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Breakthrough Speeds Up, Shrinks Chips  

Posted Dec 6, 07 4:11 PM CST in Technology    Most Covered

(newser) – IBM scientists have reached a “significant milestone” in chip technology, using optical signals to speed up and shrink the largest multicore processors. The breakthrough controls light pulses with a device called a wave-guide, a wire-like structure on the chip that communicates among processors; hybrid electronic-optic chips could reduce refrigerator-sized supercomputers to the size of laptops within five years, the Journal reports.

As more cores are placed on single chips, communication means increased energy expenditure, a formula that increases the risk of overheating. The new optical technology will cut the amount of energy needed to carry information. "You can put hundreds of times more data on an optical wire than on a copper wire," said the research leader.

Source Wall Street Journal

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Breakthrough Speeds Up, Shrinks Chips
"It's bringing the capabilities of fiber-optic networks down to the level of a chip," said the leader of the research team responsible for the paper.   (Shutterstock.com)
Breakthrough Speeds Up, Shrinks Chips
The IBM logo at the main campus in Research Triangle Park, N.C. is seen in this July 31, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Karen Tam, file)   (Associated Press)
Breakthrough Speeds Up, Shrinks Chips
A factory-fresh sheet of microchips glint after being assembled in this file photo.   (Getty Images)
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