100Gbps in the next decade

Intel's Light Peak technology uses lasers and fibre optics to transfer data to and from PCs and other devices


Intel has pre-production chips and said the technology will be ready to ship in 2010. In its current form, Light Peak can transfer data at 10Gbps each direction along the fibre-optic line, but Intel said Light Peak will reach much higher speeds — 100Gbps in the next decade, according to Jason Ziller, director of Intel's optical input-output program office.






"But do we really need to go all the way to optical now? High-speed electrical communications is hard — wires can cause electromagnetic interference, for example, and USB 3 cables can only be three metres long compared to five metres for USB 2. But technology for transferring data over copper wires, like technology for shrinking computer chips, has defied predictions that it will run out of gas."

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