IBMscientists have
unveiled a prototype optical transceiver chipset capable of
reaching speeds at least eight times faster than optical components
available today.
At the 2007 Optical Fiber Conference in the US this
week, IBM is demonstrating a breakthrough that could transform how
data is accessed, shared and used across the Web for corporate and
consumer networks.
The transceiver is fast enough to reduce the download time for a
typical high definition feature-length film to a single second
compared to the present 30 minutes or more.
IBM said the ability to move information at speeds of 160Gbits - or
160 billion bits of information in a single second - provides a
glimpse of a new era of high-speed connectivity that will
transform
communications, computing and entertainment.
Optical networking offers the potential to dramatically improve
data transfer rates by speeding the flow of data using light
pulses, instead of sending electrons over wires.
"The explosion in the amount of data being transferred, when
downloading movies, TV shows, music or photos, is creating demand
for greater bandwidth and higher speeds in connectivity," said TC
Chen, vice-president for science & technology at IBM
Research.
"Greater use of optical communications is needed to address this
issue. We believe our optical transceiver technology may provide
the answer."
As the amount of data transmitted over networks continues to grow,
researchers have been looking for ways to make the use of optical
signals more practical.
The ability to use these signals could offer previously unheard
of amounts of bandwidth and enhanced signal fidelity compared to
current electrical data links.
By shrinking and integrating the components into one package,
and building them with standard low-cost, high-volume chip
manufacturing techniques, IBM said it is making optical
connectivity viable for widespread use.
For example, the technology could be integrated onto printed
circuit boards to allow the components within an electronic system
– such as a PC or set top box - to communicate much faster,
dramatically enhancing the
performance of the system itself.
To achieve this new level of integration in the chipset, IBM
researchers built an optical transceiver with driver and receiver
integrated circuits based on current CMOS technology, the same
standard, high-volume, low-cost technology used for most chips
today.
They then coupled it with other necessary optical components
made in more exotic materials, such as indium phosphide (InP) and
gallium arsenide (GaAs), into one, integrated package only 3.25 by
5.25mm in size.
IBM said this compact design provides both a high number of
communications channels as well as very high speeds per channel,
resulting in an amount of information transmitted per unit area of
card space taken up by the chipset (the ultimate measure of
viability for practical use) that is the highest ever.
This transceiver chipset is designed to enable low cost optics
by attaching to an optical printed circuit board employing densely
spaced polymer waveguide channels using mass assembly
processes.
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