The only thing more amazing than our technology
is what the world can do with it!
Transforming where Light meets Digital for Increased Connectivity
We are redefining the possible in communications with innovative and high performance light-to -digital technologies. Using our proprietary digital signal processing and forward error correction technology, ultra-pure light sources and integrated optical system-on-chips, EFFECT Photonics offers compact form factors with seamless integration, cost efficiency, low power, and security of supply.
As a highly vertically integrated, independent photonic semiconductor company with offices throughout the world, we aim to disrupt, challenge and simplify what’s possible in tomorrow’s telecommunications and data communications networks so that all people can be connected whenever, wherever and however they choose.
At the heart of all we do and all we create are our people. We are a diverse group of innovators working hand-in-hand to develop next generation technologies that interconnect humanity. Our team’s talent and passion drives our success and their commitment is what defines us and makes the difference. Help us define the future where light meets digital.
Eindhoven, The Netherlands EFFECT Photonics, a leading developer of highly integrated optical solutions, today announced…
Eindhoven, The Netherlands
EFFECT Photonics, a leading developer of highly integrated optical solutions, today announced it has secured $38 million Series D funding, led by Innovation Industries Strategic Partners Fund, backed by Dutch pension funds PMT and PME, along with co-investor Invest-NL Deep Tech Fund and participation from other existing investors.
This investment will further accelerate the development and commercialization of EFFECT Photonics solutions and support ramping production to meet growing customer demands. EFFECT Photonics is focused on advancing its integrated product portfolio which dramatically drives down the costs, size, and power of high-speed fiber optics communication solutions.
We extend our thanks to Innovation Industries Strategic Partners Fund and our existing investors for their continued confidence in EFFECT Photonics’ mission and products. Investor excitement marks the culmination of a dynamic year of advancements across every facet of our business, reinforcing the market momentum we’ve established in the rapidly growing coherent transceiver market.
Roberto Marcoccia, CEO of EFFECT Photonics
Innovation Industries Strategic Partners Fund is excited to lead the investment in EFFECT Photonics. We believe that EFFECT Photonics possesses not only the technology solutions, but also the dedicated team, capital, and backing to expedite the advancement and market penetration of integrated photonic solutions, crucially meeting the surging need for bandwidth.
Vincent Kamphorst, Investment Director Innovation Industries Strategic Partners Fund
About EFFECT Photonics
Where Light Meets Digital – EFFECT Photonics is a highly vertically integrated, independent optical systems company addressing the need for high-performance, affordable optic solutions driven by the ever-increasing demand for bandwidth and faster data transfer capabilities. Using our company’s field-proven digital signal processing and forward error correction technology and ultra-pure light sources, we offer compact form factors with seamless integration, cost efficiency, low power, and security of supply. By leveraging established microelectronics ecosystems, we aim to make our products affordable and available in high volumes to address the challenges in 5G and beyond, access-ready coherent solutions, and cloud and cloud edge services. For more information, please visit: www.effectphotonics.com. Follow EFFECT Photonics on LinkedIn and Twitter.
A recent report from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) declared that 37% of the global…
A recent report from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) declared that 37% of the global population still lacks internet access due to infrastructure deficits. In this context, Tower Companies (TowerCos) will be crucial in expanding network coverage, particularly in underserved areas.
Tower Companies (TowerCos) are entities specializing in managing “passive” mobile infrastructure. In other words, they manage everything that is not active equipment that emits a mobile signal. The TowerCo’s primary role is to host telecommunications antennas for multiple operators, facilitating more efficient mobile deployments. This concept allows telecom operators to focus on active network management while TowerCos handles the maintenance, access, and security of passive infrastructures like towers and power supplies.
Historically, telecom companies managed every aspect of their service delivery, including the ownership of towers. However, increasing capital expenditure costs and the need for rapid expansion in network coverage have motivated operators to outsource this infrastructure to TowerCos. In this way, operators can reduce the required capital expenditure on infrastructure and move that into their operating costs
The increasing bandwidth demands of 5G networks and data centers, prompted by new Internet-of-Things and artificial intelligence use cases, have further solidified the importance of TowerCos. A 2018 McKinsey study reported that the migration to 5G could double the total cost of ownership of a telecommunications company’s infrastructure by 2020 to 2025.
To adapt to this fast expansion of TowerCos worldwide, optical transceiver developers should consider what are the key requirements for products that will go into TowerCo infrastructure. In this article, EFFECT Photonics would like to highlight three of them: integration, remote diagnostics and management, and industrial hardening.
Integration for Compactness and Power Efficiency
Space and energy efficiency are critical for TowerCo infrastructure because they want to accommodate telecom equipment from multiple operators on the same structure. Greater photonics integration will be key to reducing the footprint of transceivers and other optical telecom equipment, as well as improving their power efficiency.
