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IBM researchers build supercomputer-on-a-chip
By siliconindia
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Saturday, 08 December 2007, 18:01 IST
Frankfurt: According to a research scientist at IBM, by incorporating silicon nanophotonics technology, the supercomputers may soon be the same size as a laptop, reported InfoWorld.
"The technology, called silicon nanophotonics, replaces some of the wires on a chip with pulses of light on tiny optical fibers for quicker and more power-efficient data transfers between cores on a chip," said Will Green, research scientist at IBM.
The technology is about 100 times faster than wires and consumes one-tenth as much power. "This transfers data up to a distance of a few centimeters," said Green. The lower power requirement should reduce operational costs for supercomputers, he said.
The improved data bandwidth and power efficiency of silicon nanophotonics will bring massive computing power to desks. "We'll be able to have hundreds or thousands of cores on a chip," Green said. Using this technology the users will be able to render virtual worlds in real-time and have a better gaming experience.
Silicon nanophotonics, which could be implemented in chips within 10 to 12 years, is part of a long-term research project by IBM. Moreover, there are a couple of start-up companies and labs in the U.S. that are working on this technology. The IBM project was funded partly by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a division of the U.S. Department of Defense.
