IBM to unveil world's fastest optical chipset

28 March 2007

The chipset is capable of moving information at speeds of 160 Gigabits per second by using light pulses to speed the flow of data, instead of sending electrons over wires.

The transceiver could reduce download time for a typical high definition feature-length film to a single second compared to 30 minutes or more.

The technology could also be integrated onto printed circuit boards to allow the components within an electronic system – such as a PC or set top box – to communicate much faster, dramatically enhancing the performance of the system itself, IBM said.

IBM researchers said the high level of integration in the chipset has been achieved by using the same high-volume, low-cost CMOS technology used for most chips.

They have then been coupled with other necessary optical components made of more exotic materials, such as indium phosphide (InP) and gallium arsenide (GaAs), into one, integrated package only 3.25 by 5.25 millimeters in size.

The compact design provides a high number of communication channels as well as very high speeds per channel, resulting in the highest-ever transmission of information per unit area of card space taken up by the
This transceiver chipset is designed to enable low-cost optics by attaching to an optical printed circuit board employing densely spaced polymer waveguide channels using mass assembly processes.