Episode 15 of the Cisco Optics Podcast is now posted! See below for episode notes.

Cisco Optics Podcast Episode 15

Cisco Optics Podcast Episode 15. Silicon photonics explained, with Ron Horan. Part 1 of 5.

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 15, we start a new conversation with Ron Horan, Senior Director of Product Management, who joined Cisco via the Luxtera acquisition. We begin our conversation with a history of Luxtera and how it wound up as part of Cisco.
-Pat Chou, Cisco Optics Product Manager

Ron attended The University of Texas at San Antonio for both his bachelor's and master's degrees. His Master's thesis topic entitled "Synthetic Vision Landing Aids System" 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.

Related links

Cisco Optics-to-Device Compatibility Matrix
Cisco Optics-to-Optics Interoperability Matrix
Cisco Optics Product Information

Listen to Episode 15

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Timestamps

2:45   Ron's background
4:57   Luxtera's story
7:30   Origin of silicon photonics
8:57   Luxtera's first products
11:54  Result of BiDi development

Music credits

Sunny Morning by FSM Team

Upbeat by Mixaund

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Additional resources

Cisco Optics Podcast
Cisco Optics blogs (subscribe)
Cisco Optics YouTube playlist
Cisco Optics landing page