The IT giant will take up silicon photonics - how will this affect the network equipment market
At the end of the year, Cisco announced its intention to acquire Luxtera, which is creating optoelectronic chips. Let's see how this transaction will change the data center network infrastructure.
/ Flickr / Alexandre Delbos / CC BY
Founded in 2001, Luxtera is developing silicon photonics for data centers. The company manufactures devices that act as an interface between a fiber-optic cable and a silicon chip. They allow you to connect fiber directly to the server, speeding up data transfer in data centers and reducing equipment costs. In this case, there is no need to install separate receivers , or transceivers, to convert the optical signal into an electrical one.
The deal will cost Cisco $ 660 million and will be closed in the third quarter of fiscal 2019. After that, Luxtera employees will join the Cisco Network and Security Development Division.
Luxtera devices above the silicon wafer of the processor contain elements for converting an optical signal into an electrical one and vice versa. The fiber is connected directly to the chip.
Computer-transmitted data is encoded with a special laser. Its beam passes through an optical modulator that changes the amplitude or frequency of the light wave. The light then enters the amplifier to compact the signal and goes into the fiber optic cable. When receiving data, light from the optical fiber detects germanium photodetectors. Germanium is similar in properties and structure to silicon, but has a higher productivity. Then the electrical signal generated by the detectors is amplified and sent to the server for processing.
According to the developers, the chip allows transmitting data via fiber-optic cable directly to servers at a speed of 100 Gb / s.
The deal is considered timely for Cisco and said that it will help the company to strengthen its position in the market. According to Bloomberg analysts, data centers are increasingly moving from proprietary systems to cheaper white-box equipment. This led to the fact that the growth of the IT giant's revenue on the network systems market has slowed.
New chips will be the way out of this situation. They will increase the performance of Cisco equipment for the data center and at the same time reduce the price of it, which will attract more customers for the corporation. At the same time, Cisco will have its own automated production of network equipment. This will make the company independent from third-party suppliers.
The combination of Cisco and Luxtera will affect not only the future of companies, but also the IT industry as a whole. According to semiconductor market researchers, the interest of the IT giant in silicon photonics confirms that technology has potential.
/ Flickr / Groman123 / CC BY-SA
So far, silicon photonics cannot be called a universal solution, to which all companies will soon pass. Its implementation requires a lot of development and technical re-equipment of existing data centers. But Cisco's efforts will help make technology cheaper and start its promotion in the mass markets of data center equipment.
Cisco is not the first company interested in developing products based on silicon photonics. So, in August 2016, the manufacturer of telecommunication equipment Juniper acquired Aurrion. In 2019, Juniper should present the first results of joint work. Now preparing a whole line of products for 400GbE networks.
Other IT giants are also engaged in the development of silicon photonics. In 2016, Intel began manufacturing supplies of optical chips. First, the chips were used to transfer data between servers and remote data centers. Last year, Intel representatives announced that the company plans to use silicon photonics outside the data center: in the lidars of unmanned vehicles.
For the development of electron-optical chips, the company is ready to acquire other technological organizations and start-ups. By the way, Intel, like Cisco, also considered buying Luxtera. The Broadcom semiconductor manufacturer was also ready to make a deal. He recently released a PHY chip that is compatible with electron-optical chips. Probably, the Singapore company also plans to actively develop this area.
According to HSE, by 2024, the total market volume of silicon photonics solutions for data centers will reach $ 410 million with an average annual growth rate of 40%. Industry support by large IT companies will help popularize the technology. This will allow to prepare the infrastructure of data centers for network loads, which will increase with the further development of cloud services and the Internet of things.
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/ Flickr / Alexandre Delbos / CC BY
Why is Cisco
Founded in 2001, Luxtera is developing silicon photonics for data centers. The company manufactures devices that act as an interface between a fiber-optic cable and a silicon chip. They allow you to connect fiber directly to the server, speeding up data transfer in data centers and reducing equipment costs. In this case, there is no need to install separate receivers , or transceivers, to convert the optical signal into an electrical one.
Cisco decided to purchase Luxtera in order to implement its devices in its equipment for data centers. This will help the IT giant handle the processing of growing volumes of traffic. The company estimates that by 2022 global IP traffic will increase threefold compared to 2017 and will be 4.8 zettabytes per year. The IT giant plans to introduce optical chips into 100GbE and 400GbE Ethernet systems.
The deal will cost Cisco $ 660 million and will be closed in the third quarter of fiscal 2019. After that, Luxtera employees will join the Cisco Network and Security Development Division.
How are the chips Luxtera
Luxtera devices above the silicon wafer of the processor contain elements for converting an optical signal into an electrical one and vice versa. The fiber is connected directly to the chip.
Computer-transmitted data is encoded with a special laser. Its beam passes through an optical modulator that changes the amplitude or frequency of the light wave. The light then enters the amplifier to compact the signal and goes into the fiber optic cable. When receiving data, light from the optical fiber detects germanium photodetectors. Germanium is similar in properties and structure to silicon, but has a higher productivity. Then the electrical signal generated by the detectors is amplified and sent to the server for processing.
According to the developers, the chip allows transmitting data via fiber-optic cable directly to servers at a speed of 100 Gb / s.
Opinions about the deal
The deal is considered timely for Cisco and said that it will help the company to strengthen its position in the market. According to Bloomberg analysts, data centers are increasingly moving from proprietary systems to cheaper white-box equipment. This led to the fact that the growth of the IT giant's revenue on the network systems market has slowed.
New chips will be the way out of this situation. They will increase the performance of Cisco equipment for the data center and at the same time reduce the price of it, which will attract more customers for the corporation. At the same time, Cisco will have its own automated production of network equipment. This will make the company independent from third-party suppliers.
The combination of Cisco and Luxtera will affect not only the future of companies, but also the IT industry as a whole. According to semiconductor market researchers, the interest of the IT giant in silicon photonics confirms that technology has potential.
/ Flickr / Groman123 / CC BY-SA
So far, silicon photonics cannot be called a universal solution, to which all companies will soon pass. Its implementation requires a lot of development and technical re-equipment of existing data centers. But Cisco's efforts will help make technology cheaper and start its promotion in the mass markets of data center equipment.
Who else invests in silicon photonics
Cisco is not the first company interested in developing products based on silicon photonics. So, in August 2016, the manufacturer of telecommunication equipment Juniper acquired Aurrion. In 2019, Juniper should present the first results of joint work. Now preparing a whole line of products for 400GbE networks.
Other IT giants are also engaged in the development of silicon photonics. In 2016, Intel began manufacturing supplies of optical chips. First, the chips were used to transfer data between servers and remote data centers. Last year, Intel representatives announced that the company plans to use silicon photonics outside the data center: in the lidars of unmanned vehicles.
For the development of electron-optical chips, the company is ready to acquire other technological organizations and start-ups. By the way, Intel, like Cisco, also considered buying Luxtera. The Broadcom semiconductor manufacturer was also ready to make a deal. He recently released a PHY chip that is compatible with electron-optical chips. Probably, the Singapore company also plans to actively develop this area.
According to HSE, by 2024, the total market volume of silicon photonics solutions for data centers will reach $ 410 million with an average annual growth rate of 40%. Industry support by large IT companies will help popularize the technology. This will allow to prepare the infrastructure of data centers for network loads, which will increase with the further development of cloud services and the Internet of things.
Additional reading on our site:
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On Habré:
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/437612/