Light Peak is coming to your next computer

[johnny333]

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/357688/intel-shows-off-first-light-peak-laptop


Intel shows off first Light Peak laptop
Intel Light Peak


By Barry Collins in Brussels

Posted on 4 May 2010 at 13:31

Intel has provided the first hands-on demonstration of a laptop running its Light Peak technology, at the company's inaugural European research showcase here in Brussels.

Light Peak is an optical interconnect that can transfer data at 10Gbits/sec in both directions. Intel hopes Light Peak will one day replace the host of other PC interconnects, including USB, DisplayPort and HDMI.

Intel has fitted Light Peak into a regular USB cable, with optical fibres running alongside the electrical cabling. Intel provided a visual demonstration of how data is passed through the cable, by shining a torch into one end of the cable, with two little dots of light visible to the naked eye at the other end.

The demonstration laptop was sending two separate HD video streams to a nearby television screen, without any visible lag. The laptop includes a 12mm square chip that converts the optical light into electrical data that the computer understands. The technology hasn't yet been integrated into the screen, which explains the ugly black box sitting between the two devices.

Intel's chief technology officer, Justin Rattner, claimed that the bandwidth afforded by the optical technology is practically unlimited. "Light Peak begins at 10Gbits/sec, simultaneously in both directions," he said. "We expect to increase that speed dramatically. You'll see multiple displays being served by a single Light Peak connection. There's almost no limit to the bandwidth - fibres can carry trillions of bits per second".

Rattner said the technology will find its way into everything from home PCs to server farms. "The potential of that headroom will lead people to rethink the design of their systems," he said. "We've very, very excited about the potential of Light Peak."

An Intel spokesman said Light Peak hardware should start to become available to manufacturers by the end of this year.

 

[johnny333]

http://www.fuckwarezone.com/news/view.php?id=14782&cid=2

Light Peak vs. USB 3.0
Peripherals | Reads from WWW
Wed 07 Oct 2009

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While those of us a little older will remember a wider array of confusing cables, the world of computer connectivity is a whole lot more straightforward today with USB cables.

Just as connectivity hasn't stayed still, neither has USB. Its first iteration was USB 1.0, released in 1996, it transferred your data from a low of 1.5 Mbit/s to a maximum of 12 Mbit/s. USB 2.0, the most common standard today, was released in 2000 and hardly noticed as the cables looked the same, bumped the transfer speeds up to a high of 480 Mbit/s. USB 3.0 has since been in development and the standard was finalized in late 2008, it promises new transfer speeds of up to 4.8 Gbit/s. The physical form factors for USB 3.0 are different from USB 1.0 and 2.0 however, so adoption for the new standard will take time, just as it did for the original USB standard to gain prominence.

If Apple Inc. and Intel have their say however, the future of computer connectivity won't be in USB, but in a technology called Light Peak. At the Intel Developers Forum held in September 2009 which Ars Technica covered, Intel demoed a prototype of Light Peak. While USB uses copper wires, Light Peak uses a fiber optic cable. According to Intel, this translates to transfer speeds of 10Gbps, which could go up to 100Gbps within the next decade.

According to a report from Engadget, Apple was responsible for bringing the concept to Intel, pushing for a single connecting cable to replace all existing cable solutions. In effect, Light Peak could do everything your existing cables do: transfer data, visuals and power, with a single cable and port - if manufacturers adopt the standard.

If Apple is on board the Light Peak project as Engadget reports however, that might help speed things up. The original iMac, released in 1998, was the first Mac to have a USB - and only USB - port, doing away with previous standards like SCSI. At a time when USB was still a fledgling standard, Apple and iMac helped make it the popular standard it is today.

 

[kingrant]

Still having plug n play compatibiitly issues with my older USB 2.0 thumb drive on the new Lenovo laptops with Windows 7. Laptop did not recognise the USB thumbdrive as a removable drive but can find it under hard drive directory!

 

[Shin Orochi]

 

[po2wq]

... Intel shows off first Light Peak laptop ...

does it cum in pairs? ...

 

[johnny333]

does it cum in pairs? ...

Will know when it becomes reality next year

For me I'm looking forward to a replacement for the SCSI which I am currently using using with my iBook.

 

[Char_Azn]

The problem here isnt what the hardware is capable of, its whether the other major PC players like IBM, HP and Dell as well as electronic gadget and accerory companies like Sony are going to adopt the technology in the first place.

Take for example, Firewire. The Firewire is actually superior then USB 2.0 but it's never really accepted by the anyone else other then Apple(and that's only becoz they invented it). Its only more recently that some mainboards comes standard with the IEEE1394 port however most gadgets still primarily support USB.

Even if they decided to adopt that technology, it will still take some time before it makes meanstream. DVI technology has been around yrs, but it's only recently that most companies have started making the switch to using DVI for PC -> Monitor connection and even now, some companies are still sending VGA cables along with their PC

U want to see this Light Peak technology getting used by everyone? We probably have to wait another 10yrs

 

[johnny333]

but it's never really accepted by the anyone else other then Apple(and that's only becoz they invented it). Its only more recently that some mainboards comes standard with the IEEE1394 port however most gadgets still primarily support USB.
....
...

U want to see this Light Peak technology getting used by everyone? We probably have to wait another 10yrs

SCSI can be found in many of the vid cameras & PC motherboards. I've been using it for 10+ years, on my Macs, PCs, even my iPod has scsi.

SCSI is a great way to connect external storage devices. With Mac OS you can easily switch the startup OS even if its on an external storage device.

Apple is always pushing the boundaries of technology. Up to you to decide if & when you want to get on. Apple is now the Computer company everyone is trying to beat.

With Intel behind LP, expect the technology to be adopted very quickly especially since it is able to connect to monitors, storage devices, printers,.... Other than the flexibility, speeds it also has a small form factor