Optical investment has been in building core and backbone networks. To harness the power of the optical core and backbone, the metro must be built out. As carriers move into a wider acceptance of optical networks the focus shifts to delivering broadband signals.
Traffic volumes are increasing at a rapid pace. Investment dollars are shifting from the core to metro networks. Carriers that are making money keep deploying and investing in new equipment to offer new services.
As telecommunications service providers extend their networks into metro and access applications, densities diminish and the need for high volume, less expensive components and systems become critical. The amounts of space available for optical networking systems diminish in metro and access systems.
The bottleneck in the deployment of optical networks has been the availability of low cost components that can be manufactured in large scale. Unlike electronic components, optical components are connected with fibers rather than electric pins. It is essential that proper physical connection be made between the fiber connectors and the device. Otherwise, unacceptable optical power losses occur.
Products need to be designed for automated fiber alignment and attachment. Optical components have not been designed for integration within a single fiber package. The output of the component vendor is limited making manufacturing costs high.
Smaller, faster, more complex and less expensive component solutions are ne eded. These drive down the cost of optical systems and solve valuable real estate issues, much of the current effort has centered on the cost of large-scale production of commonly used discrete components such as Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFA) and wavelength multiplexers / de -multiplexers.
Optical component markets at $1.5 billion (US) are expected to reach $2.4 billion by 2009. The world-wide market for integrated active optical products at $1.1 billion in 2003 will grow to $1.5 billion in 2009. Integrated active optical components include products such as transceivers and transponders. Markets for passive optical components at $483 million in 2003 will grow to $871 million in 2009.
Companies Profiled
- Market Leaders
- Micrel
- National Semiconductor
- Maxim
- Market Participants
- Avnet electronics Marketing
- Linera Techology
- Microchip
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