In many electronic and photonic devices, the interconnections between different components are often sources of losses and inefficiency. A more compact, integrated device will have shorter and more energy-efficient interconnections. Using an example from electronics, Apple’s system-on-chip processors fully integrate all electronic processing functions on a single chip. As shown in the table below, these processors are significantly more energy efficient than the previous generations of Apple processors.
𝗠𝗮𝗰 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹
𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
𝗜𝗱𝗹𝗲
𝗠𝗮𝘅
2023, M2
7
5
2020, M1
7
39
2018, Core i7
20
122
2014, Core i5
6
85
2010, Core 2 Duo
10
85
2006, Core Solo or Duo
23
110
2005, PowerPC G4
32
85
Table 1: Comparing the power consumption of a Mac Mini with an M1 and M2 SoC chips to previous generations of Mac Minis. [Source: Apple’s website]
The photonics industry can set a similar goal to Apple’s system-on-chip. By integrating all the optical components (lasers, detectors, modulators, etc.) on a single chip can minimize the losses and make devices such as optical transceivers more compact and efficient.
Remote Diagnostics and Management
Transceivers used in TowerCo infrastructures must also include advanced diagnostic and management features. These capabilities are essential for remote sites, enabling TowerCos and their telecom operators customers to monitor and manage their networks effectively.
For example, TowerCos and operators extensively use network function virtualization (NFV) capabilities. NFV allows operator customers to build their network on the shared infrastructure as well as determine and distribute their services. These technologies benefit greatly from smart transceivers that can be diagnosed and managed remotely from the NFV layer.
The concept of zero-touch provisioning becomes useful here. Transceivers can be pre-programmed by the central office for specific operational parameters, such as temperature, wavelength drift, dispersion, and signal-to-noise ratio. They can then be shipped to remote sites, where technicians just have to plug and play. This simplifies deployment for TowerCos.
Figure 2: Short description and comparison of different approaches to wavelength tuning in optical transceivers, with the last one on the right being the self-tuning module.
Moreover, the same communication channels used for provisioning can also facilitate ongoing monitoring and diagnostics. This feature particularly benefits remote sites, where traditional maintenance methods like truck rolls are costly and inefficient. By remotely monitoring key metrics like transceiver temperature and power, TowerCos and operator customers can conduct health checks and manage their infrastructure more efficiently.
Industrial Hardening
Transceivers in TowerCo infrastructures must be designed to withstand harsh outdoor environments. The resilience of these components is critical for maintaining continuous network service and preventing downtime, especially in remote or challenging locations.
Commercial temperature (C-temp) transceivers are designed to operate from 0°C to 70°C. These transceivers suit the controlled environments of data center and network provider equipment rooms. These rooms have active temperature control, cooling systems, filters for dust and other particulates, airlocks, and humidity control. On the other hand, industrial temperature (I-temp) transceivers are designed to withstand more extreme temperature ranges, typically from -40°C to 85°C. These transceivers are essential for deployments in outdoor environments or locations with harsh operating conditions. It could be at the top of an antenna, on mountain ranges, inside traffic tunnels, or in the harsh winters of Northern Europe.
𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱
𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 (°𝗖)
𝗠𝗶𝗻
𝗠𝗮𝘅
Commercial (C-temp)
0
70
Extended (E-temp)
-20
85
Industrial (I-temp)
-40
85
Automotive / Full Military
-40
125
Table 2: Comparing the temperature ranges of different temperature hardening standards, including industrial and automotive/full military applications.
Takeaways
TowerCos will be vital in expanding network coverage across the world and meeting the increasing demands of 5G networks. In this context, EFFECT Photonics believes that optical transceiver products that go into TowerCo infrastructure must meet the following key requirements
Integration for compactness and power efficiency
Advanced remote diagnostics and management features
Industrial hardening for durability in harsh environments.
These aspects will be crucial for efficient, reliable, and cost-effective network deployment and maintenance and will support TowerCos in making optical connectivity more accessible worldwide.
Every telecommunications provider has the same fundamental problem. Many decades ago, service providers addressed increased…
Every telecommunications provider has the same fundamental problem. Many decades ago, service providers addressed increased network demands by spending more money and buying more hardware. However, network operators cannot allow their infrastructure spending to increase exponentially with network traffic, because the number of customers and the prices they are willing to pay for mobile services will not increase so steeply. The chart below is one that everyone in the communications industry is familiar with one way or another.
Figure 1. Graphical depiction of the fundamental telecommunications cost problem. Traffic volume increases exponentially, but operator revenues do not. Therefore, operators cannot allow their costs to increase exponentially to meet the traffic demand.
Given this context, reducing the cost per bit transmitted in a network is one of the fundamental mandates of telecommunication providers. As the global appetite for data grows exponentially, fueled by streaming services, cloud computing, and an ever-increasing number of connected devices, the pressure mounts on these providers to manage and reduce this cost.
