Intel introduces high-speed optical cable interface, Light Peak
Seems the new USB 3.0 has been getting all the attention in the headlines lately and for good reason. Technology experts have estimated that USB 3.0 devices will be in mass production by 2010. Meanwhile Intel has been working on another method for high speed data transfer and if they get their way it will replace today’s plethora of interfaces currently in use.
Intel has code named it Light Peak, and it uses fiber optics rather than copper wires to transfer data, thus it has much more bandwidth. The new high-speed optical cable technology is designed to connect your electronic devices to each other.
First prototypes are expected to produce transfer rates of about 10 gigabits per second, or speeds that are two times faster USB 3.0. Intel engineers has estimated Light Peaks potential should peak out to about 100Gbps in the next ten years.
How fast is this? If they never proceed any further than 10 gigabits per second, users will have the ability to transfer a full lengthy Blu-ray movie in less than 30 seconds. That’s fast in any body’s book.
This Optical high speed technology allows for smaller connectors and longer, thinner, and more flexible cables than currently possible that could span up to an impressive 100 meters. Light Peak also has the ability to run multiple protocols simultaneously over a single cable, enabling the technology to connect devices such as peripherals, workstations, displays, disk drives, docking stations, and more.
Intel is saying this technology will be ready to ship as early as next year. Anyway we added the video after the jump to better explain this new technology for all you serious engineer types.
[Intel]
