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Intel Boosts Optical Communication Speeds

Posted by kdawson on from the how-fast-can-you-blink dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Intel has developed a device, the Avalanche Photodetector, that senses light pulses and amplifies output signals for faster data transfer over long distances. Researchers claim this is a big advancement in the field of silicon photonics, in which silicon is used to transfer light pulses for data exchange between chips and devices. APD can detect light at higher frequencies and moves data at rates of 40Gbps, making it more sensitive and quicker than earlier photodetectors, at a tenth the cost."

2 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. misleading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "Intel has developed a device, the Avalanche Photodetector" is a bit of an overstatement, since these have been in use as nuclear and particle physics detectors for almost 30 years now...

  2. Given what there was before... by theM_xl · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'd say the real news here is "tenth of the price". The 4 times the previous speed improvement is nice, mind you, but it's the price drop that means it's likely to find it's way to consumer-level stuff eventually.

    Also interesting is DARPA being involved (again) which seems to happen more often than our patenting overlords would like us to know.