VI Receives €2M for Optical Interconnect Development
Berlin-based VI Systems has received a grant of nearly €2 million from the European Commission's Horizon 2020 program to continue development of its VCSEL technology to increase the bandwidth of optical interconnects.
The EC's Horizon 2020 SME Instrument scheme aims to accelerate the uptake of nanotechnologies, advanced materials or advanced manufacturing and processing technologies by small and medium size enterprises.
VI Systems has developed a technology that uses VCSELS in combination with integrated circuits for the next generation of interconnects in datacentres, supercomputers and consumer products, such as next generation displays and mobile devices.
VCSEL and photo detector technology is suited for energy efficient interconnects at distances up to few hundred meters. Advanced VCSELs developed by the company with bit data rates well beyond 40Gb/s enable error free data transmission over 100m of standard multimode fibre.
Future markets such as Ethernet transceiver at 400 Gbit/s and customised products such as active optical cables and mid-board assemblies are targeted.
Assisted by the EU, VI Systems received the SME Instrument phase 2 funding to further develop its innovation and pre-production activities, such as demonstration, testing, piloting, scaling up, and miniaturisation of its advanced VCSEL-based optical interconnect technology.
