Commercialization of 100-Gigabit Optical Communication Components through SME Win-Win Cooperation
Commercialization of 26 key components, including optical devices and modules, completed

Domestic researchers collaborated with 10 small and medium-sized enterprises to develop optical transceivers for use in data centers, achieving sales growth worth 6.2 billion won over three years.
The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) is helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) develop optical transceivers that connect switches and servers within data centers, thereby contributing to the revenue of related companies.

ETRI announced on the 13th that it has successfully helped manufacturers of light source elements, light receiving elements, optical wavelength multiplexers, 100-gigabit ceramic optical packages, and micro optical lenses used in optical transceivers to develop products, and that related companies are achieving good results.

Optical component manufacturers needed a new growth engine due to the recent slump. The research team explained that they mobilized accumulated resources, including technology, personnel, equipment, and facilities, to conduct joint research with small and medium-sized enterprises, and as a result, were able to achieve the remarkable feat of commercializing 100-gigabit optical communication components.

Since September 2015, the research team has been pursuing the 'Development of Commercialization Technology for 100-Gigabit Ultra-Small Optical Modules' as part of the Ministry of Science and ICT's Information and Communication Research Infrastructure Construction Project. This is a project created by the government and Gwangju Metropolitan City through joint budget investment, based on the market outlook for optical communication components driven by the widespread adoption of data centers.

After three years of research, the research team has completed the commercialization of a total of 26 key components, including optical devices and optical modules. Of these, 10 products were successfully commercialized and generated revenue. The research team plans to pursue the commercialization of other components through continuous business development.

In particular, the participating company, which possesses world-class technology related to planar optical waveguide (PLC) products, achieved sales of 3 billion won to date by successfully commercializing an optical wavelength multiplexer for 100-gigabit optical modules through the execution of this project. Along with this, sales of derivative products utilizing the results of research and development reached 18 billion won, providing an opportunity for the company to escape the recession and make a fresh start.

In addition, it is evaluated that it contributed to resolving dependence on foreign technology by localizing key optical components, such as 25-gigabit semiconductor light sources (LDs) and photodetectors (PDs) per channel, which had been a long-standing goal of the domestic optical communication component industry ecosystem. This is expected to accelerate the commercialization of related products that adopt this.

The research team explained that the future market outlook is bright, as customer demand for related products continues to increase due to favorable factors such as increased investment in data center infrastructure driven by the expansion of intelligent information services and the early commercialization of 5G mobile communication.

Lee Dong-soo, Head of the Honam Regional Research Center at ETRI, emphasized, “Securing the competitiveness of the domestic optical communication components industry is crucial, given that the importance of optical communication components is growing day by day in intelligent information services where high capacity and low latency are essential.”

Companies that participated in this project and received assistance include Eldis and Wooriro in the optical device sector, Neon Photonics and PPI in the optical wavelength multiplexer sector, and Metalife in the 100-gigabit ceramic optical package sector. In addition, there are a total of 10 companies, including MPNIX and the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Chonnam National University in the microlens sector, Coset in the optical submodule sector, Lightron in the optical transceiver sector, and Fomi in the multi-channel optical connector sector.

Meanwhile, the research team plans to continue providing additional support to development products that are slow to commercialize by consistently supporting commercialization-related fields to secure customers. In addition, they stated that they plan to continue working with the government to secure a leading position in the market for 400 gigabit and above in the future.