The demand of PLC passive optical devices are increasing for information transmission, thus promoting the development of PLC technology, mainly from the four major areas requirements listed below.
1. Pressure From Backbone Network Communication
Broadband subscribers are growing with growth rate of 20-30% per year, average traffic growth per user per year up to 20-30%. It is predicted that in 2014 the average access bandwidth will from the current 2M grow to more than 20M, the growth in business volume flow rate of five years up to 10 times.
Data shows, CTC backbone bandwidth of IP annual growth rate at 40%-50% in next 5 years, the total bandwidth of backbone transmission network will be increased from 64Tbps to at least 120-155Tbps, even 200Tbps. Communication network of pressure have spread to the backbone layer from access layer, and will set off a comprehensive upgrading revolution of the backbone network.
With increasing pressure of backbone network communications, optical networks and transport platform require widely using WDM DWDM. Currently, South Korea’s largest mobile carrier SK Telecom is using DWDM equipment from Nokia Siemens, the use of hiT 7300 DWDM platform, simultaneously transmit 80 channel wavelength, single wavelength can load the 100G data flow, so that the total capacity of the fiber optic is up to 8 Tbps.
In the background of continued growth in new broadband services drive and N x 40Gb / s WDM network scale deployment, new N x 100Gb / s WDM supports a larger transmission capacity gradually become the focus of future high bandwidth technology.
100G WDM market will grow stability in next five years. In January 2013 Dell’Oro optical transmission market forecast report shows, in next five years, the global WDM market will grow at a compound annual rate of 10%, will reach $13 billion by 2017. Dell’Oro said that, 40G/100G will be the future growth; and benefit from the growth in 40G/100G WDM demand, in the next five years the fiber optical networking market will appear a growing momentum. As carriers’ demand is rising on network equipment capacity, 100G market demand will be particularly strong.
The increase amount of information exchange is serious on power consumption reduction, network communication backbone pressure, strong market demand of 100G, all increased the demand of PLC passive components.
2. The Development Of Cloud Data Center
According to Cisco report, over 2011-2016 years, global data center traffic will increase four times, global cloud flow will increase six times. By 2016 there will be 2/3 data center traffic from the cloud service flow. Cloud computing will lead to double flow in data center.
Compared to the traditional data center, a single physical host data flow of cloud computing data center is as 4 times, 8 times or even more than 10 times as the traditional data center server.
In order to reduce the network delay, improve the response speed of data center network, cloud computing data center core network using 40G/100G network port.
3. Access Network – Triple networks convergence of PON Technology
Triple networks convergence are telecommunication networks, radio networks and Internet network developing together, to achieve network interoperability, resource sharing, to provide users voice, data and broadcast television and other services. PON technology products are applied into FTTH and Triple networks convergence. Which WDM-PON PON combines the advantages of WDM technology and and PON structure, is becoming a high-performance access. This intermediate is also widely used PLC splitter products.
4. The Silicon Chip Fiber Interconnection
Microelectronics is facing the challenge of RC bottleneck and heating problems. Chip and chip interconnect speed of 6-8Gbps, 32nm, 22nm, copper and copper interconnect speed of 15nm, 11nm, 7nm. When in 10nm occurs quantum effects, more than 20Gbps require fiber interconnection. For example, Intel Si launched a photonic chip program, chip interconnects using WDM, because the electrical interconnection is expensive, electrical interconnection gradually evolved to fiber interconnection has become an inevitable trend.
In conclusion, the requirements of using fiber transmission instead of electrical transmission, and is a multi-wavelength optical transmission, coherent 100G WDM backbone network, 40G/100G data centers, FTTH access networks, chip optical interconnect have promoted the development of PLC optical passive devices. And the chip will be used in WDM and PLC splitter, integrated chips are more taking into account the size and power consumption requirements, using PLC hybrid integration, SOI silicon photonics, InP PIC integration and other technologies. These requirements will all promote the continuous development and evolution of PLC technology.