Internal optical-interconnect market explodes with demand for higher data throughput

High data throughput requires high-density optical links and, according to a new report from ElectroniCast Corp., the electronic density and cumulative data throughput of communication and computing equipment have grown by orders of magnitude over the past decade. ElectroniCast Corp., a research and analysis company covering all areas of the data and communications industry, has released Internal Optical Interconnect Components and Assemblies Global Market Forecast, 1998-2003.

Although copper-transport capability is steadily advancing, an increasing share of inside-the-equipment signal transport is over optical links. Multigigabit internal-interconnect optical links are now used in equipment production, and terabit links, including parallel arrays, dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM), and free space, are being developed. This development is aimed at future high-volume production applications. According to the report, equipment with 256x256 optical input/output ports will be in commercial production in 2000, and with 1024x1024 ports by 2003, these trends to high- density optical channels will drive miniaturization of optoelectronic packaging and optical connectors.

The report covers all components and assemblies for optical-signal interconnect inside equipment enclosures and between shelves, racks and cabinets of multi-unit equipment. Leading applications include: multi-unit communications switches (digital crossconnect, Asynchronous Transfer Mode, and optical crossconnect); telecommunications transport terminals; optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM) systems; data-communications switches, hubs, routers, and others; computer memory-to-CPU (intra-enclosure and mainframe-to-remote memory); and servers.

According to ElectroniCast Corp.'s research, the market is exploding. The consumption value for components used inside this equipment will be substantial. For instance, the global value for optical components used in OADMs will reach more than $3 billion by 2008. Wavelength combiners/lockers, optical switches, and DWDM filter modules used in OADMs will reach over $1.3 billion by 2008.

For more information or to order ElectroniCast's complete report, call (650) 343-1348, fax (650) 343-1698, or e-mail: [email protected].