Prospects of Massive Parallelism in Si-Photonic Transceivers for SDM Networks

The continues increase in bandwidth demands in optical communication pushes transceivers modules towards higher levels of integration and lower power consumption and cost. Spatial division multiplexing (SDM) is being seen as the solution to bridge the gap between data generation and transport. We review the current status for photonic integration and outline the prospects of SDM and photonic integration combined for future opportunities.