Fiber-to-the-X is passé: Fiber-to-the-Device is here.

If you have been following telecom news lately, I am sure 50% of what you read is broadband and fiber-to-the-X. Equipment majors are working in overdrive on optical technology, service providers are increasingly rolling out fiber networks, governments are eager to fund fiber deployments, even industry consolidation is happening with an eye on optical connectivity portfolios.

But first, a quick primer on how data flows through a fiber optic communication network:

The information to be transmitted is either analog signals (like voice) or digital (like data) and is generated by computers, telephones, television, remote sensors, etc. These need to be first converted into a digitized, compressed, encrypted signal that can be sent across large distances. For modern fiber-optic communication systems, an optical transmitter converts these digitized, electrical signals into optical signals to send into the optical fiber (which is part of a cable containing bundles of optical fibers), that is routed through conduits and buildings, different kinds of amplifiers, and an optical receiver to recover the signal as an electrical signal.

Research has shown that while massive amounts of data can flow through optical fiber (the medium), the bottlenecks in increasing individual bandwidth consumption is due to the electrical circuitry at the terminal / handset (the end-user’s device).

Sooner than you think, this might be a problem of the past!

Enter Light Peak by Intel! 

In Intel’s words, “Light Peak is the code-name for a new high-speed optical cable technology designed to connect your electronic devices to each other. Light Peak delivers high bandwidth starting at 10Gb/s with the potential ability to scale to 100Gb/s over the next decade. At 10Gb/s, you could transfer a full-length Blu-Ray movie in less than 30 seconds. Optical technology also allows for smaller connectors and longer, thinner, and more flexible cables than currently possible. Light Peak also has the ability to run multiple protocols simultaneously over a single cable, enabling the technology to connect devices such as peripherals, displays, disk drives, docking stations, and more.” (More details on Wikipedia)

This will speed up adoption of a vast number of applications that we dream of but are scared to use because of bandwidth worries. Streaming video, Internet TV, High definition gaming, etc.

That’s what is exciting other non-broadband players and getting them to invest. Tyco Electronics bought ADC Telecom a few days back, banking on the connectivity products that ADC has. Similarly, Pace Plc acquired 2Wire this week, showing how even cable/satellite players want to have a product portfolio which can cater to the high-bandwidth requiring applications.

Implications: As mentioned in my previous posts, anything that drives up bandwidth consumption will in the end have to be transmitted through fiber. Light Peak actually is another step closer to an all-fiber network. 

As we always say: Bandwidth = Fiber.