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