Point2 Technology, the local promising startup founded nine years ago by industry veterans from Marvell, Nvidia and Samsung, has developed revolutionary advances in radio technology. Having just raised $55 million in venture funding, they’re on a mission to make data centers more efficient. The creative startup is due to begin producing chips for a new 1.6-terabit-per-second trans-Atlantic cable later this year. This new invention is a major leap in data transmission speeds.
Point2’s custom cable design uses eight thin polymer-based waveguides, each one able to support 448 gigabits per second. This next-gen technology will invite an explosion of innovation in data centers. Delivering unprecedented levels of power savings, cost reductions and latency improvements over legacy optical technologies.
Launching Innovative Technology
Point2 Technology intends to use the next-generation 28-nanometer CMOS technology to mass-produce the ultra-advanced cables. This innovation drastically reduces power usage to only one-third of that consumed by existing optical systems. This efficiency matches the increasing market demand for more sustainable data center solutions. Point2 uses this technology to offer a low-cost complement to conventional optical fiber systems. These systems tend to be less energy-efficient and are triply damaging environmentally.
Notably, Point2’s system is both automatically created and extremely cost-effective. Plus, their solution is just one-third the cost of conventional optical technology. Point2’s affordability helps it compete well in the cable-and-connector ecosystem. That ecosystem is important for developing radically different data transmission technologies.
“Customers love fiber. But what they hate is the photonics.” – Dave Welch
These remarkable cables are equipped with eight e-Tube fibers. Each fiber has a capacity of more than 200 gigabits of data per second! A Point2’s cable is only 8.1 mm in diameter. It takes up just one-half the volume of a similar Active Electrical Cable (AEC), making it an appealing choice for data center operators looking to maximize space and improve efficiency.
Performance Advantages
Point2’s technology packs some really great performance metrics that totally blow traditional copper cables out of the water. The technology performs particularly well at ranges of 10 to 20 meters, with virtually no loss in coverage. This benefit is especially important in data center deployments, where distance can severely impact performance. On top of that, their second-generation cable has gone as low as 0.3 decibels per meter in losses, giving it even greater reliability.
Point2’s system already has an unusual 40x reduction in latency. It purports to provide latency that’s one-millionth of that in conventional optical technology. This trait is very important for services requiring high-speed data transmission and low-latency connections.
“Electronics have been demonstrated to be inherently more reliable than optics.” – Dave Welch
Consummate industry innovators understand the skill set Point2 has cultivated in the face of persistent disruption across the data transmitting sphere. The “copper cliff” phenomenon is driving many of these companies to find new solutions. They are soon hitting the wall of passive copper technology.
“We call it the copper cliff.” – David Kuo
The shift towards more efficient technologies like Point2’s is essential for future-proofing data centers and accommodating the increasing demand for faster and more reliable data transmission.
Collaborations and Future Directions
Point2 Technology is working with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology to continue polishing its innovative solutions. This partnership will serve to identify new applications for their pioneering radio technology and broaden the deployment of their technology across multiple sectors. This is where investors can play a critical role in helping support these initiatives. Their support gives Point2 the resources to fortify its competitive position in the rapidly evolving cable-and-connector ecosystem.
As Point2 gears up for its next phase of manufacturing, expectations swell of what the product could mean for the data center world. Replacing conventional optical systems with Point2’s next-generation radio technology may set new benchmarks for efficiency, affordability, and performance.
“The entire reason people have gone to [liquid cooling] is to keep [scaling up] in passive copper.” – Don Barnetson