What Is The Development Trend Of Optical Module Technology?

With the rapid development of 5G, cloud computing, big data, and the Internet of Things, users are demanding higher bandwidth from optical communication networks. The optoelectronic device industry is currently undergoing technological upgrades and innovations, driving the optical module industry towards higher speeds, integration, and intelligence.

High speed 

High speed mainly refers to the rate of information transmission and exchange. With technologies such as 5G and data centers moving towards higher speeds, the downstream optical communication market demands higher transmission rates and data exchange efficiency. The need to solve signal lag and improve user experience is driving optical communication technology towards higher speeds. Currently, the mainstream application rates of optical modules are gradually stepping up from 10G-40G to 100G-400G, and companies in the industry are actively developing 800G technology to achieve early commercialization of 800G applications.

In addition to increasing the transmission rate of a single wavelength, wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology, which increases the number of wavelengths transmitted in a single optical fiber, has also been widely adopted. WDM technology uses two or more optical wavelengths to transmit information over the same optical fiber.

The advantages of WDM technology are: 

(1) Increasing the transmission capacity of the optical fiber, doubling or multiplying the physical limits of the information a single fiber can carry, thereby saving fiber resources; 

(2) Enabling the transmission of two or more asynchronous signals on the same fiber, which is beneficial for the compatibility of digital and analog signals; 

(3) Facilitating capacity expansion by only needing to replace terminal equipment and add additional wavelengths without laying more optical fibers or using high-speed network components. The application of WDM technology has expanded from backbone networks to metropolitan area networks, access networks, data centers, and 5G fronthaul.

The expansion of application fields demands higher adaptability and stability of WDM technology, as well as higher technical levels in terms of system capacity, transmission distance, and device interface characteristics.

High Integration

High integration refers to overcoming existing process and technological bottlenecks to achieve functional integration of optical modules, thereby reducing their size, weight, and power consumption. With 5G communication technology developing towards massive connectivity and large capacity, to achieve comprehensive signal coverage, optical communication equipment needs to deploy a large number of optical modules, requiring high-density connections. This drives the development of optical modules towards high integration. Manufacturers of optical modules are focused on overcoming limitations in size, weight, power consumption, and the density of functional components. High integration technology is a crucial direction for future industry development, with leading companies investing heavily in research, development, and industrialization of high integration technologies.

Silicon photonics integration technology is expected to be a major trend in the future development of the optical module market. Silicon photonics integration is based on silicon and silicon-based substrates, utilizing mature CMOS processes to achieve high functional integration of various optical devices. This new generation technology features ultra-high speeds, ultra-low power consumption, and ultra-low costs for large-scale production. Currently, mainstream optical integration technologies use indium phosphide as the primary material, which is expensive and difficult to scale. In contrast, silicon is low-cost and already widely used in electronic integrated circuits, making it suitable for large-scale production. Additionally, optical integration technology using indium phosphide only handles data exchange, not data storage or processing, which is not conducive to communication information security. Silicon-based optical integration technology, on the other hand, combines data exchange, storage, and processing, representing the next generation of optical communication technology.

High-speed transmission is an inevitable trend for optical modules. As optical modules evolve towards 400G, 800G, and even 1.6T speeds, the Tb/s fiber transmission speed might become a bottleneck. Silicon photonics integration technology, with its ultra-high transmission speeds, can break this bottleneck, achieving Pb/s level transmission. Furthermore, the low cost of silicon and its mature application in semiconductor processes can significantly reduce the procurement cost and integration difficulty of optical modules, breaking the cost limitations of traditional optical modules.

Intelligence

Intelligence mainly refers to the inclusion of data diagnostic functions to provide a basis for optical communication system management and performance testing. Intelligent optical modules can automatically predict their lifespan, verify product standards, locate faults, and read chip-stored information, enabling more efficient automated and data-driven management. The global communication industry is currently integrating with new-generation information technologies, and intelligence is an inevitable trend in the development of the global communication industry. The traditional attributes of major downstream application fields of optical modules, such as 5G base stations, data centers, optical fiber access, consumer electronics, autonomous driving, and industrial automation, are being redefined, driving the development of optical modules towards intelligence. Optical modules with data diagnostic functions are becoming mainstream products as manufacturers upgrade their technologies.