Intel develops first photonics-based, 50Gbps chip

Intel provided a peek at the future of processors today by revealing the first instance of a chip using complete photonics to send data. Four lasers in the prototype convert light into data at about 50Gbps, or "many" times faster than wired connections. The rate, about 6.25GB per second, would be enough to send an entire 720p movie in one second.

The technology could improve chips themselves but could be particularly useful for when large amounts of data need to be spread over a similarly large area, such as video walls or supercomputers.


http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/07/27/intel.chip.uses.lasers.to.hit.record.speeds/