Intel’s New Optical Server Interconnect: 1.6 Terabits Per Second
August 15th, 2013Via: PC World:
Intel is looking to use light and lasers to shuffle data faster among servers, and is proposing a new optical interconnect, MXC, that could change the way servers are implemented in data centers.
The chip maker is pitching MXC as a “next-generation optical connector” that could be a big step in standardizing optical technology and ultimately help bring it to servers faster.
Light provides high-bandwidth connections that are much faster than older electrical wiring technology found in most computers today.
The optical interconnect “can carry up to 1.6 terabits per second and is smaller than the connectors used today,” Intel said in a brief description of an upcoming session on MXC on its website for the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, slated for Sept. 10 to 12. Optical signals will also be able to go more than 300 meters and provide swift transfer rates, according to the session notes.
The chip maker will share more information about MXC at IDC. Intel started working on the technology with Corning Cable Systems two years ago.
Intel declined to comment on MXC specifics.
