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'Optical engine' moves through the gears

05 Oct 2009

Embedded optical-engine technology will underpin high-speed interconnect applications.

Avago Technologies, a supplier of analogue interface components for communications, industrial and consumer applications, has unveiled what it claims is a "ground-breaking embedded optical engine technology" to enable high-speed connectivity in a range of electronic, computing and consumer applications.

The first application to use the technology is Intel's Light Peak, an optical-fibre cable technology announced last month at the annual Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, CA.

Put simply, Light Peak is a high-speed optical interconnect designed to run multiple existing I/O protocols on a single cable connecting many electronic devices – displays, disk drives, peripherals and docking stations.

The technology delivers high bandwidth, starting at 10 Gbit/s with the potential to scale to 100 Gbit/s over the next decade. At 10 Gbit/s, a full-length Blu-ray movie can be transferred in less than 30 s.

"With an extra thin profile of 2 mm and power consumption of 135 mW per 10 Gbit/s channel, the Avago optical engine will fit in confined spaces – an essential requirement for computing and consumer electronic devices," said Philip Gadd, vice-president and general manager of Avago's fibre-optic products division.

According to Intel, initial Light Peak optical components will be ready to ship in 2010.

LaCroix Precision OpticsTRIOPTICS GmbHMad City Labs, Inc.JenLab GmbHAlluxaIDS Imaging Development SystemsUniverse Kogaku America Inc.
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