Intel's 50Gbps Light Peak Successor

Barence writes "Intel has unveiled yet another high-speed optical interface – before its long-awaited Light Peak connector has even reached the market. The Light Peak optical interconnect can transfer data at 10Gbps in both directions, and is touted as an all-in-one replacement for USB, DisplayPort, and HDMI. The new interface uses an indium phosphide hybrid laser inside the controller chip — a process that Intel calls silicon photonics — rather than using a separate optical module, as with Light Peak. And by encoding data at 12.5Gbits/sec across four laser beams of differing wavelengths, the connector yields a total bandwidth of 50Gbps, five times that offered by Light Peak. 'This is not a technology that's ten years away, but maybe three to five years,' Intel fellow Mario Paniccia announced. 'Light Peak, as we've stated, will launch next year.'" HotHardware quotes Intel in more detail on the difference between the two programs: "This research is separate from Intel's Light Peak technology... Light Peak is an effort to bring a multi-protocol 10Gbps optical connection to Intel client platforms for nearer-term applications. Silicon Photonics research aims to use silicon integration to bring dramatic cost reductions, reach tera-scale data rates, and bring optical communications to an even broader set of high-volume applications."

Comments

Why optical?

[Peach Rings]

USB and HDMI cables have to be really short anyway, isn't optical overkill? I mean, you have copper on both ends, having an ultra-high-bandwidth hybrid laser in the middle isn't going to perform any miracles. Just run parallel wires instead of serializing everything and you have all the throughput anyone could possibly use.

Re:Why optical?

[Locke2005]

Just run parallel wires instead of serializing everything and you have all the throughput anyone could possibly use. Too bad the people that designed SATA didn't think of that!

Re:Why optical?

[Khyber]

The Emerson Effect is optical crosstalk that occurs when 660-670nm light is mixed with 720-740nm IR. It ends up enhancing photosynthesis, stimulating the same phytochemical systems and increasing the rate of photosynthesis.

At last

[sqrt(2)]

Perhaps my dream of having 1 port for everything, peripherals, storage, display, power even, will be achieved. Just a line of identical ports on the side/back of the computer.