3 ms·
At what point do consumer devices start using internal optical interconnects?
by nknighthb 12y ago
At what point do consumer devices start using internal optical interconnects?
- thrownaway2424 12y agoNever? Why do you think this would help anyone?
- nknighthb 12y agoEase of routing. I know optical on-chip networks have been the subject of research for many years, and I've heard rumblings of optical interconnects between chips. I don't know their current status, nor whether they look to be useful in practice. Hence my question.
- reportingsjr 12y agoIf you mean directly from an IC then there is a long way to go on that. They are still trying to figure out how to make lasers on an IC in the same CMOS process as normal ICs.
- rcfox 12y agoWhile not usually meant for carrying high-speed signals, there are optical isolators[0] that are used to communicate between circuits that are not connected electrically. I'd guess that fiber optics is only a net win over large enough distances that you make up the latency from converting electrics signals to optical and back. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opto-isolator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opto-isolator
- raverbashing 12y agoThese are most for electrical insulation, not high speed (most probably aren't made for high speed) It's a whole different problem to have even a short distance connection go up to GHz speeds.
- woadwarrior01 12y agoS/PDIF [1] has supported optical interconnects for a long time. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=S/PDIF https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=S/PDIF
- 13 12y agoNote that they are single direction.
- yincrash 12y agohttp://www.cnet.com/news/cornings-usb-3-0-optical-cable-aims-for-5gbps-up-to-30-meter/ http://www.cnet.com/news/cornings-usb-3-0-optical-cable-aims...
- nknighthb 12y agoThe key word in my comment was "internal".