Reliability of commercial optical interconnect systems

A reliability prediction model for optical interconnects has been developed and applied to two commercial optical interconnect systems. The reliability prediction model is based on the concept of a reliability figure of merit (RELFOM). The RELFOM methodology considers the entire system in a series structure and consists of the REFLOM of all of the individual components of the interconnect system, (i.e., driver, interconnect media, and receiver) where each component of the RELFOM is further defined according to performance parameters, such as propagation delay, power dissipation and cross talk noise. The RELFOM model can be used effectively for technology comparisons and reliability prediction without utilizing extensive reliability testing.