£1.1m project reaches for the Cloud
13 September 2017
A £1.1m research project to develop a high-speed platform servicing 21st Century communications has been announced by the Compound Semiconductor Centre.
The Centre, a joint venture between Cardiff University and IQE plc, has been awarded the collaborative research and development project through Innovate UK’s emerging and enabling technologies call.
Project SUPER8 will develop a new ultra-high speed transceiver platform to service optical data communications in hyper-scale Cloud datacentres. Transceivers combine a transmitter and receiver in a single electronic package and are used across wireless communications devices like mobile phones, cordless phones sets and two-way radios.
The Centre will collaborate in a consortium to translate the science into high-volume manufacturing in 30 months. The other partners in the project are Glasgow’s Compound Semiconductor Technologies Ltd (CST) and the UK manufacturing base of California-headquartered KAIAM Corporation.
Project Lead, Dr Wyn Meredith, said: “The adoption of cloud services, video on demand and emerging ‘Internet of Things’ services are driving a massively expanding global data bandwidth demand..."
"The UK is already a major player in the supply of high performance compound semiconductor materials and components that underpin global communications. However, next-generation high-capacity networks will require higher transmission rate, lower cost transceiver solutions."
"This project will deliver an ‘all UK’ developed and manufactured solution which leverages world-class compound semiconductor materials and device expertise at the Centre and CST with KAIAM’s highly innovative photonic integrated circuit technology."
The Centre was founded in 2015 with the mission of accelerating commercialisation of compound semiconductor materials and device research. Based in Cardiff, it is a vital component in the development of a world-class compound semiconductor cluster in South Wales.
