{"id":690,"date":"2013-01-21T10:05:37","date_gmt":"2013-01-21T15:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=690"},"modified":"2013-01-21T10:05:37","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T15:05:37","slug":"intel-prepares-to-use-lasers-light-to-shuffle-data-between-computers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/01\/21\/intel-prepares-to-use-lasers-light-to-shuffle-data-between-computers\/","title":{"rendered":"Intel prepares to use lasers, light to shuffle data between computers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Intel is taking the first steps to implement thin fiber optics that will use lasers and light as a faster way to move data inside computers, replacing the older and slower electrical wiring technology found in most computers today.
\nIntel’s silicon photonics technology will be implemented at the motherboard and rack levels and use light to move data between storage, networking and computing resources. Light is considered a much faster vehicle to move data than copper cables.
\nThe silicon photonics technology will be part of a new generation of servers that will need faster networking, storage and processing subsystems, said Justin Rattner, Intel’s chief technology officer, during a keynote at the Open Compute Summit in Santa Clara, California, on Wednesday.
\nAt the conference, Intel and server maker Quanta Computer are showing a prototype server rack architecture that is capable of moving data using optical modules. The server uses an Intel silicon switch and supports the chip maker’s Xeon and Atom server chips.
\nThe new rack architecture with silicon photonics is a result of more than a decade of research in Intel’s laboratories, Rattner said. He said silicon photonics could enable communication at speeds of 100G bps (bits per second), and transfer data at high speeds while using lesser power compared to copper cables. The technology could also consolidate power supplies and fans in a data center, reducing component costs.
\nIntel’s research revolved around the production of devices needed to implement silicon photonics at the rack level, including modulators and detectors. The company is now producing silicon photonics modules that can transfer data at 100G bps, and is offering it to a few clients for testing.
\nServer design changes
\nSilicon photonics could potentially redefine server designs, Rattner said. With the high-speed bandwidth, processing and storage units could be decoupled from servers and stored in separate boxes. Once the infrastructure with silicon photonics is in place, server designs could change even more, Rattner said.
\nIntel is working with Facebook to define new server technologies that will lead to the decoupling of computing, networking and storage resources. The high-bandwidth connection offered by silicon photonics will be key in bringing the rack technologies to reality, and the processor, switch and other modules need to work together on power management, protocol support, load balancing and handshakes to make high-speed data transfers possible.
\nCritical to this step is “the introduction of silicon photonics in not just the inter-rack fabric, but also the intra-rack fabric,” Rattner said.
\nIntel is already using fiber optics with its Thunderbolt connector technology, which like USB 3.0, shuffles data between host devices and peripherals. At last week’s International CES show in Las Vegas, Corning announced Thunderbolt Optical Cables that can stretch up to 100 meters.
\nAggressive timetable
\nIntel is being aggressive with pushing silicon photonics into the data center, said Jason Waxman, general manager of the cloud platforms group, in an interview. He said it could be in use in fewer than five years, but did not commit to a timeline.
\nThere are multiple protocols that could be supported for high-speed data transfers, including InfiniBand, Ethernet and PCI-Express, Waxman said. Intel said it will implement the InfiniBand networking technology inside its chips, which could enable faster data transfers.
\nIt is only a matter of time until copper wires are replaced by fiber optics, said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research.
\n“Over time you will see the server communication infrastructure\u2014which includes switches\u2014to include photonics,” McCarron said.
\nHigh-speed communication networks use optical technology, and so far the bandwidth in servers was adequate, McCarron said. But with more data flowing through networks, there is a growing demand to crank up the speed over connections, which is where silicon photonics comes into play.
\n“We’re going to keep seeing continued demands for the interconnect. It is a forgone conclusion we will have to go to photonics,” McCarron said.
\nInitial implementations may be expensive, and there may be a need to introduce protocols that could enable high speed data transfers over fiber optics.
\n“Eventually the signalling gets far too complex, and the move to photonics makes sense,” McCarron said. “The motivation is how do you economically get to higher speeds.”
