Silicon photonics was a buzzword in the optics research community for years before it finally became a reality. Cisco recognized it as not only a hot technology, but one that would deliver real value. Hence three key acquisitions in this space, including Luxtera which Cisco acquired in 2019. In Episode 16, we continue a conversation with Ron Horan, Senior Director of Product Management, who joined Cisco via the Luxtera acquisition. In this episode we get into silicon photonics, what it is and how it\u2019s revolutionizing optics.\n\u2013 Pat Chou, Cisco Optics Product Manager\n \nRon attended The University of Texas at San Antonio for both his bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees. His Master\u2019s thesis topic entitled \u201cSynthetic Vision Landing Aids System\u201d was patented as the first GPS-based aircraft landing aid. From 1994 to 1999, while at Compaq, he earned 15 patent awards. In 2001, he joined Broadcom Corporation where he managed Field Applications Engineering for the Compute Segment team, ran Program Management in the Networking BU, and was a Sr. Director of Sales and Strategic Account Manager covering the Hewlett Packard worldwide account. In 2011 Ron moved to Luxtera where he worked as Vice President of Sales before moving into the role as Vice President of Marketing. Luxtera was eventually acquired by Cisco in 2019 where Ron now runs Product Management for the Cisco Client Optics Group.\n \nRelated links\nCisco Optics-to-Device Compatibility Matrix: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/\nCisco Optics-to-Optics Interoperability Matrix: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/iop\nCisco Optics Product Information: https://copi.cisco.com/\n \nAdditional resources\nCisco Optics Podcast: https://blogs.cisco.com/tag/ciscoopticspodcast\nCisco Optics blogs: https://blogs.cisco.com/tag/ciscoopticsblog (subscribe at https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=CiscoOpticsBlog )\nCisco Optics YouTube playlist: http://cs.co/9008BlQen\nCisco Optics landing page: cisco.com/go/optics\n \nTimestamps\n2:37 Silicon photonics\n4:41 Humans vs. robots\n7:01 DML lasers\n9:02 Coupling light source\n9:47 Grating coupler\n10:37 DML vs continuous light source with Mach Zehnder interferometer modulator\n14:03 Receiver side\n \nMusic credits\nSunny Morning by FSM Team | https://www.free-stock-music.com/artist.fsm-team.html\nUpbeat by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com