Intel Demos Optical Data Transfer For Servers

angry tapir writes "Intel is taking the first steps to implement thin fiber optics that will use lasers and light as a faster way to move data inside computers, replacing the older and slower electrical wiring technology found in most computers today. Intel's silicon photonics technology will be implemented at the motherboard and rack levels and use light to move data between storage, networking and computing resources. The new rack architecture with silicon photonics is a result of more than a decade of research in Intel's laboratories, Intel CTO Justin Rattner said. It could enable communication at speeds of 100Gbps and transfer data at high speeds while using less power than copper cables. The technology could also consolidate power supplies and fans in a data center, reducing component costs."

Comments

Re:but

[Anonymous Coward]

copper wires cause electromagnetic interference. Every single copper wire at those frequencies start to act as an antenna which causes problems. Light does not have this problem hence you can work with way much higher frequencies.

Re:but

[NettiWelho]

Speed of electromagnetic waves on copper are close to the speed of light (95 - 97%). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_electricity

Speed of light in optical fibre is approx 2/3 the speed of light http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_fiber

Propagation speed is affected by insulation, so that in an unshielded copper conductor ranges 95 to 97% that of the speed of light, while in a typical coaxial cable it is about 66% of the speed of light.[1]

not new

[thoper]

relevant wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photonic_computing
A claimed advantage of optics is that it can reduce power consumption, but an optical communication system will typically use more power over short distances than an electronic one. This is because the shot noise of an optical communication channel is greater than the thermal noise of an electrical channel which, from information theory, means that more signal power is required to achieve the same data capacity. However, over longer distances and at greater data rates, the loss in electrical lines is sufficiently large that optical communications will comparatively use a lower amount of power. As communication data rates rise, this distance becomes longer and so the prospect of using optics in computing systems becomes more practical.

and a more interesting article from 2010.
http://phys.org/news199470370.html

Today computer components are connected to each other using copper cables or traces on circuit boards. Due to the signal degradation that comes with using metals such as copper to transmit data, these cables have a limited maximum length. This limits the design of computers, forcing processors, memory and other components to be placed just inches from each other. Today's research achievement is another step toward replacing these connections with extremely thin and light optical fibers that can transfer much more data over far longer distances, radically changing the way computers of the future are designed and altering the way the datacenter of tomorrow is architected.

Re:Is this good-bye?

[CajunArson]

Oh yes, Intel's reign of terror that includes foisting tens of millions of systems that can easily boot practically any version of Linux and their insidious plot to use standardized system interconnects has truly ushered in an age of darkness from which the world will never recover. Don't even get me started on their insidious projects where they infiltrate the Linux kernel with completely open-sourced GPL'd graphics drivers! Truly they should all be put up on war crimes charges!

Now excuse me while I return to my secret resistance base where we are attempting to load updated ROMs on our Android phones. One of these weeks we'll download the right set of magic files & instructions from some random forum and hopefully not permanently brick the phone in the process. Only ARM can save us hobbyists from the tyranny of well documented and easily modified computing systems!