SiliconPhotonics:FuelingtheNextInformationRevolution
ByDarylInniss andRoyRubenstein
Publisher:MorganKaufmann
Outline
• Siliconphotonicsdefined• Itspromise• Thereality• Casestudies:successrequiresmarket-leadingperformance• Mellanox (Kotura)• Luxtera• Cisco• AcaciaCommunications
• Numerousopportunities1. Moore’slawcomingtoanend2. TelecomapproachingC-band’s
data-carryingcapacity3. Datacenter—centralcoginthe
digitaleconomy4. Systemperformanceimprovements
• Reachingthetippingpointforsiliconphotonics• Siliconphotonicsasadisruptiveforce
Siliconphotonicsdefined
• Makingphotonicdevicesonasiliconsubstrate• DevicesfabricatedinaCMOSchipfacility
Courtesy ofEETimes
Siliconphotonicsismainlyusedtoconnect
• Telecomanddatacom networksarethemainusestoday• Siliconphotonicscanbeusedacrossavastrangeofdistances• Consequentlytheopportunityishuge• Theopportunityisalsochallengingassiliconphotonicsmustdisplaceincumbenttechnologies
Source:BasedonOn-boardOpticalInterconnect,CTRIIITWGreport#3,MITMicrophotonics Center
Siliconphotonicspromises
• Tosupportalargerangeofdistances• Centimeterstothousandsofkilometers
• Todeliverlowcost,highvolumesolutions• asitpiggybacksonthesemiconductorinfrastructure
• Tosupportmanymarketsandapplications• Telecom,datacom,Sensors,LIDAR,medicaldevices,etc.
• Todisrupttheopticalcommunicationsmarket• Itsadventimpactsthetraditionalopticalcomponentmarket,opticalcommunicationsequipmentmarket,andthetraditionalsemiconductormarket
But,siliconphotonicsadoptionhasbeenslow• Earlyhype,followedbydisillusion• Recentlyenteredthe
productivityphase!
• Marketdrivenbyopticalcomponentvendors• Lowvolumes• Don’thavethefullsupport
offoundriesandelectronicsindustry
• Systemvendorsareacquiringsiliconphotonicsspecialists• Demonstratingthe
importanceofthetechnology• Butfragmenting
technologystandardizationandbroadmarketdevelopment
Source:Authors
And,siliconphotonicshasnotreacheditstippingpoint
• Technicalchallenges• Ostensibly“metoo”whencomparedtoincumbenttechnologies
• Silicondoesnotlase• Market
• Mostsolutionsnotdifferentiatedfromcompetitiveapproaches
• Cost• Lowvolumes• Manydifferenttechnologies—noeconomiesofscale
• Faceswiththe samechallengesascompetingtechnologies:packagingandfiberattachSource:Authors
Casestudiesshowforwardpath:Successrequiresperformancedifferentiation
Mellanox (Kotura):variableopticalattenuator• Performancedifferentiator—fastestresponsetime• Gainedandsecuredamarketlead
Luxtera:APSM4transceiverat40and100Gb• Performancedifferentiator—lowcost, lowpower• Onlyonelaser,anexpensivepartofthebillofmaterials, isusedratherthanfour
Cisco:100GBase-LR4CPAKtransceiverinasmallformfactor• Performancedifferentiator—firsttomarketwiththehighestdensityfrontplateswitch• Theuseofsiliconphotonicsadvancedsystemperformance
Acacia:100-Gbtransceiverchipforlong-distancetransmission• Performancedifferentiator—firsttomarketwithsingle-chipcoherentCFPtransceiver(nowsamewithCFP2-DCO)• Compact, low-powerconsumptiondesignlowersthecostofcoherentmodules
Source:Authors andcompanies listed
Brightsiliconphotonicsfutureastherearenumerousopportunities1. Moore’slawiscomingtoanend2. Telecomapproachingfiber’sbandwidth-carryingcapacity3. Internetcontentproviders,andtheirdatacentersbecominga
centralcoginthedigitaleconomy4. Newclassofequipmentemerging(datacenterinterconnect)5. Connectivityofequipmentinsidedatacenters6. Closeproximityofelectronicsandopticstoimprovesystem
performance
#1—SiliconphotonicsneededasMoore’slawiscomingtoanend
Increasingtransistorcostafter28nm
Transistorgatelengthestimatedtostopdecreasingafter2021
Multi-corechiparchitectureusedtoscale,interconnecttobecomelimiting
Source:ITRSSource:TheLinleyGroup
#2—Siliconphotonicsneededfor Telecomasfiberapproachesitsbandwidth-carryingcapacity
PhotonicintegrationneededandhencesiliconphotonicsSource:NaturePhotonics 7, 354–362 (2013)
#3—Siliconphotonicsneededfordatacenter,thecentralcogindigitaleconomy
Source:Excelacom
Web2.0arebuilding datacenters Tosupport thegrowing internetreliance
Source:Facebook(Prineville,Oregondatacenters)
Whathappens inaninternetminute?
Prof.LionelKimerling,MIT
“Everythingthathashappenedinthetelecomnetworkisnowbeingreplicatedinthedatacenter.Andtheneverythingthatishappeninginthedatacenterisgoingtobeontheboard,andtheneverythingontheboardisgoingtobeinapackage,andtheneverythinginapackageisgoingtobeonthechip.”
#4—Siliconphotonicsneededtosupportthedatacenterinterconnectnetworkequipment
• Newclassofopticalnetworkinggeardefinedbyhighdensity• Drivenbytheinternetcontentproviders• Photonicintegrationneededforthisnewclassofequipment
Source:Authors
#5—Siliconphotonicsneededtosupportdatacenterequipmentconnectivity• Throughputlimitedbyequipmentconnections• Servertoswitches
• Lowpowerconsumptionrequired• Interconnectsat100G,movingto400G• Photonicintegrationneeded
Source:Modified fromFacebook
#6—Siliconphotonicsneededtoimprovesystemperformance• Evolutionfrompluggableopticstoon-chipoptics• Todeliverlowpower,highersystemperformance• Siliconphotonicstechnologyisinpole positiontosupporton-chipoptics,theultimateendgame
Source:Authors
Siliconphotonics’tippingpointreachedwhenelectronicsaddsopticstostandardtool-kit• Electronicsfocusedonmulti-coretoday,scalingtechnologythathasalifetimeofmultipleyears• Butinterconnectwillbecomealimiting factor• Highbandwidthandlowpowerconsumptionwillbeneededtoevolvethesearchitecture• Siliconphotonicshitsitstippingpointwhentheelectronicsindustryuseopticsaspartofitsstandardtool-kit
Siliconphotonics’disruptiveforcedrivesanewmarketstructure
Source:Authors
ISBN-13:978-0128029756ISBN-10:0128029757