alvter

pt3

And since the customer only wants the result and doesn't really care about how the signal is transfered, there was no way the cost could be justified (the cost btw, is about 5 times as high for the end customer compared to what the regular car company pays for the item).


So at least for cars, the big germans have by now abandoned fiber optic most, and have now settled for copper based MOST systems. With increasing bw requirements, there might be a comeback for fiber optic MOST, but since copper based tech also still makes advancements, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Well, that is my take. I'm not sure it helped much, but still....

end pt3

pt2

But one of the huge disadvantages associated with fiber optic MOST were the associated hw costs. Not only the cables (which actually were the smaller cost), but the cost of optic transmitters/receivers as well, and those you had to have in every component you had on the MOST ring structure. And with the "low" spec of those days, in some cases, it was even neccessary with extra relay stations.

For the SAAB 9-3's for example, that weren't (and still aren't) produced in any big numbers, the added cost from say a regular DVD player and a MOST DVD player, were.... let's just say it was more than USD100+. And for the 9-3, that were (and actually still is) the most advanced car with regards to fiber optic MOST, with a max of 8 possible nodes (the Audi A8 has max 5 nodes, and they did advertize that big when they launched it) on the MOST link, that is a considerable amount of money.

end pt2

Hi Alvter

About fiber optics... since you can't post replies in that thread, I'm sending you this message instead.

I can't be certain of why it hasn't happened in the PC consumer market space, but my guess would be that it (at least this far) is a cost issue.

As I have mentioned once or twice, I come from the automotive industry. If you recognize that model, I was project manager for the infotainment system in the SAAB 9-3 wagon. Back then, car manufacturers were interested in fiber optic based MOST (media oriented systems transport). A protocol for information transport in vehicles, using fiberoptic cables. Involved in developement were several big companies form both car and electronics industries like BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Bosch and Siemens. In-car media content like hd based movies hadn't really made it into the cars back then (and still hasn't), but were one of the big reasons car companies thought vastly bigger data bandwidth were going to be needed in cars.

end pt1