ADVA Optical Networking joins Horizon 2020 DIMENSION datacenter consortium

June 20, 2016
ADVA Optical Networking announced that it is playing a key role in the Directly Modulated Lasers on Silicon (DIMENSION) project.

VIDEO: ADVA explains how, by integrating the three distinct technologies of silicon photonics, electronics, and active photonics, it is allowing datacenters to meet tomorrow’s bandwidth demands. (Video credit: ADVA Optical Networking)

ADVA Optical Networking announced today that it is playing a key role in the Directly Modulated Lasers on Silicon (DIMENSION) project. DIMENSION, which brings together a consortium of research and industry partners from four European countries, aims to create a platform for single-chip electro-optical integration. The breakthrough technology it produces will involve lasers built with active III-V materials embedded into silicon photonics chips. This will generate the versatile, cost-efficient components needed to optimize datacenter interconnect (DCI) transport and create the next generation of datacenters. The four-year project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

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"DIMENSION unites specialists from different fields and enables us to address the complete value chain of directly modulated lasers, from materials research to application," said Bert Offrein, manager, photonics, IBM Research - Zurich. "What we're bringing to the table is a lot of experience with transformational data center innovation. We're focusing on incorporating highly efficient III-V materials into silicon chips. Our role is to design and produce the integrated active optical components. This technology will bring the optics to where the data is generated and that leads to improvements in every part of the datacenter. By enhancing interconnections at different reaches, from centimeters up to kilometers, we'll be able to reduce size, cost and power on links between boards, computers and facilities."

The DIMENSION project is coordinated by Dresden University of Technology and involves partners from Germany, Switzerland, Greece and the UK. The two research centers included are Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics and Athens Information Technology. The large industry partners are ADVA Optical Networking, Optocap and IBM Research – Zurich. The project aims to take electro-optical integration to a new level by producing silicon chips built with active laser components. The consortium of partners also forms a complete value chain for the production of the new technology, from research through to innovative package design and assembly. The project will run until the end of January 2020.

"Improving efficiency in the DCI couldn't be more vital given the increasing demand for cloud computing and the growing scale of the internet of things," commented Michael Eiselt, director, advanced technology, ADVA Optical Networking. "Much of our recent innovation has centered on enhancing the DCI, such as our FSP 3000 CloudConnect [trade mark] solution. By integrating the three distinct technologies of silicon photonics, electronics and active photonics, we're giving data centers what they need to meet tomorrow's demands. It's great to be working closely with other European companies and institutions to make this vital breakthrough a reality. It also provides fantastic opportunities for university students who get to be at the forefront of innovation and help make a significant impact on the industry."

SOURCE: ADVA Optical Networking; http://www.advaoptical.com/en/newsroom/press-releases-english/20160609-adva-optical-networking-joins-consortium-to-create-revolutionary-data-center-technology

About the Author

Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)

Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.

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