Intel on Wednesday unveiled technology called Light Peak that it hopes ultimately will replace the profusion of different cables sprouting from today's PCs with a single type of fibre-optic link.
Dadi Perlmutter, the newly promoted co-general manager of Intel's Architecture Group, demonstrated Light Peak at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, and said components for the technology, though not Light Peak-enabled PCs, will be ready in 2010.
"We hope to see one single cable," Perlmutter said, adding that one thing getting in the way of smaller laptops is the profusion of cable ports around the systems' edges.
In a demonstration, Perlmutter showed a PC connected to a monitor across the stage showing high-definition video sent over a Light Peak optical cable. The cable can be as long as 100 metres and can carry data at 10Gbps in both directions simultaneously, though Intel expects it will reach 100Gbps in the next decade, said Jason Ziller, Intel's director of optical input-output program office.
The company envisions Light Peak as a replacement for the cables that currently lead to monitors, external drives, scanners, and just about anything else that plugs in to a computer. A PC could have a number of Light Peak ports for different devices, or a connection could lead to a hub — perhaps an external monitor — with multiple connections of its own, Ziller said.
It is not clear how much the technology will cost or how many years it will take to become mainstream. And wireless communication technology — Intel itself has promoted Ultra-Wideband (UWB) for years — offers the attraction of getting rid of some cables altogether.
The Light Peak technology handles multiple communication protocols at the same time, with quality-of-service provisions to ensure high-priority traffic such as video get preferred treatment, he said.
In addition, Intel said it is working on bundling the optical fibre with copper wire so Light Peak can be used to power devices plugged into the PC, he said.
The cables themselves are durable, Ziller said: "You can tie a knot in it and it'll still work."
Intel has a lot of clout in the computing marketplace, but building support for a radical new connection that could replace DVI, DisplayPort, USB, Firewire, HDMI, and any number of other connections would require broad industry support.
"We're working with the industry to standardise it," Ziller said. Intel has been briefing other companies for "the last few months", and now is trying to get the standards process started in earnest with partners including companies in the computing, consumer electronics and telephone-handset markets, he said.
Ziller would not say who else is participating in the effort, but Intel published a statement of support from Sony, which has a lot of clout of its own in many markets.
"Sony is excited about the potential for Light Peak technology that Intel has been developing, and believe it could enable a new generation of high-speed device connectivity," said Ryosuke Akahane, vice president of Sony's Vaio Business Group.
So will Light Peak become a universal port? "Intel's long-term vision is you could get to that," Ziller said.
Talkback
It's a nice idea -- the server world has been heading in this direction for some time with the medium-term standard becoming 10Gbit Ethernet for all I/O. However, it's a bit of a struggle to see the competing demands of displays, networking and the host of other connectivity requirements being pumped down a single cable. I'd also be a little nervous about this single point of failure....
Its a fantastic idea and I would very much like to see this both internally as well as externally, this will go a long way in enabling all sorts of technology to follow a universal communication/power protocol, as well as make a significant contribution towards platform's size reductions.
Also help reduce the environmental impact both in the manufacturing process and energy consumption fronts, and I dare say probably a better recycling process.