Why Use the DSOI?

Advantages

The main advantage of the DSOI is that it is a smart transceiver and can be reconfigured to the task at hand. Conversely, entire companies are built on selling a chipset that implements a single communications standard.

The DSOI is a smart transceiver: nine chipsets in one.

Conjunct does not intend to choose an existing standard, nor to create a new one, but to allow the DSOI to be reconfigured by the end-user to any standard that suits their application either at the factory or in real time while in system. The same device can thus be used across a broad range of communications standards with all the attendant benefits of economies of scale.

The unique and innovative aspect of the DSOI is its reconfigurable nature. The DSOI is not designed to adhere to one of the many varied and indistinct optical module types or even to one of a multitude of protocols. In fact, the design ethos of the DSOI is to remain closely pin compatible with reconfigurable devices.

The DSOI’s reconfigurability makes it much more than just another electro-optic converter. The main benefits to a customer are:

• Reconfigurability eases integration and therefore lowers non-recoverable engineering (NRE) costs. The DSOI adapts to the customers system without any complex interfacing requirements or high speed PCB design.

• Time to market is lowered thus reducing the NRE costs involved in adapting an existing system to support optical interconnects. In a recent survey, the majority of respondents indicated that time to market was the key influencing factor for moving from an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solution to an FPGA solution.

The DSOI is designed to minimise a customer’s re-engineering costs.

• Increased flexibility improves system reuse thus lowering NREs. Flexibility is considered key to success in a fragmented market. The same system can be used for different protocols simply by reprogramming. Typically, a new PCB would have to be redesigned and rebuilt using an entirely different set of protocol chips. Thus the DSOI has an intrinsic level of future proofing.

• The ability to pre- or post-process data reduces overall system cost. Devices that were previously part of the customer’s system can be “hoovered” into DSOI. In addition, functionality such as encryption standards could be implemented in the DSOI given that reconfigurable logic provides the necessary processing power.

• In-system bug fix and upgrades lowers any unexpected NREs. Hardware errors can be fixed by simply reconfiguring the hardware. This can even be done from a remote location over the optical interconnect.

• A substantial size reduction leading to compact systems. Telecoms devices remain relatively large as far as electronic components are concerned. The DSOI is designed to reduce this footprint by integrating the transceiver and all necessary support chips.

• The DSOI reduces a customer’s supply chain management problems and simplifies their inventory control requirements. All the devices that a customer would typically have to integrate are already in a single package. This reduces the day-to-day running costs typically associated with a business.

• The DSOI is an FPGA based system and as such does not require an embedded operating system. This has the advantage of lowering system complexity and thus reducing NREs.

• Developing with the DSOI does not require interfacing between hardware and software engineering groups with the associated and well know communication delays. This reduces both NREs and time to market.

The DSOI will have the necessary functionality to bridge the gap between electrical and optical interconnects thus reducing time to market for companies incorporating compatibility with short range serial optical communications into their existing product range. Its flexibility lowers the non-recoverable engineering costs involved and allows the same product to be rapidly adapted to one of many existing or emerging communications standards.

Alternatives

There are a number of solutions that can be used to integrate optics into an existing system. However, the DSOI has three key advantages over these alternatives:

Solution 1: Custom ASIC plus Optical Design

High NREs, high cost to redesign if another protocol is needed and a long time to market (requires custom ASIC plus optical system). The ASIC will fit well with the system given that it is a custom design, however any respins due to design errors could result in crippling project costs. A custom optical front end will need to be designed and built.

Solution 2: Fixed Chipset plus Optical Design

Medium NREs, high cost to redesign if another protocol is needed and a reasonable time to market (requires interface electronics plus chipset solution plus optical system). A standard chipset will need to be integrated and tested however project costs will still be orders of magnitude lower than that of solution 1. Interface electronics will need to be designed to translate data between the existing system and the standard used by the chipset. Once more, a custom optical front end will need to be designed and built.

Solution 3: FPGA plus Optical Design

Medium NREs, low cost to redesign if another protocol is needed and a reasonable time to market (requires FPGA plus optical system). The FPGA adapts to the existing system, however custom optics will again need to be designed and built.

Solution 4: Dynamic Serial Optical Interconnect

Low NREs, low cost to redesign if another protocol is needed and a short time to market (requires DSOI). The flexibility of an FPGA with an integrated optical system. If you already use an FPGA this is virtually a part replacement exercise.