Number one chip manufacturer Intel may have a miss with Larrabee but it's doing pretty great on other fronts, one of them being the search for new, faster, more cost-effective ways of transmitting data within and between devices.
Present at the Integrated Photonics Research conference in California, Intel has showcased the first-ever silicon-based optical data connection with integrated lasers - the Silicon Photonics Link which is capable of transfer speeds of up to 50 Gbps over longer distances than is currently possible with today's copper technology.
Intel's prototype is made up of a transmitter chip that combines the beams of four 12.5 Gbps lasers, and a receiver chip that separates the four optical beams and directs them into photo detectors, which convert data back into electrical signals.
"This achievement of the world's first 50Gbps silicon photonics link with integrated hybrid silicon lasers marks a significant achievement in our long term vision of ‘siliconizing' photonics and bringing high bandwidth, low cost optical communications in and around future PCs, servers, and consumer devices" said Justin Rattner, Intel chief technology officer and director of Intel Labs.
Still rather far from being used commercially, the Silicon Photonics Link is currently being improved so as to enable speeds of up to 1 Tbps, making it even more desirable for future applications.
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