Nvidia recently announced an ambitious new initiative to increase data center productivity. By 2027, they plan to increase the max number of GPUs per system from 72 to a staggering 576. This massive jump is in order to keep up with the skyrocketing demand for processing power in artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The environment surrounding the practice of data transfer is changing, and fast. Innovative companies, such as Point2 Technology and AttoTude, are developing technologies that can overcome the deficiencies of state-of-the-art technologies involving photonics and copper cables.
As we continue to rapidly advance the way we communicate data, there is an increasing necessity for improved and more dependable ways to move that data. Today, photonics accounts for about 10 percent of a data center’s overall compute spend, making improvements to energy efficiency very timely. In addition, photonics is very sensitive to temperature drift and needs to be manufactured with micrometer precision, adding to its already infamous long-term reliability problems. Meanwhile, as companies across all sectors pursue unprecedented efficiency, the innovation of new technologies is singularly important.
The Shift from Photonics to Radio Frequencies
Point2 Technology’s e-Tube cable, above, is a major leap forward in the technology behind data transmission. This new cable technology uses radio frequency to send electrical signals wirelessly over a distance of 20 meters. Shimano’s e-Tube cable occupies just one-third the space of a 32-gauge copper cable. It provides an awesome reach that is 20 times more! This incredible capacity eliminates the constraints of traditional copper cabling. It offers an exciting new option for data centers looking to get more value out of their existing infrastructure.
Point2 Technology’s e-Tube cable meets the demands of photonics technology while protecting your operations. It provides a promise of better reliability and efficiency. As noted by Dave Welch from AttoTude, “Customers love fiber. What they hate is the photonics.” This sentiment highlights the industry’s recognition of the shortcomings associated with photonic technologies and underscores the appeal of alternatives such as Point2’s e-Tube cable.
AttoTude is currently developing a radically different production system. That novel arrangement consists of a digital part, a terahertz-frequency generating part and a mixer part, which function at frequencies ranging from 300 to 3,000 GHz. This new technology dramatically increases the amount of data that can be transmitted. It not only keeps pace with increasing bandwidth needs, but eliminates the inefficiencies created by legacy solutions.
Addressing Copper Limitations
Copper communication cables have been the lifeblood of high-speed data connectivity for decades. They’re unable to stay ahead of the growth in demand for bandwidth. This phenomenon, aptly called the “copper cliff,” represents the challenges of dramatically increasing existing copper-based solutions to today’s needs. Don Barnetson from Credo emphasizes this point: “You start with passive copper, and you do everything you can to run in passive copper as long as you can.” As our bandwidth needs move toward terabit-per-second ubiquity, we have a clear need for shorter, fatter, copper cables.
David Kuo, CEO of Point2 Technology, recognizes these challenges and limitations while discussing the company’s unique, cutting-edge approach. The company plans to manufacture chips for a groundbreaking 1.6-terabit-per-second cable utilizing eight polymer waveguides, positioning itself at the forefront of the evolving data transmission landscape. This new development brings with it the promise of improved performance. It addresses the sweltering need for fast, safe, and accurate means of data transmission.
The Future of Data Centers
Nvidia is currently partnering with chip rival Broadcom to deploy these optical transceivers that are integrated with next-gen processors. This partnership is driving exciting innovations to the tightly connected ecosystem of data centers. These innovations are designed to boost productivity and improve efficiency at a macro level as businesses pour billions into AI infrastructure.
This new focus on electronics that are more reliable than optics is a growing theme in this industry. According to Dave Welch, “Electronics have been demonstrated to be inherently more reliable than optics.” This announcement is indicative of a burgeoning belief that electronic solutions provide more sustainable long-term prospects than their optical cousins.