Steve;
Basically, from my understanding of things I've read now, not first hand and eye, JDS's DWDMs are much bigger in size and price than those to be shortly coming from LUMM/Molex. I've heard it said that JDS's DWDMs are the size of a computer monitor - a box of that size. LUMM's chip is about 2 inches square and not very thick. So that's a big reduction in size, and permits uses where the available space is small.
The Journal Des Affaires article recently released put the comparison this way:
beta.siliconinvestor.com
Now the most spectacular application of optical chips today is provided by a small company from Dorval, Lumenon Innovative Lightwave Technology (NASDAQ, LUMM, $2US) Lumenon has created a chip which multiplies by 64 times the carrying capacity of optical fibers used for telephone and cable distribution.
Apparatus already exists which fills this function. The company JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ, JDSU,$83.50US)makes it. These are the optical multiplexers. They are housed in a square box containing lasers, prisms, glass cubes, all very expensive hardware. For each mile of optical fiber where there is needed an increase in capacity one must buy a multiplexer for $31,000US.
The Lumenon chip will surpass these. Dr. Iraj Najafi one of the founders of Lumenon refuses to divulge the price of his chips but he clearly states that the price will be a fraction of present day multiplexers. How will he do it?
"He has invented a totally automatic process which makes printed optical circuits just like electronic chips are made" explained Jacek Chrostowsky, optical networks director for Cisco Systems (NASDAQ, CSCO, $61US).
"The key is in the word automatic, because the usual assembly of multiplexers is by hand and requires lots of manual labor. When the demand rises, JDS must take on about a thousand supplementary workers to meet the demand.
"The Lumenon process didn't exist to run the machines quicker and acquire more primary material".
Is it necessary to say that Cisco, the king of the routers for the Internet networks is interested particularly in Lumenon and moreover has a seat on the technical committee?
So it's a competitor for JDSU all right, but then again JDSU could end up being a big buyer of the product from LUMM/Molex, or who knows, they may buy the company if they want the technology badly enough.
So JDSU makes photonic product(s) very well the present day way. LUMM intends to make the same products cheaper and smaller in a new, photonic chip way.
Cheers,
Don |
