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Description
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The backplane is the interconnecting back-bone of telecom and datacom apparata. It consists of a board, realized of a composite material, where the interconnections are embedded, so that different subsystems mutually interact by being all connected to the backplane. If the communication system is arranged in a shelf, the subsystems are cards hosted in parallel slots and plugged onto the backplane. The Project will explore the industrial feasibility of an optical backplane for communication network apparatuses supporting multiple transmissive technologies: TDM layer, Ethernet, MPLS and IP protocols.
In this backplane, the interconnections are realized by optical fibres, which represents an innovation with respect to the traditional technologies based on copper wiring. Optical transmission improves electromagnetic compatibility, by avoiding crosstalk effects between neighbouring physical channels, and improves the energy efficiency of the interconnection. These features point to a reduction in absorbed power requirements for an optical backplane with respect to an electric one at same interconnection capacity. Moreover, an overall improvement in transmission capacity at the same physical dimensions and costs of the apparatus is expected.
Historically, optical communications have been devoted to long-haul connections. Actually connection lengths in backplanes are of the order of one meter. It is the same trade-off between costs and performances, which in the past had hindered the deployment of optical backplanes, which now opens to the introduction of optics also on very short distances, pushed by the increased requirements in terms of low costs and consumption to guarantee the increased aggregate transmission capacity of actual telecomm and datacom systems.
The Project will verify the feasibility of a completely passive backplane board, which just contains the optical interconnecting fibres without any active device or switch; the Project will also verify the feasibility, both technological and in terms of performances, of the optoelectronic cards to be connected to the backplane, to configure the overall system.
Backplane-to-card connections will be performed by innovative connectors, that will be designed and realized by the Project, while maximizing the compatibility with existing standards.
Backplane samples will be validated in performances, but also analysed in view of reliability and industrial production. For this, the optical backplanes will be specifically designed and implemented by exploiting manufacturing technologies which are scalable to massive production.
The feasibility study will also verify and set a technological threshold for the optical solution to be competitive, in terms of costs and performances, with respect to traditional solutions. This study will also include an analysis on the energy saving as derived by the use of the optical technology.
This further expansion in the use of optical connections would open new paths for the evolution of transmission systems, both in term of transmission and switching capacity. In turn, this would positively affect communication networking, both at the single apparatus level and at a systemic level, by enabling innovative network topologies. The new backplane might become, indeed, the core for a new telecommunication network scalable structure, where operating costs could be directly derived from the size and capacity of the network.
Moreover, a massive diffusion of the optical backplane technology would imply a reduction of the electro-magnetic emissions, as the electrical signals would propagate strictly limited to the card slots and would not be broadcasted by the backplane, so that also the overall required power supply is expected to decrease. Last but not least, this would imply a sensitive reduction in dissipated power, at the same transmission capacity, thus adding a contribution towards the so-called green photonics.
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Distribution
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Advancement of distribution in %
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Total amount distributed
2,440,527.47 euro
NOP R&C distributed amount
2,263,847.72 euro
PAC distributed amount
0.00 euro
Amount distributed with other funds
176,679.75 euro
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