The company said the breakthrough could transform how data is accessed, shared and used across the internet for corporate and consumer networks.
The technology, to be demonstrated at the 2007 Optical Fiber Conference in Anaheim, is fast enough that the download time for a typical high definition feature-length movie would be reduces from about 30 minutes or more to a single second.
The company said optical networking could dramatically improve data rates by speeding the flow of data by using light pulses, instead of sending electrons over wire.
“The explosion in the amount of data being transferred, when downloading movies, TV shows, music or photos, is creating demand for greater bandwidth and higher speeds in connectivity,” said IBM Research’s science and technology vice-president T C Chen.
“Greater use of optical communications is needed to address this issue. We believe our optical transceiver technology may provide the answer.”
The company said optical technology could move information at speeds of 160 Gigabits per second, providing a glimpse of a new era of high-speed.
As the volume of data being transmitted over networks have continued to rise, researchers have sought to make the use of optical signals more practical, saying optics could not just offered massive bandwidth, but improve signal fidelity compared to current electrical links.
IBM’s researchers say the technology could be integrated onto printed circuit boards to allow the components within an electronic system – like a PC or set top box – to communicate much faster, dramatically enhancing the performance of the system itself.
As a demonstration, the researchers built an optical transceiver with driver and receiver integrated circuits in current CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) technology, the same standard, high-volume, low-cost technology used for most chips today.
They then coupled it with other necessary optical components made in more exotic materials, such as indium phosphide (InP) and gallium arsenide (GaAs), into one, integrated package only 3.25mm by 5.25mm in size.
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