First Scalable Field-Programmable Photonic Gate Array Platform For Photonic Chip Development and Data Centre Switch Applications

Projektinformationen

EXCITE

ID Finanzhilfevereinbarung: 101217820

DOI

10.3030/101217820

EK-Unterschriftsdatum 3 Juni 2025

Startdatum 1 Juli 2025

Enddatum 30 Juni 2027

Finanziert unter

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Gesamtkosten

Keine Daten

EU-Beitrag

€ 2 442 502,92

Koordiniert durch

IPRONICS PROGRAMMABLE PHOTONICS,SL
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EXCITE (First Scalable Field-Programmable Photonic Gate Array Platform For Photonic Chip Development and Data Centre Switch Applications)

Berichtszeitraum: 2025-07-01 bis 2026-06-30

Zusammenfassung vom Kontext und den Gesamtzielen des Projekts

Data traffic, compute load and signal processing requirements have grown exponentially in recent decades. However, the
performance increases of conventional electronics are no longer adequate to keep up with these increasing demands as Moore’s Law
is ending.
Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs), harnessing photons instead of electrons to manipulate signals, are widely regarded as the
technology of choice to power the next-generation of high performance devices. PICs are commercially available in the form of
ASPICs (application-specific photonic integrated circuits). However, with internal circuitry fixed during fabrication they are limited to
very specific tasks and are extremely time-consuming and expensive to develop. They are therefore only suitable for extremely highvolume applications.
There is an urgent need for an affordable, flexible, reprogrammable alternative to ASPICs, with the same performance benefits, an
approach similar to Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) in conventional electronics. The Field Programmable Photonic Gate
Arrays (FPPGAs) we develop are a completely new class of devices that will fundamentally change the economics of ASPIC design.
FPPGAs can typically save 90% of the development time and 95% of tape-out costs by testing ASPIC designs inside FPPGAs before
production without further iterations, eliminating vast inefficiencies. The flexible on-chip optical signal routing also unlocks novel
features like self-optimising circuitry and self-healing properties. This project, EXCITE, will refine, demonstrate and scale up the world’s
first commercially-viable FPPGAs as a general-purpose platform technology and make it accessible to the wider developer
community. Following on from the successful EIC Transition project INSPIRE, iPronics will now optimise this development platform for
mass-manufacturing and demonstrate its benefits in a first application area, data switches for optical signal switching in large data
centres.

Arbeit, die ab Beginn des Projekts bis zum Ende des durch den Bericht erfassten Berichtszeitraums geleistet wurde, und die wichtigsten bis dahin erzielten Ergebnisse

So far, we have defined the use cases and established engagements with key stakeholders in verticals. Also the product datasheet is created with the end product's functional and performance target specifications with intermediate sub-assembly test criteria and parameters well defined. Also we have established the supply chain and assembly partners for the product build and our suppliers and partners are ISO certified which leads to higher quality assurance. Also established the commercialization plan with path to Tier 1 countries like USA, Europe and Canada and 2025 and Tier 2 countries like China, Taiwan, Japan and India.More to be added as the project progresses.

Fortschritte, die über den aktuellen Stand der Technik hinausgehen und voraussichtliche potenzielle Auswirkungen (einschließlich der bis dato erzielten sozioökonomischen Auswirkungen und weiter gefassten gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen des Projekts)

To be added later during project execution phase