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The good news about the Internet of
Things (IoT) is that it demonstrates
just how pervasive high-speed
communication technology has
become. Addressing software issues
within the IoT is pretty straight
forward-create some code that
people can readily download to their
hardware devices to maintain the
operating integrity of their various
communication devices.
Addressing hardware issues is
not so simple. Even experienced
hardware developers are challenged
in addressing these issues. Part of the
problem is attributable to the nature
of hardware technology itself. Printed
circuit boards (PCBs) and the various
other pieces of hardware associated
with them have essentially “run out of
gas”. Moreover, wringing the last ounce
of performance capability out of these
devices often requires unprecedented
and very creative engineering efforts.
Of course, the question arises as to
why not just move to the next iteration
of hardware technology? The answer
to that question is very complicated.
The next iteration of hardware
technology is silicon photonics. It
is not an easy process and making
the move to it will require massive
changes to the entire infrastructure
including equipment, materials, and
manufacturing processes. So, for the
time being, we are stuck with tried
and true PCB technology. And, for the
next several years, we have to figure
out how to make this technology work
for us as long as possible. Or, more
importantly, we need to figure out
how we are going to get from here
to there—how many ways and in
which manner can existing hardware
be “tweaked” to meet the escalating
performance requirements of today’s
end products.
The state of technology
At the start of 21st century, providers
of equipment for the Internet
struggled to design large routers
and switches containing backplanes
and plug-in line cards that had long
internal connections running at 3.125
Gb/s. The primary concern was how
to manage loss in those long paths.
Fast forward to 2016 and the picture
has changed radically. Manufacturers
of the semiconductors used in route
processors and switch ICs have
managed to engineer them so they
operate at speeds as high as 32
Gb/s with a very high tolerance for
loss along the signal paths. The ICs
of 2001 could tolerate as little as 10
dB of loss in the signal path at 3.125
Gb/s. The ICs of 2016 can tolerate as
much as 38 dB of loss at 32 Gb/s.
Solving signal integrity problems at very high
data rates
Lee Ritchey, Scott McMorrow & Kella Knack, Samtec
40 l New-Tech Magazine Europe