Next-Generation Solutions, Research & Development
TTM has been actively involved in optical PCB research and development through various consortium and direct customer programs.
Increasing data rates and higher channel densities are required to meet the bandwidth demands in future communication systems. For electrical interconnects, scaling is limited due to fundamental obstacles such as loss, crosstalk, and reflection resulting in limited channel length and packaging density. Besides fundamental challenges, there is a significant increase in cost and power consumption to achieve 100 Gb/s operations and beyond.
As an industry, we’re exploring optical waveguides as a potential option for onboard interconnects. The advantages of optical solutions are that they will increase the packaging density and reduce the link length that high-speed electrical signals have to travel in the PCB, enabling the use of conventional low-cost PCB materials and more straightforward designs for routing the signals.
