Connections get optics and ASICs closer together

As digital data streams increase in speed and data rate, losses in PCB traces become ever more of a bottleneck. Moving optics closer to ASICs improves signal integrity.

asic optics — Figure 1. Modular server and chassis architectures have traditionally relied on copper backplanes and electrical interconnects to move data between cards, subsystems, and system modules.

For centuries, the speed of communication was governed by the medium through which information traveled. A messenger on foot, a rider on horseback, a letter carried across the ocean. Distance and transport defined the limits.

The invention of the telegraph and telephone changed that equation. Once the medium became effectively instantaneous, the constraint shifted from transmission to interpretation. How quickly a Morse operator could decode a message, or how quickly a spoken word could be understood.

For much of the computing era, interconnects largely faded into the background. Processing power increased so rapidly that copper traces, backplanes, and printed circuit board (PCB) wiring were simply assumed to be “fast enough” inside the box. Traditional modular systems were built around copper backplanes and electrical interconnects, as shown in Figure 1.

Read the complete article, Optical connectivity moves closer to the chip.