Intel researchers claim chip breakthrough: WSJ

Marketwatch ^ | Sep 18, 2006 1:24 AM ET | MarketWatch Staff

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Researchers at Intel Corp. and the University of California, Santa Barbara, are claiming a breakthrough in creating lasers on computer chips, a development that could lead to sharp reductions in the cost of ultrafast data communications, according to a media report Monday.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel is initially targeting communications between components inside computers and within computers in data centers with the new chips, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. See Wall Street Journal story (subscription required).

.The speediest such connections now send about eight gigabits to 10 gigabits of data per second over distances of as much as 18 inches, The Journal said, citing Mario Paniccia, director of Intel's photonics technology lab.

With the new technology, speeds of 20 gigabits to 40 gigabits could become commonplace, over distances of tens of feet, The Journal said it was told by Paniccia.

As a result, computer performance could increase sharply and hardware designs could change significantly; memory chips, for example, would no longer have to be kept close to microprocessor chips to reduce delays in fetching data, The Journal reported.

Commercializing the technology could take at least five years, Paniccia told The Journal.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Closing statement:

"This hybrid approach addresses the last major hurdle," The Journal reported Paniccia as saying. "We now have all the building blocks."

[Echo Talon]

Commercializing the technology could take at least five years, Paniccia told The Journal.

WHY! grrrrrr

[ClearCase_guy]

But can they put a frickin' laser on a shark's head? Is that too much to ask??