\nvia Intel prepares to use lasers, light to shuffle data between computers | PCWorld<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Intel is taking the first steps to implement thin fiber optics that will use lasers and light as a faster […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,6,10],"tags":[960,975],"class_list":["post-690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hardware","category-networking","category-technology","tag-server","tag-silicon-photonics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-b8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9816,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2024\/11\/11\/hw-news-battlemage-lives-9800x3d-flipped-cache-valves-deck-2-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":690,"position":0},"title":"HW News – Battlemage Lives, 9800X3D Flipped Cache, & Valve’s Deck 2 Thoughts","author":"NCCT","date":"November 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/YIEJJWnXEC0 In HW News this week, Intel's Battlemage makes an appearance, its 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs are on fire sale, the 9800X3D is rumored to have flipped cache, and Valve has thoughts on not iterating Steam Decks annually. We also talk about the Arm vs. Qualcomm news, an AR\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hardware"","block_context":{"text":"Hardware","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/hardware\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/YIEJJWnXEC0\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9293,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2018\/01\/29\/this-week-in-tech-651-occupy-fiber\/","url_meta":{"origin":690,"position":1},"title":"This Week in Tech 651: Occupy Fiber","author":"NCCT","date":"January 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/gdKJ49zG7D0 Elon Musk's great ideas: Tesla, SpaceX, flamethrowers. Apple HomePod arrives next week. Google Clips camera is not at all creepy, we swear. Nobody won the Lunar X Prize. Amazon Go officially opens. Montana, New York, AT&T, John Deere, and Burger King take up the Net Neutrality battle. Intel's Spectre\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple"","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/gdKJ49zG7D0\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9655,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2021\/03\/09\/fuquay-varina-and-holly-springs-computer-repair\/","url_meta":{"origin":690,"position":2},"title":"Fuquay Varina and Holly Springs Computer Repair","author":"NCCT","date":"March 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to our blog. NC Computer Tech services Fuquay Varina, Holly Springs, and surrounding NC areas. We offer prompt, professional, courteous service with over twenty years of experience dealing with residential and small business clients offering them solutions and fixing their computer and network issues at reasonable rates. Our services\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9886,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2024\/12\/08\/12gb-vram-10-faster-than-4060-and-only-249-intel-arc-battlemage-is-going-to-be-nuts\/","url_meta":{"origin":690,"position":3},"title":"12GB VRAM, 10% faster than 4060 and only $249?? Intel ARC Battlemage is going to be nuts!","author":"NCCT","date":"December 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/K9fUlvOsxCI Intel dropped the details on the new Xe2 GPUs, the B570 and B580 GPUs... aggressively priced and targeting the 1440p gaming resolution, will these be competitive options outside of AMD and NVIDIA?","rel":"","context":"In "Hardware"","block_context":{"text":"Hardware","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/hardware\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/K9fUlvOsxCI\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9526,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2019\/03\/03\/outrage-moms-this-week-in-tech-708\/","url_meta":{"origin":690,"position":4},"title":"Outrage Moms – This Week in Tech 708","author":"NCCT","date":"March 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/rzRHMGNsnyI The end of smart-phones, AI fake people, Elon in the ditch again, and more. -- MWC 2019 and the Future of Smartphones and Wearables -- This Person Does Not Exist -- OpenAI and the Text Generator Too Dangerous to Exist -- Outrage Mobs and Twitter -- China's Social Credit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/rzRHMGNsnyI\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9518,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2019\/02\/10\/between-the-buns-this-week-in-tech-705\/","url_meta":{"origin":690,"position":5},"title":"Between the Buns – This Week in Tech 705","author":"NCCT","date":"February 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/KZ52Am221no Improving government websites, blocking the big five, Spotify\u2019s podcast move, and more. -- Alphabet Earnings: Google's Cost Per Click -- Cutting out Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft -- The US to Ban Huawei 5GTech -- Germany Outlaws Facebook's Business Model -- What if Google Just Doesn't Pay Its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple"","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/KZ52Am221no\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}