Light Will Replace Copper Wires in Computer.

Today's computers use copper wires to transfer data from processor to ram. But copper wires has reached their limits.

In solution to that researchers of Intel and IBM are planning to replace copper wires by fiber optics to transfer data at amazing fast speed.

Transferring data at 10Gbps through copper wires is becoming challange so they are trying to implement fiber optics in place of copper wires to get very high speed data transfer.



Intel invented a technology called Light Peak which may replace today's PCs with a single type of fiber-optic link.

Intel researchers said that the optical technology could ultimately replace the use of copper wires and electrons to carry data inside or around computers.

The technology will also be able to carry data over longer distances than copper wires.

The Light Peak technology handles multiple communication protocols at the same time, with quality-of-service provisions to ensure high-priority traffic get preferred treatment.

Intel said they are working on combining the optical fiber with copper wire so Light Peak can be used to power devices plugged into the PC.



IBM researchers are also getting close to develope chips that use pulses of light instead of electrical signals over copper wire to share information.

This technique is able to transmit data at speeds up to 40 gigabits per second using a 1.5 volt power supply.

IBM says that a traditional system using 20-30 volts could be operated by a 1.6 volt AA battery!

The chip itself is made using existing semiconductor technology and the light signals themselves are transmitted over silicon circuits.

The term 'avalanche' in the devices name comes from the way the exchange of information builds as the circuit does its job.

Much like an avalanche on steep slope where a tiny pack of snow triggers a large scale slide, an incoming photon releases an electron, then this electron causing a cascade effect releases many other electrons to amplify the original signal many times.

Scientists at IBM recently completed research which may soon result in supercomputers the size of current notebooks.

Advantages

• Very High Speed Data Transfer.
  
  It offers 10 - 40 Gbps data transfer. Which means you can transfer a HD movie every second.
  
  
• Requires Less Power.
  
  As IMB said, it requires 1.5 volts which is very low compared to current computers.
  
  
• Low Heat Consumption.
  
  Unlike copper wires fiber optics don't consume heat. So no loss of power. No need to keep temperature down. No need of air conditioners and fans.
  
• Small Size.
  
  It replace the group of copper wire by a single optical fiber. So requires less space. It can reduce the size of super computers.
  

This technology can replace current USB technology too!