Light Peak to Connect Consumer Devices at Record Speed

[epd0123]

Who the hell wants to go back to cables? The future is wireless. Start finding higher speeds for wireless connectivity please.

[electronicsdevice]

great video

[greysmoke321]

up to 100 gigabits in the next decade wow!!

[sajabz2007]

ET will finally get to phone home .. He would be proud of Intel ..

[bishoplord]

1/4 of the way through 2011 and I just find out about it today, LOL. This still hasn't hit the market.

[ducalux]

@bishoplord it hit the market couple of months ago

[johnmacward]

Intel, this is COOL and everything - but tidy your lab.

[TheRM90inc]

5km long fiber spool...

-Attach optical cable to a camera

-Attach camera on a kite

-Fly your kite 5km high

-Awesome aerial footage

-???

-Profit

[eethomasf32]

1:55

10 km range is a long range call? wtf

[sysghost]

@eethomasf32 -

10 Kilometers and up.

Calls with a range below 10 kilometers would be a "short distance call" and might go over copper wire all the way.

[eethomasf32]

@sysghost ok thx, seemt just a very short distance to me xD

[yermommy777]

10 GigaBITS/s is about 120 MB/s. There is a difference between a bit and byte for those of you who don't know. 100 Gigabits/s is about 120 gigbyte/s.

[megamer1]

@yermommy777 I'm sorry, but this is wrong. 10 GBit/s is about 1,25GB per second. 1 bit = 8 byte, so all you have to do is divide the 10 Gigabit by 8 = 1.25. Explanation also on Wikipedia, search for Gigabit.

[olsoldin]

@megamer1

*1 byte = 8 bits

[Heorhii]

New big step.

[mrbanker91]

that guy looks like george bush

[Hardleysm]

Hurry up! I wanna use you!

[SnijdersMax]

@Hardleysm

That's what she said!

[Orf]

amazing

[ronmann606]

Intel has really fucked with the market with Light Peak. With SSD drives there is a push for a super fast interface. If Light Peak was on time and as planned, Apple could skip USB 3 and E SATA and abandon Firewire but now Light Peak is delayed and won't use optical cables, just copper which will have 10 gbps max and therefore will be obsolete within a couple years after the release. PCI SSD drives are already faster than that today.

Optical is the smart choice for the long run.

[tomyloveu]

its gonna be on copper not anymore on optical.... which sucks... now.... dont kno whats wrong with intel .... sandy bridge fault and now with this i love intel always now feel so mad ....

[drrobertoboogie97]

It would be very cool if it had interchangeable plugs so I can plug the cable to a USB, HDMI, Ethernet, eSATA, FireWire, etc. ports with 10 GBit/sec

[oskkin224]

Sounds really cool , but will it blend?

[BBoreq]

Intel, please, launch it to the market faster. People can't wait so long!

[Vitruviux]

It's going to be awesome if it replaces the USB, SATA, Ethernet, SCSI, FireWire, PCI Express and HDMI.

And Intel, please! make nice connectors, and only two standards, normal(USB Type A) and mini(micro USB). That's it, no more billion shapes and types of connectors like USB with it's Type A, type B, Mini, Micro, 4 pin, 5 pin, enough of that shit.

One cable to rule them all!

[UnrealVideoDuke]

So, who lost the bet for the release in 2010? Going to see a lot of people with shaved heads at Intel!

[ejicon]

Looks like President Bush from certain angles :)

[soundcheck4]

Alien Technology from area 51 not doubt ! ... lol

[mnagmobile1]

ehhhhhhhhhhh... it's still a wire. and wires = BAD in the 21st centrue. Sorry intel... I'd sacrifice buffering on a wireless signal than having even a fiber-thin cable/s running around my house. how about putting this money into wireless protocols.... or into somethine else other than connection 2 external devices for IO

[vyseus]

@mnagmobile1 isn't wireless are more bad? instable easier to inercept?

[mnagmobile1]

@vyseus true! i think so, yeah :p

[vyseus]

@mnagmobile1 isn't wireless are more bad? instable easier to inercept?

