, assembly, packaging, and testing.

EFFECT Photonics is a frontrunner in the photonics industry with an impressive track record of innovation, sharing, collaboration and growth over the last decade. Initially a spin-off of the TU/E, the company is now a global market leader in optical transceivers, a key player in the telecoms industry and one of the founding members of PhotonDelta. “The network is aimed at building all parts of the supply chain together in the spirit of the semiconductor electronics model, with a number of specialist companies working together on different application areas,” President EFFECT Photonics Dr. Boudewijn Docter says.

EFFECT Photonics’ focus is on telecom applications with a view to offering an integrated, adjustable, and holistic product. From the outset, the company has consistently responded to ensuing market challenges with remarkable speed and resourcefulness. As a result, when packaging became an issue in the past, the company promptly responded by making novel packaging happen in-house, lacking alternative options. In principle, EFFECT Photonics has always been committed to the idea of an efficient and effective ecosystem that could ensure unhindered performance and supply throughout different parts of the value chain.

A pioneering ecosystem – novel technologies and business practices

In the UK, the ecosystem has a lot to offer in the area of high-quality precision manufacturing. “That’s one of the key things we bring together in EFFECT Photonics – the hightech from the PhotonDelta network combined with manufacturing experience from the UK,” continues Docter.

As a pioneer of photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology focusing on telecom applications, EFFECT Photonics spent several years making the technology applicable to volume production. The telecom market was first to adopt the PIC technology, rendering EFFECT Photonics as a promising volume driver of the PhotonDelta ecosystem, and a trailblazer from a technological and business viewpoint. Initiating an open model of collaboration through a network of companies, individuals and institutions is tantamount to revolutionising business practices in the industry. In contrast, competitors abroad appear to be adhering to a more conventional norm of a closed, in-house model rather than a collaborative one. Given current trends and circumstances in the industry, as well as global developments, EFFECT Photonics is confident that this open model is going to prevail going forward within PhotonDelta. This proposition is all the more justifiable in the light of current health hazards, natural disasters and worrisome financial circumstances. Challenging conditions impose a sense of urgency on all stakeholders and intensify the need to pool knowledge and resources. Ensuring optimal and timely outcomes throughout the value chain is a key prerequisite for a worthy and attractive investment opportunity in photonics.

An organic ecosystem – reaching out and maximising opportunities

The photonics ecosystem of the UK in Torbay has been built over the last 50 years and includes several competitors, such as Lumentum and II-VI. A great part of it originated from ITT, JDS-Uniphase and Nortel. Nortel employed 5,500 people in the area for their lead site, within the photonics network, which in turn led to their domination of the 10-Gig market. Today, the Torbay Hi-Tech Cluster provides products and services to a global multi-national community.

After the telecom crash, a lot of the manufacturing was outsourced, but a substantial number of skilled designers of high-tech products for photonics manufacturing stayed on. As a consequence, according to Dr. Paul Rosser, EFFECT Photonics VP of Operations, “there’s locally a strong ecosystem supporting the design and development of high-precision manufacturing equipment, for example things like fiber-align stations, if we look more broadly in the UK then we also do have access to leading Indium- Phosphide fabs as well, and there you could think of Lumentum.” Also, due to a partial link to Nortel, prior to the telecoms crash there was access to a global supply chain which EFFECT Photonics is keen to bring back and push for it to become more European through the Eindhoven initiative.

“We very much help to shape the consortium as it is right now, and all the partners that we work with locally are all members of PhotonDelta,” explains Docter. “So, for example we work with SMART Photonics, which is also a founding partner, as well as knowledge institutes like the TU/E where we do some collaborative research projects.” He points out that apart from sharing knowledge and experience in telecom and other application fields, funding is a major requirement for effective application and successful business development. “PhotonDelta has already made significant funding available for direct loans to partners of the ecosystem and R&D projects.” Docter adds, further reinforcing the pioneering yet pragmatic and sustainable mindset of the ecosystem.

About EFFECT Photonics

EFFECT Photonics delivers highly integrated optical communications products based on its Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) optical System-on-Chip technology. The key enabling technology for DWDM systems is full monolithic integration of all photonic components within a single chip and being able to produce these in volume with high yield at low cost. With this capability, EFFECT Photonics is addressing the need for low cost DWDM solutions driven by the soaring demand for high bandwidth connections between datacenters and back from mobile cell towers. Headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, with additional R&D and manufacturing in South West UK, with sales partners worldwide. www.effectphotonics.com

For further information please contact sales@effectphotonics.com

Tags: IntergratedPhotonics, PhotonDelta, Photonics, SFP

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