Point2, a company founded nine years ago by industry veterans from Marvell, Nvidia, and Samsung, is poised to transform the data center landscape with its groundbreaking radio cable technology. Recently closing a $55 million Series D round of venture investment, led mostly by Molex, Point2 believes it can massively improve the efficiency of data transmission. The company’s cutting-edge product lineup takes advantage of smart technology that will likely outclass older optical-based solutions in both performance and dependability.
Point2 has also joined forces with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Along with Mukoujima, they’ve developed high-performance radio cables made of eight e-Tube fibers. Each fiber has a capacity of more than 200 gigabits of information per second! This is a notable leap forward in connectivity choices, bringing enormous value to data centers. These radio frequency cables have the potential to transform how we deploy and operate data centers. In doing so, they provide a radical, often underappreciated alternative to existing optical technologies.
A Technological Leap Forward
What makes Point2’s technology truly unique is it’s unmatched efficiency. Its advantages lie in the fact that it functions at one-third of the power consumption of optical systems at only a third of the cost. Perhaps most impressively, it provides latency as low as one-thousandth that of today’s optical technologies. Shimano e-Tube cables cutting-edge design increases efficiency even further. They do this with eight slim polymer optical waveguides in an impressive 1.6-terabit-per-second setup.
The e-Tube fibers are only around 200 micrometers in diameter. With losses as low as 0.3 decibels per meter, they’re evidence of truly outstanding performance and the best choice for very long-haul data transmission. Point2’s system leaves copper cables in the dust. It provides highly reliable connectivity at ranges up to 10 or even 20 meters, with little to no degradation in quality or speed.
“Electronics have been demonstrated to be inherently more reliable than optics.” – Dave Welch
Shimano’s e-Tube cables have a silicon chip embedded on each end. These chips convert incoming digital data into modulated millimeter-wave frequencies. These signals are further translated through antennas into the photonic waveguide, enabling continuous and robust data transmission.
Strategic Applications in Data Centers
Further, Point2 intends to leverage its next-generation radio cables to connect each Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) individually. This application will address connecting those GPUs to network switches in scale-out distributed networks. This use case serves to showcase the company’s commitment to improving and evolving data center architecture and performance through innovative connectivity solutions.
Point2’s technology provides a scalability that’s especially indispensable to today’s data center environment. As companies escalate their use of massive computing resources, a consistent and dependable way to connect all of those pieces is essential.
“If I didn’t have to be at [an optical wavelength], where should I be?” – Dave Welch
Point2’s e-Tube cables are as good looking as they’re functional. They occupy only half of the space of conventional 32-gauge copper cables and provide up to 20 times more reach. This dense form factor offers a greater space efficiency within rack and row-constrained data centers, along with lowering the complexity and costs associated with installing that density.
Future Prospects and Industry Impact
Point2’s mission is to become a go-to provider of data center connectivity solutions. They intend to do so by relentlessly innovating and iterating on their technology. The company’s commitment to integrating radio technology into data centers sets it apart from competitors like AttoTude, which has been exploring similar advancements.
Focusing on performance that’s highly efficient, Point2 stacks the odds in its favor in the highly competitive industry. In such a changing environment, data speed and reliability will be paramount. Point2 may be about to change the future of data centers across the planet. It hopes to do so by reducing power usage and expenses, all the while increasing data transfer capacity.
“You start with passive copper, and you do everything you can to run in passive copper as long as you can.” – Don Barnetson
Point2 is also moving ahead with its manufacturing plans for e-Tube cables. Our company is as well-positioned as anyone to address this growing demand for more effective, more efficient and more scalable data center infrastructure. The company’s innovative work is expected to bring in a new era of connectivity. This safety innovation has the potential to reshape how data centers deliver, and in fact should deliver, the data to users.