[davothebum2201]

I don't know what they said here, but it sounds fancy and technical, so you know its good.

[abacusasian]

who wants light peak SSDs? cuz i do!

[Westmensch3]

Wow, this sounds great but I guess you will have to pay a lot to get this technology.

[res1233]

@Westmensch3 From the sounds of it, LightPeak is pretty cheap to manufacture. Fiber Optics is already used extensively in other areas, like television and computing is about to get on the bandwagon.

[psuedorob]

awesome...stuff like this makes me love tech

[SnijdersMax]

@psuedorob

That's what she said!

[papalolita]

Light peak + solid state drive = lightning speed disk read/write.

I guess technologies such as USB, SATA, FireWire etc will go the way of the floppies within 3 years.

It will also be fun to see what happens when chips get smaller than 22nm. Giddy, giddy times for tech.

[YaarZePirate]

well...i guess ATI is controlling nvidia's look on new technology considering they have faster tech as of now, but i doubt that AMD will ever get close to Intel's level of INTELLIGENCE, great work. Intel = GOD of Computing

[kurtnelle]

They should start calling it "Universal Optical Bus" and start shipping it tomorrow.

Gonna Kill USB3, SATA3, PCI Express, Ethernet, Firewire (well put the final nail) and Display Port (in its current implementation) It will be the new standard for chipset to cpu integration as well as internal connections, in everything from Netbooks to Mainframes. EPIC.

[ChazZeromus]

@kurtnelle

Yo, do you have ooaab? lol.

[MBP6705]

@kurtnelle I agree. This will change everything. Apple is expected to start shipping computers with it in 2011. I'm thinking of selling my computers now, because when this hits, all previous computers will be worthless.

[asuperpower]

@kurtnelle It would be awesome, but it's still needs to be flattened out, drivers need to be more available and it needs to be cheaper. Also the general public wouldn't need anything like this, thus it wouldn't sell as well as say USB 2.0. Give it time and it'll develop.

[greysmoke321]

@kurtnelle You hit the nail on the head with your statement, I concur with you about thunderbolt killing current electrical connections and switching to light or thunderbolt.

[summ22]

not sure if want

[danp5648]

it also shows two not just one but two PDCS60T-USB working side by side.

[Bireno]

@cheehon: I hope you like waiting. Best case scenario: Lightpeak starts showing up in more than just high end exclusive stuff by 2014.

[cheehon29]

oh my God, technology is horibly fast.

i wont buy i7 or new pc now.

lets wait for these and wait with some core2dua.. XD

[SteelCity1981]

USB 3.0 and SATA III What are those again? lol That's what people will be saying once Light Peak comes out.

[drkilljoy77]

Want.

[dragngt]

I can't wait to see this in the first Mac computers. This is insanely fast technology and may be why Intel has held off on their USB 3.0 equipment.

[Splortched]

Power over the cable isn't an issue. It's already smaller, so all you have to do is put another pin in, and connect that pin to motherboard provided power. Not an issue at all cause HDMI does it already.

[onionofdeath]

Still has the issue of providing power over the cable.

[Phillomath]

Intel has stated that power will be provided by the copper braiding that will be used to sheath the optic fiber.

[mktgengineer]

To much blatant obfuscation for this to be anything but a PR stunt.

Scope shot has been quite obviously blurred in post production, and the link error rate test equipment has been either motion blurred or speed-panned to being unreadable in freeze frame.

Waiting to see LightPeak - Take II. The true story.

It's R&D - we understand. Stop posturing when you are not ready, but show us your stuff and we'll still gaga over your assembly tech and clever use of two 5 Gb/s VCSEL lasers, anyway.

[IndivisiblePrinciple]

Iam wondering if the Lightpeak cable will also be able to power drives and such. I mean e-sata is really fast (at present) but it cant power any drives without an adaptor or USB cable.

Id be interested to find out

[1Imaginstudio]

AWESOME

thanks

[aberkae]

i love progress and intel is always coming out with new tech exotics and eventually will probably become standard

[thejustincordes]

What about USB 3.0. I realize 3.0 is only 4 Gbit/s versus 10 - 100 Gbit/s but USB will be more universal.

