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Goodbye USB? 10Gbps Light Peak goes retail in ’11

Goodbye USB? 10Gbps Light Peak goes retail in ’11

The Intel Developer Forum in Beijing on Wednesday drew to a close, but the proceedings revealed that Intel still intends to bring the fiber optic cable format known as Light Peak to market.

Light Peak is a high-speed optical cable technology designed to carry HD video, audio and data on a single cable. Initially supporting transfer rates of 10Gbps, or twice the speed of the new USB 3.0 standard, Intel envisions the technology as the lone successor to SCSI, SATA, E-SATA, HDMI, FireWire and USB.

A basic Light Peak system uses a controller chip and optical module that work in concert to convert data from electrical impulses to light and back. Intel has previously expressed that the technology could feasibly scale to 100Gbps over the next ten years.

The main advantage of Light Peak, Intel says, is the nature of fiber optics. By changing the wavelength of the light for each type of data being transmitted, a single cable is capable of carrying multiple protocols. For example, this would allow a Blu-ray player equipped with Light Peak to transmit video, audio and Ethernet without separate HDMI and Ethernet cables. Another scenario might be transferring data to an external hard disk while pulling video from your HD camcorder uninterrupted.

Credit: Steven Shankland/CNET

While most fear a protracted standards war between that of USB and Light Peak, the battle may be over more quickly than one might imagine: the USB 3.0 connector specification already permits for optical connections, and Intel’s demonstrations of Light Peak have used a USB connector. Equipping motherboards and devices with Light Peak and USB 3.0 could be as easy as baking both into a single-chip controller, a solution that Intel has inferred that it is already working with partners to achieve. In the future, enabling Light Peak’s transfer rates on supporting devices could be as easy as plugging in the proper cable.

For now, Intel says, there is still much work to be done for the new standard, but consumer devices are expected to hit the streets in limited volume as early as 2011.

Comments

  1. BuddyJ
    BuddyJ Fresh to death. Light Peak is gonna rock.
  2. Annes
    Annes Good god ya'll. Gimme summa that.
  3. Kwitko
    Kwitko If Light Peak and USB 3 can peacefully co-exist, then it's win-win all around. Fast transfer speeds and backward compatibility.
  4. timuchan
    timuchan And I...

    Jizz in my pants.
  5. Tim
    Tim Not a good idea. Fiber optic cables running all over the place inside a computer would be prone to damage far more easily than USB cables, and most USB ports are right on the motherboard in the first place.

    It transfers data faster, so that part is ok.
  6. Thrax
    Thrax The fiber optic channels would be embedded in the motherboard, genius. Have you never seen an engineering sample of a new technology before?
  7. Cliff_Forster
    Cliff_Forster
    Tim wrote:
    Not a good idea. Fiber optic cables running all over the place inside a computer would be prone to damage far more easily than USB cables, and most USB ports are right on the motherboard in the first place.

    It transfers data faster, so that part is ok.

    I thought fiber optics were reasonably durable as long as they are cabled accordingly?

    Toslink cables have been in our home theater set ups for more than a decade, I don't think I've ever had to replace one due to failure?
  8. QCH
    QCH Fiber optic cables are actually more durable if you leave them alone. Yes they can be broken easier than a copper cable but only if you mess with them. Fiber optics do do degrade, oxidize, or breakdown if left alone. It's glass or high quality plastic with a sheath. The question is, will Intel let the Light Peak go for cheap (Licensing fee).
  9. Thrax
    Thrax You're right, Cliff. Fiber optic cables are very durable, and new nanoparticle technologies have made them incredibly resistant to signal attenuation even with sharp or a large number of bends.
  10. Bandrik
    Bandrik At first when I heard of Intel trying to play this new cable format, I was highly skeptical. "It'll die very quickly, why are they wasting their time," I asked. But after reading this here... perhaps it isn't so bad after all. Especially if it sits along with USB 3.0 as well so I can continue to use my lineup of USB peripherals.
  11. Canti
    Canti 100Gbps within 10 years? Holy fffffff
  12. RWB
    RWB Not sure if I understood correctly, USB 3.0 and Lightpeak can be combined?
  13. GooD
    GooD If it can live with USB, im all for it and can't wait for it to go retail :)
  14. mertesn
    mertesn
    Tim wrote:
    Not a good idea.
    Says the guy running IE6

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