Photonic Processor Chip

[StamatisX]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first processor that can use light to communicate with the external world is the result of a combined effort between Universities of California - Berkeley, MIT and Colorado, Boulder. 

 

The new chip, described in a paper published Dec. 24 in the print issue of the journal Nature, marks the next step in the evolution of fiber optic communication technology by integrating into a microprocessor the photonic interconnects, or inputs and outputs (I/O), needed to talk to other chips.

 

Advantages of the new chip:

• Greater bandwidth with less power (10x - 50x greater than current electrical microprocessors and consumes 1.3 Watts of power to transmit a terabit of data per second).
• Signal can be transmitted way further without the need of a repeater (1m is approximately the limit for high-speed electrical links).
• Different wavelengths could be used at the same time to increase data transfer.
• These adaptations all worked within the parameters of existing microprocessor manufacturing systems, and that it will not be difficult to optimize the components to further improve their chip’s performance.

 

The current research lead to the creation of two new startup companies, one is Ayar Labs (ex OptiBit) where researchers are focusing on photonic interconnects while SiFive is commercializing the RISC-V processors.

 

 

Source: Berkeley

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[Brian]

The question is how much temperature tolerance processors like this will have? I'd imagine the temperature would have to be kept fairly cool and controlled so they'll probably use it in quantum computing at first. Also, can it run Crysis?

[StamatisX]

Temperatures will definitely be significantly lower if they use just light and not a hybrid version (both electrons and light). The prototype is a dual core so it probably couldn't handle Crysis but since it uses existing technology it can be easily scaled up for commercial production.

[titancomplex86]

Haha, haven't heard anybody ask "can it run crysis" Also im curious to see how light will start to be used in electronic applications as time goes on certainly with fibre optics but also with processors and more odds and ends parts