[Duppetiduu]

USB is complete rubbish.

It's a standard made for keyboards and the like, NOT for things like AV-gear.

[IndivisiblePrinciple]

I dont know, from what all these tech heads are saying, it seems like light peak might replace USB, firewire, ethernet, and your monitor port in one clean swoop.

It can do all of these functions simultaneously as well as faster. It is also smaller (i think).

I mean, yes it is being developed by Apple (who we can say are very exclusive) but with technology this good no one will be able avoid it.

Some site said it may quite possibly end up being the only kind of port on later computers .

[benjamoon]

It's being funded by Apple, Intel is developing it. It will be like FireWire, it will be on Apple computers and it will probably take quite a while for the rest of the industry to start using it.

[techtuesday]

remember that USB was originally funded by apple as well, and the iMac was one of the first to use USB as a main connector, and now USB is basically universal. So there is a good chance light peak will go the same way

[sanarkhos]

Apple didn't fund USB. They were early adopters, but they didn't have anything to do with its technical development.

Perhaps you were referring to Firewire.

[TalesOfWar]

Apple are doing it right this time. FireWire was and still is great, but they made the mistake of having silly licence fees involved with it which limited its uptake, and at the same time they did it alone and Intel just stomped over them with USB. Remember, Intel is the biggest maker of chipsets and networking components in the world, so if Intel make it, it's a de-facto standard. Apple took this to Intel because they have the fab capacity and market share to make it dominent and work.

[theharlinator]

@TalesOfWar YES! Apple came up with this idea in protocol and intel made it real.

[theharlinator]

@sanarkhos YOUR WRONG! Apple BROUGHT this to Intel to develop! New Mac Pros will have LIGHT PEAK on them! There are Mac logic boards in videos on the net already showing them working. Sorry, Apple beat everyone to this... again. The new Mac Pros are going to be the elite machines once again with LP.

[Traumglanz]

@sanarkhos

USB is very similar to Apple Desktop Bus. Feel free to check it. So much for your "didn´t have anything to do with its technical development" …

[sanarkhos]

@Traumglanz

I once wrote an ADB driver. I don't know what that has to do with the claim made that Apple "funded" USB.

[SFseis]

@sanarkhos well and FW was mainly devoleped by Sony and not Apple ;-)

[thejustincordes]

What about USB 3.0? I realize USB 3.0 is only 4 Gbit/s but it looks to be more universal.

[jeffsadowski]

Needs two thick copper wires. POE can power a device quite far away. The only reason POE is twisted is for the communications part without twisting it should be cheaper. If the wires are thick enough it could help protect the fiber and provide more power at longer distances than even POE. Also another concern is the connector. We need one that locks in place good but doesn't get caught up. I hate rj45 tabs breaking off but I like how they hold a cable in place when working properly.

[unit45x]

This is very interesting. Thank you for informing the public about this innovation. I really appreciate it.

unit45x

[frededison]

It's about time they see the "light." Go Apple & Intel!

[bonchbonch]

Once again, Apple pushes a new technology that the rest of the industry follows, from 3.5 floppy disks to USB.  PC users should write thank-you letters to Steve Jobs.

[CamiloSanchez1979]

Yeah..let's go optical, is about time

[ngjimmy]

QUOTE: "The company intends to work with the industry to determine the best way to make this new technology a standard."

With the news claiming that Apple bought this tech to intel. I find it hard to believe that intel would actually "work with industry" to make this a standard.

Having Apple push this technology, is a negotiation tool. Apple will earn a stack, so will intel. It's like having a gun put in front of you, would you kill yourself or join?

[Hypothesard]

Lol "Negotiations" like Apple negotiated SCSI, FIreWire, mini Display Port, OpenCL (with a C !)

Apple's modus operandi became more and more rushed in latest years, they prepare all what's needed, partner with big industry names then knock on IEEE's doors asking for validation.

Here with Intel, Apple (allegedly) delegated the cost of the developpement to Intel.

