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TSMC bets on unorthodox optical tech

spectrum.ieee.org

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Re: TSMC bets on unorthodox optical tech

#11

Post by tehjoker »

amelius wrote: post #9

> The transmitter acts like a miniature display screen and the detector like a camera. So if I'm streaming a movie, it could be that the video is actually literally visible inside the datacenter?

maybe a low res bit packed binary motion picture thats uncompressed

Re: TSMC bets on unorthodox optical tech

#12

Post by Taek »

moelf wrote: post #4
Liftyee wrote: post #2

As I understand it (from designing high-speed electronics), the major limitations to data/clock rates in copper are signal integrity issues. Unwanted electromagnetic interactions all degrade your signal. Optics is definitely a way around this, but I wonder if/when it will ever hit similar limits.

luckily photons are boson (if we ever pushes things to this level of extreme)

This comment appears insightful but I have no idea what it means. Can someone elaborate?

Re: TSMC bets on unorthodox optical tech

#13

Post by lo0dot0 »

m3kw9 wrote: post #5

If each cable is 10gb/s and uses 1 pixel to convert into electrical signals, would that mean they need a 10 giga frame per second sensor?

No, not necessarily. If you can distinguish different amplitude levels you can do better. For example four amplitude modulation (4AM) carries two bits per symbol. There is also the option to use coherent optics, which can detect phase, and carry additional information in the phase.

Re: TSMC bets on unorthodox optical tech

#15

Post by tails4e »

amelius wrote: post #9

> The transmitter acts like a miniature display screen and the detector like a camera. So if I'm streaming a movie, it could be that the video is actually literally visible inside the datacenter?

No, this is just an a analogy. The reality is the data is heavily modulated, and also the video is encoded so at no point would something that visually looks like an image be visible in the fibre.

Re: TSMC bets on unorthodox optical tech

#16

Post by lo0dot0 »

Liftyee wrote: post #2

As I understand it (from designing high-speed electronics), the major limitations to data/clock rates in copper are signal integrity issues. Unwanted electromagnetic interactions all degrade your signal. Optics is definitely a way around this, but I wonder if/when it will ever hit similar limits.

Optics also have signal integrity issues. In practice OSNR and SNR limit optics. Cutting the fiber still breaks it. Small vibrations also affect the signal's phase.

Re: TSMC bets on unorthodox optical tech

#17

Post by scheme271 »

Taek wrote: post #12
moelf wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

luckily photons are boson (if we ever pushes things to this level of extreme)

This comment appears insightful but I have no idea what it means. Can someone elaborate?

Electrons are fermions which means that two electrons can't occupy the same quantum state (Pauli exclusion principle). Bosons don't have the limit so I believe that implies that you can have stronger signals at the low end since you can have multiple photons conveying or storing the same information.

Re: TSMC bets on unorthodox optical tech

#19

Post by lo0dot0 »

amelius wrote: post #9

> The transmitter acts like a miniature display screen and the detector like a camera. So if I'm streaming a movie, it could be that the video is actually literally visible inside the datacenter?

Obviously this is not how video compression and packets work but for the sake of the argument consider the following. The article speaks of a 300 fiber cable. A one bit per pixel square image with approx. 300 pixels is 17x17 in size. Not your typical video resolution.
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