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Intel Connects PCs To Devices Using Light

Posted by samzenpus on from the fast-connection dept.

CWmike writes "Intel is working on a new optical interconnect that could possibly link mobile devices to displays and storage up to 100 meters away. The optical interconnect technology, Light Peak, could communicate data between systems and devices associated with PCs at speeds of up to 10Gbits/sec., said David Perlmutter, vice president and general manager of Intel's mobility group. The technology uses light to speed up data transmission between mobile devices and connected devices like storage, networking and audio devices, the company said. The technology could help transfer a full-length Blu-ray movie in less than 30 seconds, says a post on Intel's site. Light Peak can run multiple protocols simultaneously over a single cable, enabling mobile devices to perform tasks over multiple connected devices at the same time. 'Optical technology also allows for smaller connectors and longer, thinner, and more flexible cables than currently possible,' according to the Intel entry. It could also lead to thinner and fewer connectors on mobile devices, Perlmutter said."

5 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Who would use this? by bcmm · · Score: 4, Informative

    1) The article is about a cable.
    2) You probably don't have a 10Gb/s cable
    3) You certainly don't have a 100m long 10Gb/s cable.

    --
    # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
    Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
  2. Re:Who would use this? by thijsh · · Score: 5, Informative
    Oh don't worry, Intel is always on top of the latest "scientific-standards"... From their website:

    The library of Congress contains over 10 terabytes of information (a 1 with 13 zeroes after it). If you used Light Peak technology operating at 10 billion bits per second it would take you only 17 minutes to transfer the complete library of Congress.

    Source: http://techresearch.intel.com/articles/None/1813.htm - interesting facts

  3. Re:Who would use this? by selven · · Score: 3, Informative

    I think they got their bits and bytes mixed up. 10^13 bytes = 8*10^13 bits = 8000 seconds (2h13m) at 10^10 bits per second.

  4. Re:Who would use this? - Nobody by Svartalf · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually, if you do your cabling right, yes you can. Ethernet's got distance limitations- fiber has less of one. Power can be ran the same distances if you pair it up around the fiber and make it part of a special connector... Moreover, the crowd they're tailoring this to doesn't care as much about power concerns over the interconnect. They want reliability, ease of cabling, distance, and overall speed- and they're not wanting to dangle all sorts of things like people do with USB stuff.

    --
    I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
  5. Re:optical structured cabling? by RMH101 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Because in my use case, I've got a load of gear that I don't want to attempt to replace: TVs, satellite TV box, AV amp, projector, POTS phones, security cameras etc - getting all these connected over ethernet isn't practical without replacing everything.

    Say I want to watch the satellite TV feed in the bedroom, and get my IR remote working up there as well so I can change the channels. My SkyHD sat TV box doesn't the ability to connect to a network - should I buy a PC and put it into the living room with a video capture card (good luck with doing this with HDMI high def content) and an IR blaster, and have it stream the result over ethernet to another PC in the bedroom with a monitor attached to it? No, what I want is a long virtual HDMI cable and a long, virtual coax cable for the remote signal.