Rockley Photonics eyes multiple markets

Andrew Rickman, founder and CEO of silicon photonics start-up, Rockley Photonics, discusses the new joint venture with Hengtong Optic-Electric, the benefits of the company’s micron-wide optical waveguides and why the timing is right for silicon photonics. 

Andrew Rickman

The joint venture between Rockley Photonics and Chinese firm Hengtong Optic-Electric is the first announced example of Rockley’s business branching out.

The start-up’s focus has been to apply its silicon photonics know-how to data-centre applications. In particular, Rockley has developed an Opto-ASIC package that combines optical transceiver technology with its own switch chip design. Now it is using the transceiver technology for its joint venture.

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ECOC '15 Reflections: Part 2

Part 2: More industry executives share the trends and highlights they noted at the recent European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) event, held in Valencia. 

Martin Zirngibl, head of network enabling components and technologies at Bell Labs. 

Silicon Photonics is seeming to gain traction, but traditional component suppliers are still betting on indium phosphide.

There are many new start-ups in silicon photonics, most seem to be going after the 100 gigabit QSFP28 market. However, silicon photonics still needs a ubiquitous high-volume application for the foundry model to be sustainable.

There is a battle between 4x25 Gig CWDM and 100 Gig PAM-4 56 gigabaud, with most people believing that 400 Gig PAM-4 or discrete multi-tone with 100 Gig per lambda will win.

Will coherent make it into black and white applications - up to 80 km - or is there a role for a low-cost wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) system with direct detection?

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Verizon readies its metro for next-generation P-OTS

Verizon is preparing its metro network to carry significant amounts of 100 Gigabit traffic and has detailed its next-generation packet-optical transport system (P-OTS) requirements. The operator says technological advances in 100 Gig transmission and new P-OTS platforms - some yet to be announced - will help bring large scale 100 Gig deployments in the metro in the next year or so.

Glenn Wellbrock

The operator says P-OTS will be used for its metro and regional networks for spans of 400-600km. "That is where we have very dense networks," says Glenn Wellbrock, director of optical transport network architecture and design at Verizon. "The amount of 100 Gig is going to be substantially higher than it was in long haul."

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WDM and 100G: A Q&A with Infonetics' Andrew Schmitt

The WDM optical networking market grew 8 percent year-on-year, with spending on 100 Gigabit now accounting for a fifth of the WDM market. So claims the first quarter 2014 optical networking report from market research firm, Infonetics Research. Overall, the optical networking market declined 2 percent, due to the continuing decline of legacy SONET/SDH.

In a Q&A with Gazettabyte, Andrew Schmitt, principal analyst for optical at Infonetics Research, talks about the report's findings.

Q: Overall WDM optical spending was up 8% year-on-year: Is that in line with expectations?

AS: It is roughly in line with the figures I use for trend growth but what is surprising is how there is no longer a fourth quarter capital expenditure flush in North America followed by a down year in the first quarter. This still happens in EMEA but spending in North America, particularly by the Tier-1 operators, is now less tied to calendar spending and more towards specific project timelines.

This has always been the case at the more competitive carriers. A good example of this was the big order Infinera got in Q1, 2014.

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First silicon photonics devices from STMicro in 2014

STMicroelectronics expects to have first silicon photonics products by mid-2014. The chip company announced the licensing of silicon photonics technology from Luxtera in March 2012. Since then STMicro has been developing its 300mm (12-inch) CMOS wafer manufacturing line for silicon photonics at its fab at Crolles, France.

Flavio Benetti, STMicroelectronics

"We think we are the only ones doing the processing in a 12-inch line," says Flavio Benetti, general manager of  mixed processes division at STMicroelectronics.

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Optical networking spending up in all regions except Europe

A new cycle of investment in optical networking in taking place in all regions except Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), says market research company, Ovum. Market growth is being led by North America, while spending is also up in Asia Pacific (APAC) and South and Central America (S&C America). But EMEA will again be down in 2013.

Source data: Ovum

Ovum forecasts that the global optical networking market will grow to US $17.5 billion by 2018, a compound annual growth rate of 3.1 percent.

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u2t Photonics pushes balanced detectors to 70GHz

• u²t's 70GHz balanced detector supports 64Gbaud for test and measurement and R&D
• The company's gallium arsenide modulator and next-generation receiver will enable 100 Gigabit long-haul in a CFP2

"The performance [of gallium arsenide] is very similar to the lithium niobate modulator"

Jens Fiedler,  u²t Photonics

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