In Search of the 1 Meter Cost Competitive Optical Interconnect

Interconnect bottlenecks, measured in terms of density of connections x bandwidth, are no longer just predicted, but are real issues in current new product design of backplanes for multi-processor systems, servers and telecommunication switches. However, even if a superior technical solution exists, designers will live with the compromises necessitated by the currently implemented technology, unliess the new solution is cost competitive. Optical backplanes are currently at a stage where technical feasibility has been established, but cost competitiveness must be shown to be plausible.