Point2 Technology’s joint engineers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Now, together, they’ve announced a historic step forward in the technology used to transmit data that will significantly increase energy efficiency in data centers. With the development of a completely new optical system based on 28-nanometer CMOS technology, the new system represents a massive step up from standard optical and copper interconnects.
Point2’s ingenuity really sparkles with its e-Tube cable. By integrating various transmitter and receiver components on a single silicon chip, it is able to transform incoming digital data into modulated millimeter-wave frequencies. This new system’s three major structural pieces include a digital signal processor interfaced to the graphics processing unit, a terahertz-frequency generator, and a mixer that modulates information onto the terahertz wave. The e-Tube cable features an antenna that radiates the signals into a waveguide capable of transmitting data over distances up to 20 meters.
Point2 is in the process of ramping up production of those chips for a revolutionary 1.6-terabits-per-second cable. The firm plans to disrupt the entire manner in which data moves between data centers. Each of the eight slender polymer waveguides in this cable can handle a whopping 448 gigabits per second. They reach this exceptional speed by using two frequencies of 90 GHz and 225 GHz. This innovation comes at a time when traditional copper cabling is increasingly burdened by power consumption and latency challenges.
Advantages of e-Tube Technology
Point2’s e-Tube cable offers a number of benefits over typical copper and optical solutions. Importantly, it takes up one-sixth the space of a 32-gauge copper wire, while delivering potentially 20 times the distance. The second-generation cable has fibers with diameters on the order of 200 µm. It delivers system losses as little as 0.3 dB/m!
David Kuo, the Vice President of Product Marketing and Business Development at Point2 Technology emphasized just how critical this news was. He noted the pitfalls of the status quo with aging copper wiring.
“We call it the copper cliff,” says Kuo.
Don Barnetson
, an important actor in the development project, expressed well the struggle to look beyond current technological usage.“You start with passive copper, and you do everything you can to run in passive copper as long as you can,” says Barnetson.
This strategy underscores the urgent need to start working toward greater efficiency as demands increase.
Industry Impact and Future Prospects
If successful, the introduction of Point2’s e-Tube cable could radically shift how data centers are built and operated. As industry guru and advocate Dave Welch often reminds us, reliability is the key motivator behind this change.
“Customers love fiber. But what they hate is the photonics,” says Welch. “Electronics have been demonstrated to be inherently more reliable than optics.”
The move to terahertz technology exponentially increases reliability. It can be used to unlock completely new applications that data centers can explore. Welch pointed out the strategic significance of being able to operate at higher frequencies.
“If I didn’t have to be at [an optical wavelength], where should I be?” Welch asked. “The answer was the highest frequency that’s achievable purely with electronics—the terahertz regime, 300 to 3,000 GHz.”
The ability to have radio transceivers co-packaged with processors is what Welch calls “the real prize.” This integration has the potential to be even more impactful, helping to simplify operations, lower costs, and improve data center performance.
Scaling Up Data Centers
Point2’s second-generation cable technology magnificently interconnects and intimately scales inside of data centers. This capability is one of the most fascinating reasons for the innovation’s appeal. With this, Welch says the waveguide technology can manage huge data bearing loads without losing efficiency across distances.
“That happens to be a beautiful distance for scale-up in data centers,” Welch explains.
Point2’s solutions allow the transmission of data over longer distances (up to 20 meters) with no or very low loss. What sets them apart is that they are deliberately engineered to address the data center’s contemporary needs.
As Point2 Technology gets set to send its revolutionary e-Tube cables into production, movers and shakers of the transportation industry are eagerly tuned in to the action. This innovative technology is changing the face of data centers around the globe. That way, it reaches low power consumption, cost savings, and lower latency.