Slashdot Mirror
Intel Researchers Demonstrate 40Gbps Optical Chips
scott3778 writes "Intel Researchers announced they have successfully demonstrated a 40Gbps optical chip, an accomplishment the company says will yield cheaper photonic integrated circuits. 'chip makers have shown a keen interest in photonic integrated circuits (PICs) over the past few years because of their ability to provide a cost-effective solution for optical communication and future optical interconnects in computing industry. There are obstacles, though: One of the key components needed for silicon PICs is the very high-speed silicon optical modulator, which is used to encode data on optical beam.'"
* Sam's Laser FAQ
Catalyzing development. (hopefully)
- Does anybody have links or papers re: manufacturing of fiber optics or very small optical beams? Would be great to have.
This is actually the main problem that is solved with this solution. Traditionally, electro-optical conversion was done using discrete components. This consumed a great deal of power and also added the extra restriction that a separate, optical modulator had to be added along with the central electronic chip. It also meant that the electronic chip had to somehow send a very fast electrical signal (and all the attenuation that would occur to it) to the optical module.
The optical IC they came up with isn't optical entirely. The internal logic is still electrical but they've managed to do a silicon-level electro-optical converter and directly send the optical signal out (I'm guessing through a microlens). This isn't likely to make internal logic (the next Pentium...wait they don't use that name anymore) calculate faster, but it'll be interesting to see this used as a RAM interface, for instance, or for multi-processor interconnect.