A REVOLUTION IN MANUFACTURE OF OPTICAL COMPONENTS
ABOUT
Traditionally, electrical signals and copper wire were the dominant methods of transmitting information. 20 years ago typical communication speeds were 2.4Kbps. Today with the introduction of USB 3.1 and HDMI 2.0 communication speeds have reached 10Gbps which is 4 million times faster, this trend continues to 18 Gbs and beyond.
This ultra-high speed signal cannot be transmitted over copper wire for more than just a few meters. Consequently, optical fiber has become the preferred choice for speed of communication and longer distances.
Communication over optical fiber is achieved by using an optical module which includes a light source (Laser Diode) and a light detection element (Photo Detector) which are accurately aligned to a fiber optics, and IC’s (Integrated Circuits) that interface between a standard Input/Output electrical signals and the Optical chips (Laser Diode and Photodetector).
There are two major type of optical fibres – Single Mode fibre (SMF) and Multimode fibre (MMF).
- SMF is superior in terms of transmitted bandwidth over distance. However, it requires 1um alignment accuracy between the light source and the fiber which increases the manufacturing cost of the optical module. Until recently SMF was used solely in telecom applications. SMF is generally used with laser diode based fibre optic transmission equipment for precise calibration required to inject light into the fibre
- MMF require 10 times less accuracy and therefore are popular mainly in datacom applications for short distances. MMF is usually used with LED based fibre optic equipment for short distance transmissions. Single mode connectors used for SMF also have more stringent alignment requirements than that of MMF connectors.
Importantly, SMF performance is superior to MMF and its manufacturing cost is 10-15% the cost of MMF. Therefore, cable manufacturers can achieve improved performance and significant cost savings by using SMF.
OTX has made this possible by providing the alignment accuracy required to make it economical to manufacture SMF optical cables for consumer applications, specifically USB and HDMI.
Addressable Market
According to Verified Market Research, the Global Active Optical Cable Market was valued at $670 million in 2017 and is projected to reach $4.91 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 26.42% from 2018 to 2025.
The global HDMI cable market is expected to grow to $3.52 billion by 2025 from $ 2.44 billion in 2017, growing at a CAGR of 4.7%. The demand for HDMI cable is largely influenced by a number of factors mainly due to the burgeoning demand for TVs and gaming consoles, as well as increasing market for video streaming services globally. In terms of units OTX estimates that the total market in 2025 will be about 350 million units.
The OTX technology is applicable to at least 10% of this total, indicating an addressable market for HDMI of $1.05 billion.
The number of devices having at least one USB-C port is forecast to increase at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 70% reaching almost four billion devices in 2021. Assuming that the OTX technology is applicable to at least 10% of this total, the annual addressable market for USB is estimated at $1.5 billion.
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