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Intel's Light Peak Optical Cable Technology Has 100Gb/s Potential

Posted 09/23/09 at 09:24:28 PM  by Ryan Whitwam

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If you thought USB 3.0 was going to be fast, just wait for Intel’s Light Peak technology. The new optical interconnect standard was just shown off at IDF. Light Peak is capable of 10Gbps of bandwidth, with a theoretical upper limit of 100Gbps. At the initial offering of 10Gbps, you could transfer an entire Blu-Ray movie in about 30 seconds.

The standard would also be capable of multiple operations on a single cable. This is all possible over a cable that can be up to 100 meters long. The Light Peak technology consists of a controller chip, and an optical module that converts light to electricity and vice versa. Intel claims that current electrical cabling is reaching the limits of speed and cable length, something Light Peak can circumvent.

Intel hopes to see the technology adopted for use in PC’s as well as handheld devices. They believe adoption could happen quickly, as Light Peak is complementary to existing technologies. As for a shipping date, Intel claims components could be going out as soon as 2010.

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COMMENTS:9
TAGS: intel, IDF, USB 3.0, data transfer, optical cable, light peak
COMMENTS
avatarI can see this being used in

Submitted by COMMANDER_COOK on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 1:48pm

I can see this being used in servers.

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avatarNice

Submitted by 457R4L on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 9:58am

Transoptics here we come

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avatarprice.

Submitted by bikerbub on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 3:56am

if intel can manage the price on this, and ssd prices go down, i would be onboard in a heartbeat. the only problem is, that its new technology, so its bound to be unearthly expensive, just like pci-e ssds.

other than that, it looks awesome. might be a little overkill for now, but it sparks a chain of events, i.e.: fast cables = faster harddrives = faster mobo = happy consumer :D

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avatarSata cant even write the

Submitted by Yusonice on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 3:29am

Sata cant even write the information that fast currently! so whats the point of super fast way to transfer stuff?

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avatarLight Peak

Submitted by Ryan Whitwam on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 3:34am

Yeah, well maybe you just replace SATA with Light Peak linked SSDs. The speed might melt your face.

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avatarSalesperson: " With speeds

Submitted by mattman059 on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 4:17am

Salesperson: " With speeds this fast, it could melt your face!"
Consumer: " I want to have my face melted! :D "

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avatarHo Lee Cow

Submitted by PDX-1337 on Wed, 09/23/2009 - 8:52pm

Whoa

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avatarNice... though this

Submitted by 010000100110010... on Wed, 09/23/2009 - 7:58pm

Nice... though this technology is still in development, it looks promising.

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avatarwow

Submitted by rodjav305 on Wed, 09/23/2009 - 7:33pm

Amazing

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