[IDF] Ge-Si based Optical Converters Near Breakthrough

According to Intel, the introduction of silicon-based optical data transmission in the mass market is nearing a breakthrough. This technology will allow the networking of processors. Currently, optical data transmission is used to network computers in clusters. Intel already showed early samples of functional hardware – so called optical cables – at the ISC 2007 in Dresden, Germany. The data transfer rate was specified as 40 and 20 Gbit/s. In the near future, these links will be accelerated up to 1 Tbit/s. This would allow the linking of several CPU cores even over great distances. The spatial arrangement of processing units, memory and opto-electrical converters on a chip was also a topic. This type of package would enable completely new types of systems connected by optical links.