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Fibre optic interface could replace USB

By Darien Graham-Smith in San Francisco

Posted on 24 Sep 2009 at 02:25

David “Dadi” Perlmutter, Intel’s executive vice president, demonstrated the new “Light Peak” interconnect at the second day of IDF in San Francisco.

“At last!” he joked: “A name that makes sense at Intel. One time.”

The interface can carry any type of data, and the controller supports a transfer rate of 10 gigabits per second – though since it’s based on light the potential for future upgrades is practically infinite. The system also has almost limitless range: delegates saw a Windows 7 system connected to a display by forty feet of Light Peak cable.

Perlmutter hoped that Light Peak might “bring optical connections to the mainstream”, but admitted that adoption is likely to be slow.

“We're going to have the silicon next year,” he promised, “but it will take time. Some OEMs will use it next year, or in 2011... but remember how long it took USB to become mainstream.”

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User comments

hmmm

So to replace USB it would need to be able to power connected equipment and be dirt cheap.

And now that mobile phone companies have finally agreed to use USB as a standard Intel try to kill it off!

Mind you, I can't wait for a fibre optic memory stick.

By jamesyld on 24 Sep 2009

uhmmm

Sounds great, but whats the catch? Price? Upgrading pc's from the tradional gaming styles we already using?
I love the usb devices, plug and play is so easy, why make things complicated? And what operating systems will it be available for? XP? vista? windows 7? all or just one?
If thats the case I defo wont be upgrading!

By Wolf_01 on 24 Sep 2009

Cables

Getting power to it is easy, just add two metal strips to the wire.

What about bending the cable? fibre isn't as flexible as metal, so I for one can only see it being applied to a few devices.

By AlSomething1 on 24 Sep 2009

I think you might be surprised about the flexibility of current fibre cables, without being told otherwise you would assume many are standard wire based cables. The cables typically used for infrastructure are however relatively inflexible, so maybe this is where the confusion arose?

By skarlock on 24 Sep 2009

I think it should be called 'Light Bridge' rather than 'Light Peak'.

By aron311 on 24 Sep 2009

Eh?

Q. "why make things complicated?"
A. Loooong cables and 10 gigabits per second.

I'm confused by the title; do Intel really see this as a replacement for USB or is that the PC Pro spin on things?

By Mark_Thompson on 24 Sep 2009

Perlmutter explicitly stated that Light Peak could replace USB, display cables and more. I actually had to ask him to clarify, because it sounded like he was suggesting it could replace all these things with a single cable; it turned out he simply meant that all these different interfaces could now use a single standard physical connector.

But nobody said a word about how much it would cost to build super-fast optical controllers into devices and PCs. With USB 3.0 expected next year, I'm personally not convinced the time is right for Light Peak just yet...

By DarienGS on 25 Sep 2009