Active Optical Cables (AOC)

Active Optical Cables (AOC) published by Light Counting in December, 2009. This report consists of 40 PAGES and the price starts from US $ 3950.

Introduction

Abstract

Active optical cables (AOCs) emerged on the communications and consumer electronics scenes only recently, the result of collaboration among key market players like IBM, Intel, and Sun Microsystems to eliminate shortcomings in existing solutions, like high power consumption and latency. The cost and feature benefits of AOCs proved valuable enough to create a noteworthy market segment in 2009, despite the general economic downturn and executives' initial skepticism concerning the scope of influence for AOCs. Given the growing significance of the AOC market, and the need to address the perhaps overblown claims circulating in the media regarding the impact of this segment on the wider market, LightCounting has chosen to add the AOC market to its growing list of researched markets to forecast. Taking into consideration the profiles of key vendors, current statistics for AOC implementation and sales, and forces driving the development of AOC and similar new technologies, LightCounting paints a clear and compelling picture of this fledgling market as it now stands and forecasts the trajectory of this market through 2013. AOCs are poised to become a disruptive force within the communication market; technical innovations from this segment are promising, though applications in consumer electronics are not predicted before 2013.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: AOC Market Grows Amid Confusion

• Section 1
• Expected Impact of AOCs
• LightCounting' s Position Summary
• Understanding the Importance of AOCs
• Total Cost of Ownership Plays More Important Role
• History and Development of AOCs

Chapter 2: AOC Product Overview

• Section 2
• AOC Product Types
• Parallel Optics Segment Poised for Significant Growth
• Understanding the Role of InfiniBand in the AOC Market
• Disambiguating InfiniBand Terminology
• HPC InfiniBand Interconnect Architectures

Chapter 3: New Enabling Technologies Emerge

• Section 3
• Converging Forces with the Right Timing
• AOC Technologies Impacting Transceivers and Copper Cable Markets
• Key tends connected to this issue and impact on AOC and transceiver usage:
• 10Gbps Becomes the New Interconnect Currency
• Small Changes Generate Feature and Benefit Gains
• Sub-Sections - 3
• Closing Off Photonics to the Outside World
• New Integration and Innovative Manufacturing Techniques
• Innovation Blooms with Relaxed Interoperability Constraints
• Introduction of Silicon Photonics
• Unique Benefits of a Closed Photonics System in Active Optical Cables
• AOCs May Enable Use of Very Fast VCSELs
• Silicon Photonics Enable Extremely Sensitive Photon Detection
• AOC Silicon Photonics Enable Very Fast Modulation
• AOCs Enable Radically Lower Electrical Power Consumption
• Known Reaches Offer Benefits
• Usual Multimode Fiber and 850-nm Wavelength Is Not Required

Chapter 4: AOC Competitive Landscape

• Section 4
• AOC Vendor Landscape broken out by:
  • Large Companies
  • Venture Funded Start-ups
  • AOC Subassembly and Electronics Suppliers
• LightPeak' s Potential Impact
• AOC Passive and Active Copper Competition
• Sub-Sections- 4
• Passive Copper
• Parallel Optic Transceivers
• Passive and Active QSFP Direct Attach (QSFP DA) Copper

Chapter 5: Forecast and Analysis

• Section 5
• The AOC Analysis and Forecast Methodology
• Market Erosion and Overall Expansion
• Demand Factors
• Early Confusions as the Market Establishes Its Footing
• AOC Market Forces and Forecast Unknowns
• Sub Sections - 5
• Market Driving Forces
• Market Limiters
• Unit Shipments Forecast and Analysis
• Analyzing the 4x Shipment Data
• Analyzing the 12x Shipment Data
• Pricing Forecast and Analysis
• Analyzing the 4x Pricing Data
• Analyzing the 12x Pricing Data
• Revenue Forecast and Analysis
• Revenue Analysis
• Conclusions

Figures and Tables

• Figure 1-1: Image IBM Road Runner High Performance Computer (HPC) Showing AOCs
• Figure 1-2: Image Sun Microsystems Constellation Subsystem Supported by Ten 12x10G CXP AOCs
• Figure 2-1: Image Active Optical Cables Examples
• Figure 2-2: Image Main InfiniBand MSAs
• Figure 2-3: Image HPC Interconnect Architectures
• Figure 3-1: Chart - AOCs Potential Impact on Traditional Transceiver Markets and Protocols
• Figure 3-2: Image Examples of Cabling Waterfalls
• Figure 3-3: AOC Simplified Transceiver Construction
• Figure 3-4: Luxtera' s New Silicon Photonics Technologies
• Table 1-1: InfiniBand Data Rate Terminology
• Table 3-1 Protocols and Speed Roadmap
• Figure 5-1: Chart - AOC Shipments and Forecast 2007-2013
• Figure 5-2: Chart - 2009 and 2013 Shipment Breakouts By Data Rates
• Figure 5-3: Chart - AOC Average Selling Price and Forecast 2007-2013
• Figure 5-4: Chart - AOC Forecast 2007-2013
• Table 5-5: Chart - AOC Shipment, ASPs and Revenue: 2007-2013

Press Release

Active optical cables are poised to become a disruptive force within the communication market

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