AttoTude is a fast-growing startup founded by Dave Welch. It has opened up incredible opportunities in the field of photonics and employing light to transmit data. The company displayed that innovative spirit last week at the Optical Fiber Communications Conference. They successfully showed a world-first 4-meter long transmission at 970 GHz frequency. This technology holds great potential to both increase data center efficiency and overcome some of the historic challenges of photonic systems.
Built on Welch’s deep research in photonics, AttoTude is all about capturing terahertz-frequency signals to transmit high volumes of data. Welch hopes that AttoTude’s innovations will yield huge benefits in comparison to prevailing optical technologies, particularly in small transceiver-processor integration packages. Across the country, data centers are aggressively building new facilities to keep up with insatiable demand. This remarkable increase underscores the critical demand for fast, secure and high-quality data transmission.
AttoTude’s recent award-winning innovations underscore its expertise in advancing the individual building blocks that are key to developing a powerful photonic system. These parts consist of a microchip that can record data, a terahertz-signal generator, and a device that melds the two things together. Welch anticipates that the company’s waveguide technology will enable data transmission over distances of up to 20 meters, further enhancing its potential applications in data centers.
Innovations in Terahertz Technology
AttoTude’s groundbreaking signal technique using terahertz-frequency signals enables unprecedented amounts of datatransmission capacity. Inverted last April, the company revealed a stunning demonstration at the Optical Fiber Communications Conference. Their small transceiver succeeded in transmitting data at a range of 4 meters using a frequency of 970 GHz. This accomplishment marks an important step toward realizing the full potential of high-speed data transmission technologies.
Well, the waveguide technology that AttoTude has developed is really impressive. Welch envisions it enabling data transfer at greater distance of 20 meters, which would be a significant leap beyond current technology. This reliability and realizability capability places AttoTude’s technology as a strong replacement competitor to existing optical technologies, which have historically struggled with reliability.
Welch expressed optimism about the future of AttoTude’s innovations, stating, “If I didn’t have to be at [an optical wavelength], where should I be?” He is committed to pushing the boundaries of photonics technology. This passion motivates the company to go beyond the boundaries of conventional optical systems and provide higher performing, more energy efficient solutions for the data center.
Challenges with Current Photonic Systems
Yet, for all of the promise photonics holds, there are fundamental challenges that the field must overcome. Today, photonics makes up an estimated 10 percent of a data center’s compute budget. It is perhaps just as well-known for its long-term reliability woes. Transporting light to and from photonic chips requires micrometer-precision manufacturing that’s expensive and takes time to manufacture.
Dave Welch remarked on the challenges faced by the industry, saying, “Customers love fiber. What they hate is the photonics.” This feeling is indicative of a larger frustration in the space over the shortcomings of today’s available photonic tools. A rule of thumb among space engineers is that electronics are ten times more reliable than optics. This opens up the important question of what makes photonic systems scalable and durable.
To address these challenges, companies such as Point2 Technology have been finding new, advanced ways to do it. Point2 also developed an Active Electrical Cable (AEC). At its most extreme, it can carry a jaw-dropping 800 Gb/s to distances of 7 meters (23 feet). Linked here, their 1P cables have eight e-Tube fibers, with each fiber transmitting over 200 gigabits of data at a time.
Future Prospects in Data Transmission
AttoTude’s developments arrive as the global need for high-speed data transmission expands exponentially. If successful, the company’s application of terahertz technology would be truly revolutionary to how data centers are operated today. This waveguide technology offers more than the ability to transmit over further distances; it can allow for greater efficiency than older, more established photonic systems.
In addition to AttoTude’s developments, Point2 Technology plans to begin manufacturing chips for a 1.6-terabit-per-second cable composed of eight slender polymer waveguides. Shimano e-Tube cable technology is really cool stuff. It takes up just a third of the space of a 32-gauge copper wire, but it provides up to 20 times the distance.
The competitive landscape has shifted. Today, companies are racing to go even farther, creating new technologies of unparalleled speed and reliability with the capacity to keep pace with the increasing demands of today’s digital landscape. AttoTude and Point2 Technology have successfully pushed the edge in their products’ ecosystems. Looking ahead, the good news is that making data centers greener and more reliable is possible.