Title: Survey of ShortReach Optical Interconnect
1Survey of Short-ReachOptical Interconnect
- Ken Pedrotti
- Robert Dahlgren
Presented 10 November 2005
2Outline
- Introduction
- Pure silica fiber trends
- Splicing trends
- Connector trends
- Active component trends
- Transceiver module trends
- What to expect in the year 2010?
- Questions and discussion
3Short Reach Links
Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) VSR-1 through VSR-4 classifications Gigabit Ethernet Multimode 850 nm 10 Gigabit Ethernet Singlemode or parallel multimode Fibre Channel Serial HIPPI Proprietary links 4Main Commercial Trends
- Fiber to the home/curb/pedestal deployment is
moving forward - Common form factors
- Smaller form factors
- Standards-based specifications
- Short Reach and VSR standards
- Convergence of specs at 1 and 10 Gbps
- WDM begat DWDM and CWDM
- Pure silica core fiber less of a niche
- Ribbon fiber and mass splicing/termination
5Lesson from the Aircraft Industry
6Convergence
- Telecom and datacom PHYs have less distinction
- Traditional datacom companies like Cisco are
making more carrier-class equipment - Common medium (often SMF)
- Data rates moving towards convergence
- OC-192, 10G Ethernet, 10G Fibre Channel
- Possible to unify component markets to take
advantage of economies of scale
7What Convergence Meansfor VSR Links
- 1 and 10 Gbps may be the sweet spot for short
links up to 300 m for some time - 850 nm VCSEL and MMF
- Single and multi-fiber arrangements
- Broad support from industry in volume
- Common electrical interface
- 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps serial technology too
expensive for VSR - WDM approaches not suitable for VSR
8Ribbon Optical Fiber
- Four, twelve, or sixteen fibers
- Usually spaced at 250 mm pitch
- Connectors, splicing more complex
- Cost per splice about 2 2.5x
- Lower cost per fiber
9Pure-Silica Core Fiber Trends
- Several manufacturers now make optical fiber for
high radiation environments. - Singlemode, step-index multimode, graded index
multimode - Cost premium TBD compared to standard (e.g.
Ge-doped core) fiber of the same type - Improved polymer coatings
10Pure-Silica Core Fiber Vendors
- Fujikura Ltd.
- Oxford Electronics
- Mitsubishi International
- Verrillion Inc.
- OFS (formerly Lucent)
- CorActive On custom basis
- Sumitomo Electric
- 3M dropped production
- Corning MMF in development
11Evolution of Arc Fusion Splicing
- Active alignment with optical source and detector
at the fiber endfaces - Local injection into core and detection
- Imaging-based alignment
- Ribbon fiber splicers (mass splicing)
- V-groove (passive) splicers
- Enabled by tighter fiber concentricity specs
- Smaller, lighter, better ergonomics
- Compensation schemes, loss estimation
12Improvement of Fiber ConcentricityEnables
V-groove Alignment
Active Core Alignment
V-groove Alignment
13Splicing trends
- Continued acceptance of v-groove based splicers
in non RD applications - Continuing acceptance of mass fusion splicing for
ribbon fiber - Continued development of custom splice
programming, e.g. thermal diffusion core
expansion for specialty fiber - Laser-based fiber stripping and cleaving needs
cost reduction
14Mass Fusion Splice of12-fiber Ribbonized SMF
Images courtesy AFL Telecommunications
15Splice Economics
- Splicing cost roughly 2040 not including costs
associated with access and packaging. Can be
much higher. - Mass splices cost roughly 2 2.5x for a 12-fiber
ribbon - Spliceless ATLAS design tradeoff
- Need lower cost fiber recoating systems and
proof-testers for High-Rel applications - Splicer manufacturers Fitel, Fujikura, 3sae
16Connector Market Landscape
- Simplex-SC is de-facto standard for telecom.
- Duplex-SC is de-facto standard for datacom.
- Newer Small Form Factor connectors vying for
market dominance. - Several incompatible connectors for ribbon fiber
applications.
17Legacy Connectors
ST
Biconic
FC
SMA
ESCON
old FDDI
Images used with permission of Alcoa-Fujikura,
Ltd.
18Ribbon Fiber ConnectorsMT Ferrule Technology
Images used with permission of US Conec, Ltd.
19Small Form Factor Connectors
- Driven by smaller front-panel opening, like the
ubiquitous R-45 telephone/ethernet jack. - Driven by low-cost 100 Mbps and 1 Gbps ethernet
system and cable companies - High front panel density low cost/port
- Telcos are looking to replace SC connector
- High front panel density CO and closet space
- Incorporate cost-saving features
- Incorporate ergonomic features
- Some allow field termination
20Some SFF Connectors
MT-RJ
LC
Duplex-LC
MU
Images used with permission of Alcoa-Fujikura,
Ltd.
