The evolution and adoption of optical interconnect cables

Abstract

Optical technologies are now ubiquitous in data communication, telecommunication, and computing networks for transmission distances beyond a few meters. The use of optical to transmit voice communication has changed the nature of the industry and been driving photonic component innovation for the past 30 years. Never before has the world demanded more data to run its collective everyday lives. Technological lifecycles have shortened and to keep pace with the rapidly increasing quantities and demands of data needs, firms are placing a stronger emphasis on the development of new technologies to replace old ones. The use of electrical interconnects has been the workhorse for data transmission for over a century and a new technology is poised to succeed it. Due to the limitation of current transmission medium, an adoption of new technology is inevitable and the question is when and what are the drivers? In this thesis, an analysis will be conducted to examine the adoption of optical interconnect cables in different lengths using different costs of new technology. These results will be used to understand how each driver affects the overall adoption of optical interconnect cables, the limitation of adoption, and a potential timeline of adoption for each length examined.