Apple experienced IEEE's dragging feet with First Wi-Fi and kinda forced IEEE's hand implementing draft technology in consumer devices

[Duppetiduu]

Well, not that I'm an Apple-head, but at least they give a damn about people in the AV-industry, unlike everone else, who only cares about cost.

You know why the crappy BS that is USB became the norm? Because the controllers are cheap. FW is far faaaar superiour in every way, and Apple was the ones using it, precisely because they want to support (and own) the AV-market.

If it was up to me, USB would be dead. It's completely useless.

[torakabed]

very nice gunnes intl :D

[pierresas]

Hi Jason... You know, you can loosen up a bit when filming videos like this one, be excited, jump around, display a big smile... because what you do is really *really* cool. Thanks & Kudos to you and to your team!

[iestynx]

Could be amazing

[AppleianKF]

Well yeah, that is true LOL. The MiniDisplay Port, according to what I have been told, was a suppose to more power efficient than the MiniDVI, which was also built to be power efficient. You know Apple, trying to keep that environmental scorecard green. LOL

[tds301]

I like his shirt.

[Hypothesard]

@tds301

80's lives on :P

[tds301]

80ties?

I have that shirt!

[Lumpy2a]

This is really cool. But it's going to be fucking anoying when apple changes every thing every 6 Months!! On the Subject what was up with the display port. The port changes about every year.

[jlebrech]

So do I get a Mac now? or get a stop gap PC? aparently apple and sony will be the first to roll out this tech on their pc's

[AppleianKF]

Well Apple will definitely be incorporating this on their products being that they spawned the idea and brought it to Intel's attention and working as a team developing it, starting with their tablet device that the tech world is clamoring about. As far as Sony, I wouldn't know what to say about that.

[Hypothesard]

If you need a computer for your job get It as soon you need It...

if you start wondering when, you'll keep asking yourself each year (or worst : every 6 months)

Cheers

[Eon2010]

Imagine getting home and plugging your phone into a small docking station in your home office and it displays a familiar OS on your desktop monitor. That's were we are heading: PostPC era - see the Jobs Gates interview with Walt Mossberg from last year for more on that one.

[LandMineHare]

Aww man... If this becomes the new standard for networking, I'm going to have to rewire my house again :\

I just ran Cat6 cables through the walls to all the rooms last year x_x

Even still, good stuff.

[AppleianKF]

Definitely, LP is a brilliant technology that I can't wait for it be introduced. It was actually conceived by Apple the same way FireWire was but they later brought the idea to Intel and they are both collaborating on it, being that Intel did help invent the USB so bring them in and working with them will only make the results better. After seeing in action last week, the performance of it is truly astonishing. Trust me man, when you rewire your house with this, your going to love it! LOL

[ngjimmy]

There were a few optical thesis around 5 years ago, that measured the stress of the building, by measuring the stress of the optical cable, which is done by sending a signal across, then measuring the phase difference.

So you'll see that technology come through with Light Peak, since it'll cheap to implement.

[carlover72]

amazing

[jburt56]

It's reasonable to consider light peak as an eventual replacement for USB and CAT 6. One question is power since USB and ethernet provide that.

Will light peak cabling include power or will this function be separate? Obviously the cable width would be greater. . .

[Hypothesard]

The demoed Cables have 6 "wires" and are thin and flexible, Nothing forbid to put another 3 (in short cables) for Power (+/- and ground)

powered actual connection(cn power 2.5" HDD drives) :

FireWire 400 6 pins

FireWire 800 9 pins

USB 2 has 4 pins (can power HDD/portable optical drives only on 1A plugs or Y double 500mA connectors)

That LightPeak Mass produced would be a blessing

Imagin 1 plug on your computer aventually a hub on your desk where you connect Display, HDD, KB&M, Camcorder etc.

