Abstract
When most networks operated at under 2.5 Gbps, dispersion compensation was
required infrequently. But dispersion compensation has now assumed a central
role in optical networking. As 10 Gbps networks have risen to prominence,
dispersion compensation has become required in as much as 20 percent of the
public network, according to some sources. With 40 Gbps networks now being
built and 100 Gbps networks just a few years away, dispersion compensation
looks like it will generate some very large opportunities in the next five
years or so.
In addition, dispersion compensation now looks like it will be the key to
serial transmission of 10 GigE over multimode fiber through the widespread
deployment of the IEEEs LRM standard in the data center. This will be the
first “mass market” opportunity for dispersion compensation, in
this case electronic dispersion compensation (EDC)
The arrival of EDC serves to underline that dispersion compensation systems
have grown in technological sophistication. Just a few years back, no one
would have seriously considered doing dispersion compensation with electronics
and EDC represent an entirely new opportunity for the network silicon
business. Once dispersion compensation modules were no more than large spools
of fiber and these still form a large part of the market, although they have
become highly miniaturized. At the same time, tunable dispersion compensators
have emerged; still a tiny market, but likely to prove essential as 40 Gbps
deployment ramps up, opening up new revenue potential for a variety of tunable
optical mechanisms.
This report analyzes and quantifies all the opportunities in the dispersion
compensation space. It covers the impact of emerging 10 Gbps, 40 Gbps and 100
Gbps standards, the long-haul renaissance and the continued penetration of WDM
in the metro. It will also assess the growing number of technology approaches
and market strategies that the approximately 30 firms now active in the
dispersion compensation space are employing. The report includes a detailed
five-year forecast of dispersion compensation, broken out by network segment,
data rate and type of technology. It will be essential reading in dispersion
compensation firms and at fiber, module and chip makers.
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