Intel Shows Off First Light Peak Laptop

Barence writes "Intel has provided the first hands-on demonstration of a laptop running its Light Peak technology — an optical interconnect that can transfer data at 10Gbit/sec in both directions — at the company's inaugural European research showcase here in Brussels. Intel has fitted Light Peak into a regular USB cable, with optical fibres running alongside the electrical cabling. Intel provided a visual demonstration of how data is passed through the cable by shining a torch into one end of the cable, with two little dots of light visible to the naked eye at the other end. The demonstration laptop was sending two separate HD video streams to a nearby television screen without any visible lag. The laptop includes a 12mm square chip that converts the optical light into electrical data that the computer understands."

Comments

Server technology?

[Happy Nuclear Death]

It's nice they've developed a way to transfer data at ridiculous speeds, but it does the average user no good as long as we're using mechanical hard drives. Even a "mere" 1 gigabit network connection outstrips the ability of spinning platters to absorb it. I guess this Light Peak thing is aimed at the server market then?

Re:Server technology?

[Microlith]

It's aimed at reducing the number of different cables on your desktop, I believe.

The initial demo showed an LCD panel, HDD, and at least one other thing running off a single Light Peak chain. Effectively, they want it to replace USB (for data connections), Firewire, eSATA, SATA, SCSI, SAS, DVI, DisplayPort, probably every audio connection you have, Ethernet, and likely more.

Re:Server technology?

[doogledog]

Ooh and with that unification think of the DRM possibilities!

Re:Server technology?

[travisb828]

Someone will develop something that will take advantage of that ridiculous speed, and then someone will develop something that can take advantage of data being transfered at ludicrous speed. Then one day, in the future, computers will go to plaid.

Re:Server technology?

[V!NCENT]

"It's nice they've developed a way to transfer data at ridiculous speeds, but it does the average user no good as long as we're using mechanical hard drives."
What's the problem with most humans? They always seem to want to only advance to the bare miminum required.

How about:
"Yo guys, I got an idea!"
-"Shoot"
"How about making a cable that is so fast that we'll never have to think about the transfer speed anymore?"
-"That'll be awesome!"
???

Re:Server technology?

[jellomizer]

I think you are misunderstanding how DRM works... All those connections were for digital information you can DRM digital information. You are thinking about DRM over HDMI that is because the previous methods sent analog information to the device.

It is difficult to DRM Analog information (heck lets even call it ARM (Analog Rights Management)). As the main information is easily decoded. Digital Information can be encrypted.

However you must also realize that Analog has a fundamental weakness is that it isn't accurate and cannot be copied exactly. Hence why all the fuss about DRM. Digital Stuff can be copied over and over millions of time and it is still as good as the original. Analog copies after 1 or 2 copies of copies you can tell the difference.

It isn't about the wire or unification of the wire, or the interface it is the software the handles the information the determines DRM

Re:Server technology?

[vux984]

Analog copies after 1 or 2 copies of copies you can tell the difference.

Of course, one would digitize the first copy from analog sans drm, and be able to reproduce it millions of times from there without further degradation.

Re:Server technology?

[Shatrat]

Precision is not accuracy. What are you doing on Slashdot?

Re:Server technology?

[Ungrounded Lightning]

You do realize that cable television was an analog signal that required a special box to decode for years...

Actually it mostly needed the special box just to tune it - frequency shift the normally-structured 6 MHz bandwidth TV signal to a frequency where the TV would receive it.

Early "premium channels" were "encrypted" by inserting a strong but narrow-band interfering signal in an otherwise empty slot in the signal, near the sound carrier. This would intermittently "capture" the FM sound decoder and paint bars across the video, jamming the picture and sound. Subscribers had a narrow-band notch filter installed in their feeds to remove it.

(There were other systems, too, including one used on "air" channels which selectively lowered the strength of the vertical and horizontal sync signals to below the level of the video. A subcarrier in the sound provided the information necessary to identify and boost the sync signals back to normal.)

Torch into one end with two little dots of light

[Anonymous Coward]

Intel provided a visual demonstration of how data is passed through the cable, by shining a torch into one end of the cable, with two little dots of light visible to the naked eye at the other end.

The second little dot was a floating-point error.

Horrible USB Connector

[Anonymous Coward]

Why did they have to stick it in the horribly designed USB connector?

The engineers responsible for that connector must have never made it past sophomore design class. You either make a part that is obviously asymmetric (d-sub, ieee1394, 8p8c) or one that is truly symmetric (RCA, TRS connectors). Instead, we're stuck with this symmetric-appearing but actually asymmetric USB connector that I try to plug in backwards half the time.

Re:Horrible USB Connector

[clone53421]

Instead, we're stuck with this symmetric-appearing but actually asymmetric USB connector that I try to plug in backwards half the time.

Who actually manages to plug it in correctly on the 2nd try? It usually takes me at least 3.

Re:Optical light?

[h4rr4r]

Yes, using a flashlight is a pretty normal way to do that.

I suggest you learn English.

Re:What do the British call real torches?

[Anonymous Coward]

Syphilis.

Re:Power? FireWire ,enet, USB give power does this

[TheCycoONE]

The plan is to include a copper wire along with the optical wire for powering devices.

It is sorta mentioned here: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-346181.html

Re:Optical light?

[mweather]

I've never once heard someone refer to a burning stick as a flashlight.

Re:Optical light?

[TheRaven64]

Sure, there's dual-meaning words, but I'll bet most of them we inherited.

Check? In written English, there is no ambiguity between a cheque and a check, in US English, there is, and you also use check to mean bill, which adds another layer of ambiguity (you use a check to pay the check after you check it, we use a cheque to pay the bill after we check it). There are a number of similar cases where homophones have different spellings in English but the same spelling in US English.