In access networks, where the end users connect to the main network, this concept takes on an added layer of importance. These networks are the final link in the data delivery chain and are expensive to upgrade and maintain due to the sheer volume of equipment and devices required to reach each end user.
This is why one of EFFECT Photonics’ main missions is to use our optical solutions to reduce the cost per bit in access networks. In this article, we will briefly explain three key pillars that will allow us to achieve this goal.
Manufacturing at Scale
Previously, deploying optical technology required investing in large and expensive transponder equipment on both sides of the optical link. The rise of integrated photonics has not only reduced the footprint and energy consumption of coherent transceivers but also their cost. The economics of scale principles that rule the semiconductor industry reduce the cost of optical chips and the transceivers that use them.
The more optical components we can integrate into a single chip, the more can the price of each component decrease. The more optical System-on-Chip (SoC) devices can go into a single wafer, the more can the price of each SoC decrease. Researchers at the Technical University of Eindhoven and the JePPIX consortium have done some modelling to show how this economy of scale principle would apply to photonics. If production volumes can increase from a few thousands of chips per year to a few millions, the price per optical chip can decrease from thousands of Euros to mere tens of Euros.
Figure 2: Modelling of photonic integrated chip (PIC) cost as a function of aggregate number of PICs produced per year. Exponential increases in production lead to an exponential decrease in cost. Source: Model and graph provided by Prof. Meint Smit, TU Eindhoven.
By integrating all optical components on a single chip, we also shift the complexity from the assembly process to the much more efficient and scalable semiconductor wafer process. Assembling and packaging a device by interconnecting multiple photonic chips increases assembly complexity and costs. On the other hand, combining and aligning optical components on a wafer at a high volume is much easier, which drives down the device’s cost.
Integration Saves Power (and Energy)
Data centers and 5G networks might be hot commodities, but the infrastructure that enables them runs even hotter. Electronic equipment generates plenty of heat, and the more heat energy an electronic device dissipates, the more money and energy must be spent to cool it down.
These issues do not just affect the environment but also the bottom lines of communications companies. Cooling costs will increase even further with the exponential growth of traffic and the deployment of 5G networks. Integration is vital to reduce this heat dissipation and costs.
Photonics and optics are trying to follow a similar blueprint to the electronics industry and improve their integration to reduce power consumption and its associated costs. For example, over the last decade, coherent optical systems have been miniaturized from big, expensive line cards to small pluggables the size of a large USB stick. These compact transceivers with highly integrated optics and electronics have shorter interconnections, fewer losses, and more elements per chip area. These features all lead to a reduced power consumption over the last decade, as shown in the figure below.
Figure 3: Coherent module size and power consumption evolution from OIF MSA line card modules to pluggable modules like CFP and QSFP.
DWDM Gives More Lanes to the Fiber Highway
Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) is an optical technology that dramatically increases the amount of data transmitted over existing fiber networks. Data from various signals are separated, encoded on different wavelengths, and put together (multiplexed) in a single optical fiber.
The wavelengths are separated again and reconverted into the original digital signals at the receiving end. In other words, DWDM allows different data streams to be sent simultaneously over a single optical fiber without requiring the expensive installation of new fiber cables. In a way, it’s like adding more lanes to the information highway without building new roads!
Figure 4: Example of a bidirectional DWDM system. At the central office, transceiver modules pick different wavelength channels for transmission, and these channels are combined into a single fiber through a device called a multiplexer. A demultiplexer splits the wavelength channels into separate fibers and the receiving modules on the remote end. Since this is a bidirectional system, transmission can go opposite too, from the remote end to the central office.
The tremendous expansion in data volume afforded with DWDM can be seen compared to other optical methods. A standard transceiver, often called a grey transceiver, is a single-channel device – each fiber has a single laser source. You can transmit 10 Gbps with grey optics. Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) has multiple channels, although far fewer than possible with DWDM. For example, with a 4-channel CWDM, you can transmit 40 Gbps. DWDM can accommodate up to 100 channels. You can transmit 1 Tbps or one trillion bps at that capacity – 100 times more data than grey optics and 25 times more than CWDM.
While the upgrade to DWDM requires some initial investment in new and more tunable transceivers, the use of this technology ultimately reduces the cost per bit transmitted to the network. Demand in access networks will continue to grow as we move toward IoT and 5G, and DWDM will be vital to scaling cost-effectively. Self-tuning modules have also helped further reduce the expenses associated with tunable transceivers.
Takeaways
The escalating demand for data traffic requires reducing the cost per bit in access networks. EFFECT Photonics outlines three ways that can help achieve this goal:
Manufacturing at scale to reduce the cost of optical chips and transceivers
Photonic integration to lower power consumption and save on cooling cost
Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) to significantly increase data transmission capacity without deploying new fiber
At EFFECT Photonics believes these technologies and strategies to ensure efficient, cost-effective, and scalable data transmission for the future.
Press Releases
March 19, 2024
