IBM Has a Trillion-Bit, Insane Bandwidth "Holey Optochip"

This claim boils down to a parallel optical transceiver that is first to boast the capability of transferring one trillion bits (1 Tbps or about 116.4 GBps). According to IBM, the chip is about eight times faster than any parallel optical component that is available today and delivers a 100,000 times the "raw" speed that is equivalent to the bandwidth that is typically consumed by end users today (10 Mbps).

IBM said that key to improving the speed of the chip was adding 48 holes (optical vias) to a standard 90 nm CMOS, which provides access to 24 receiver and 24 transmitter channels. The fact that it is based on optical communication features gave the chip its name - the Holey Optochip. IBM says the 5.2 mm x 5.8 mm chip can be fabricated using today's silicon manufacturing techniques, which gives the technology instant scale. Apparently the chip is also very power-efficient at a power consumption of just 5 watts.

There was no information when or if this chip will be put into production.

  • house70
    .....* speechless*.....
    Reply
  • frombehind
    so... When do i get to download all those HD movies in 1 second? :D
    Reply
  • woe96
    just if are hard drive had the speed to get all that
    Reply
  • Pyree
    ^So true. Not even the RAM in our home build can keep up with it.
    Reply
  • IndignantSkeptic
    So it's super fast, super power efficient, and can be manufactured using today's techniques. I'd say that should mean we'll see it available in a couple of decades. That should be enough time for the scientists to convince the Republicans that it won't open the Hell Portal.
    Reply
  • wopr11
    lol@ john_4
    Reply
  • txsouthpaw
    IndignantSkepticSo it's super fast, super power efficient, and can be manufactured using today's techniques. I'd say that should mean we'll see it available in a couple of decades. That should be enough time for the scientists to convince the Republicans that it won't open the Hell Portal.
    Right on, man. Good post.
    Reply
  • wiyosaya
    I can see it now. Here come the US carriers drooling over this - thinking of how much they can charge their subscribers for this blazingly fast speed.
    Reply
  • alidan
    what exactly is this?

    is this just to show off tech?
    is it part of something... am i missing details... am i misreading it...

    because all i see is that they are telling us what it can do, but not telling us its application.
    Reply
  • ben850
    frombehindso... When do i get to download all those HD movies in 1 second?
    Then you'd face HDD/SSD write speeds :p
    Reply