[Hypothesard]

Erratum 4 optical fibre in the demoed connector/cable :P

even better (each one able to give 10Gbits :P)

[Hypothesard]

plus in favor of 3 additionnal power wire :

"Optical fibre are the size of a human hair" and don't need Electromagnetic shielding (power wire would)

So the final cable with 6 optical wires+3 power one won't be bigger than CAT6

they even could be thinner than actual earbuds cables

Yummy

[jburt56]

One possibility would be to combine signalling and power with ultraviolet. You'd have to develop ultraviolet fiber (UVFO) and low power devices.

Probably already been done. . .

[Hypothesard]

O_o

I'm kinda lost, last time I checked Transforming Light into electrical energy and vice versa was not efficient enough to use in what is the subject her : Computers (Solar pannels on solar Cars and bigger, but I don't want my Laptop to be that big :P)

Maybe I missunderstood, but I think adding 2Copper strains+ground on 4 optical fiber strans won't do too much "fat" on the fina wire (an will stay ok for under 10 meters long cable)

[ngjimmy]

Good point. But I think you'll find that the current bottleneck in USB isn't the circuitry on the motherboard. It's to do with how it sends signals to and fro the device.

Hence USB 3.0 is hit up to 8gbp/s. What intel is saying is that this will get up to 100gbps in the next decade. By then all the circuitry on the motherboard must be optical, otherwise copper can't handle it.

[Hypothesard]

My problem with USB is that it taxes the CPU (the FireWire doesn't) isn't provide constant speed (not enough to make video/sound editing)

and I don't think USB3 will change that (proportionally).

Of course the bottleneck would then be SATA, HDD/SSD themselves etc

BUT (a big one)

LightPeack is aimed to be a multi Protocol connection (DisplayPort+USB+FireWire+Soun­d+Ethernet+Mass Storage+etc)

[.../...]

[Hypothesard]

"isn't provide" oooh

Doesn't

Sorry There must be tons of those typo in my post

Again saorry

[jeffsadowski]

Think about it. SATA? Come on this light peak will connect directly to the hard drives SATA and SAS will be easily obsoleted with light peak. Drives should come with more buffering ram and we could jump to new speeds quickly.

[Hypothesard]

So 10GB will be just enoug for example to handle the bandwith of a 30" (8GBits/sec) a Gigabit Ethernet (1GBit/sec) connection and handle 1 or 2 Firewire perpherals

Then eventually another one to handle additionnal HDD/SSD (SATA2 being 3GBits/sec), etc

And reminder we're still dealing with theorical datarates

[jeffsadowski]

Too many people with this notion of short for power. Look at POE and you'd realize if they up the voltage to the same as POE we could have both power at a distance and fiber for the lossless communications. Win Win. And they only need two stranded (better because of more surface area) copper wires.

[themuse64]

Did I see Al Gore in the background?

[DeletedDelusion]

Great.

[AborigenMoscoW]

sweet!!!

[ppereirautube]

what about USB 3.0?

i just hope it has power to support some energy-hungry devices.

[microwatchbox]

After N years finally they smarten up, we had optical SPDF for years. To be honest I was amazed that over all these years they didn't expand on this technology (for consumers) as most of our larger data centers and internet connectivity run solely on this fiber technology. We're now finally getting fiber to home projects, and finally, these (hopefully) standards based optical interconnects.

I know wireless seems even better but for some connections a physical connection is desired or required.

[gicacoca]

it's nanotechnology serving anyone of us

[redab2007]

gorge bush lol

[87ramasaurus]

LMAO thats the first thing I felt too !! :-D

[EmanuelHoogeveen]

Hmm, that just leaves the power supply. I know Intel are also working on wireless power (along with a few other start-up companies), but how close is this to being realized on a component level? If you could use magnetic resonance to get power directly to all of the components on your PC it would simplify motherboards, but I don't know how stable this wireless power is.

[jeffsadowski]

With wireless power you'll want wireless communication. They just need to realize they need copper wires for the power. I really hope they listen to people telling them to run wire with the fiber. I so want to see this and I know I'm not the only one.

[PSYK0MANT1S]

HOT SHIT! I can seee myself at 50 years old (20 yrs from now) telling my children... " I used to have to DIAL-IN!!!"

[guest2424]

Keep up the great work.

[Omellykim]

good luck with that one