keynotes-worth-seeing-at-designcon-2020

What do these topics have in common?

  1. The Future of Fiber Optic Communications: Datacenter and Mobile
  2. Design for Security: The Next Frontier of Smart Silicon
  3. Microchips in Space: How Device Design Enables Amazing Astronomy

The answer is that all use microchips and microsystems but in very different ways and for differing motivations.

In the first one, complex system-on-chips (SoC) are integrated with fiber optics to enable dizzyingly fast high-speed connections between processors, memory storage, and interfaces in data rooms and mobile devices across the world.

With so much going on in the world of fiber optic communications, it’s important for designers to keep up to date with the basic engineering issues. The catalyst for this interest is that the global fiber optics market is predicted to grow from 5 billion USD in 2018 to 9 billion USD by the end of 2025.

In his upcoming keynote at Designcon 2020, Chris Cole, VP of Advanced Development at II-VI, will discuss past trends and new developments in fiber optics for datacenter and mobile applications. Two ongoing trends are the replacement of copper wires by fiber optics in the data room as well as the replacement of direct detection by coherent detection in optical systems.

Cole will also explain the major limitations of power and density in communications, and new technologies like Silicon Photonics (SiPh) and co-packaging. Silicon photonics involves the study of optical properties of the group-IV semiconductor and how it can be used to generate, manipulate and detect light. Silicon is prevalent in photodetectors and solar cells, among other technologies.

To learn more, visit: The Future of Fiber Optic Communications: Datacenter

Image Source: Imec