21Laser Diode Structures
Most require multiple growth steps Thermal
cycling is problematic for electronic devices
22Detector Technologies
Features
Layer Structure
Simple, Planar, Low Capacitance Low Quantum
Efficiency
MSM (Metal Semiconductor Metal) PIN APD Wav
eguide
Semiinsulating GaAs
Contact InGaAsP p 5x1018 Absorption
InGaAs n- 5x1014 Contact InP
n 1x1019
Trade-off Between Quantum efficiency and Speed
Gain-Bandwidth 120GHz Low Noise Difficult to
make Complex
Contact InP p
1x1018 Multiplication InP n
5x1016 Transition InGaAsP n
1x1016 Absorption InGaAs n
5x1014 Contact InP n
1x1018 Substrate InP Semi
insulating
High efficiency High speed Difficult to couple
into
Absorption Layer
Guide Layers
Absorption Layer Contact layers
Key
23VCSEL status and trends
- VCSELs dominate where DFB laser or high power is
not needed - Many suppliers at the 1 Gbps level
- Reliability established at 850 nm
- 1300 nm devices have been slow to reach
commercialization - Low cost visible VCSELs becoming available at 635
and 650 nm - TBD 3 Gbps and 10Gbps
24Semiconductor Trends
- CMOS and SiGe-BiCMOS has taken over the chip
market up to 10Gb/s rates - 40 Gb/s OC-768 is waiting, with components ready
but deployments few - As long haul market has softened component
manufacturers have targeted current new
developments at gigabit and 10G Ethernet
applications - Addition of Forward error correction (FEC) drives
maximum bit rate up eg. SONET 9.952Gb/s to 12.5
Gb/s with a 5-6.5 coding gain - Chips appearing designed for RZ rather than NRZ
applications
25Semiconductor Trends
- Transceivers are including more monitoring and
feedback control elements in chips to reduce part
counts and size - With CMOS implementations practical at 10Gb/s
more multirate-multiprotocol solutions appearing
thus increasing volumes and lowering product
costs - More network protocol processing in highly
integrated chips - Transmitters with low speed supervisory tone
modulation inputs - Equalization and compensation of analog links
- Smaller packaging
- TBD rad-hard electronics
26Transceivers conform to standards
- Under the auspices of IEEE, ANSI, ITU
- Highly technical, dry, and can be political.
- Strict rules of operation, balloting to approve.
- Communication protocol and Physical Layer
- SONET, Fibre Channel, ATM, Gigabit Ethernet
- Optical connector intermatability standard
- Duplex-SC, duplex-LC, MT-RJ, SG
- Environmental
- Telecordia, Product Safety, Military, EMC
27Example OC-192 10 Gbps VSR Standards (OIF)
28Transceivers conform to MSAs
- Standards bodies only define the minimum
necessary requirements for interoperability. - Multi-source Agreements (MSAs) between
manufacturers describe common features outside of
the standard, e.g. module pinout - Generates consensus and critical mass without
violating anti-trust guidelines. - Electrical connector/formfactor standards
- 1x9, GBIC, GLM, 2x5, 2x10, SFP
- 200pin, 300pin, XFP, Xenpak
29Example MSA Form Factors
10 Gigabit Small Form Factor Pluggable MSA
- XFP Applications
- OC192/STM-64 9.95 Gb/s
- 10 Gigabit FC 10.5 Gb/s
- G.709 10.7 Gb/s
- 10 Gigabit Ethernet 10.3 Gb/s
- Smaller space and lower cost alternative to
parallel-optics VSR. - XFP Value Propositions
- Protocol Agnostic - "any application, any rate".
- Allows 16 XCVRs on a typical 19" rack with 23mm
pitch density. - Single footprint for all links.
- Less than 1/3 the power and size of an MSA with
parallel interface. - Hot plugable.
- XFI (10 Gigabit Serial Electrical Interface)
Electrical Signaling - Supports 12" of FR4 with one connector
- Low EMI and power due to nominal 500 mV
differential drive. - Slew control for improved Signal Integirty and
lower EMI. - TX and RX signals each are a 100 Ohm differential
pair, AC coupled for simplicity.
Xenpak
Xpak
http//www.xenpak.org/ http//www.xfpmsa.org/ http
//www.x2msa.org/
X2
30SFF Transceiver Showing Duplex-LC Receptacle
Image courtesy Picolight, Inc.
31XAUI Electrical Interface
- Defined in IEEE 802.3ae, section 42
- Extends the Media Independent Interface
- Fewer pins than full parallel I/O
- Quartet of differential pair per direction
- 3.125 Gbps per lane
- XAUI chips resets jitter accumulation
- XAUI chips establish lane order
- XAUI chips eliminates lane-to-lane skew
32Transceiver Trends
- More intelligence and RAM in modules
- Price erosion of 10 Gbps modules
- Garden variety 1 Gbps modules at near-commodity
pricing - Equalization of optical dispersion
- Vcc of 3.3V (and lower) rather than 5V
- Better EMI and ESD margins
- Gbps modules for polymer optical fiber
- Special BiDi modules for FTTx
33What to expect in 2010for VSR Data Links
- Fiber used in shorter and shorter links
- 1300 nm VCSELs
- Silicon Photonics
- Resonant microcavity devices
- Few new connectors
- Electronic dispersion compensation
- More intelligence in transceivers
- Inexpensive mini fusion splicers
34Questions
- Is one gigabit/second technology adequate for the
lifetime of the detector? - Radiation hardness of VCSELs and
commercially-available transceivers - Can we use 1310/850 BiDi module to aid with
photobleaching? - Is it economically feasible for spliceless design
made completely of pure silica fiber - Suitability of photonic crystal fiber