IBM makes chip to speed up internet services

PanARMENIAN.Net - IBM says it has developed a chip that makes it easier to shuttle data about via pulses of light instead of using electrical signals, according to BBC News.

The firm says it should offer a way to move large amounts of information between processors in computer servers at higher speeds than at present.

These provide computing power and data used by apps and other net services.

One third-party expert said the significance of the innovation was that it was much cheaper than other options.

Details of the development are to be presented at the International Electron Devices Meeting in San Francisco later.

The team behind the development said that using light, rather than the flow of electrons, to transmit data has two key advantages: Data can be sent further distances between different parts of a server centre without the risk of losing information; Data transfer speeds are faster as light can be used to carry more information at once through cables.

Data centers have already started using optical cables to swap data between racks of computer chips instead of copper cables.

But at present they need special equipment to convert the light-encoded data into an electricity-based version so that the processors can make use of it.

IBM have made it possible for this conversion process to take place on a computer chip that integrates optical components side-by-side with electrical circuits on the same piece of silicon, and can be mass produced at a relatively cheap cost.

Each chip contains a number of channels - IBM would not specify the number - that can each handle light-encoded data at speeds of up to 25 gigabits per second (Gbps).

By combining these together the firm says data can be transferred hundreds of times faster still. IBM began producing the first chips containing the nanophotonic technology earlier this year at an existing semiconductor factory.