Integrated Photonics | Transitioning to End-to-End Optical I/O
Since 2004, Intel Labs has pioneered silicon photonics research from architecture design to manufacturing. Research goals include overcoming the limits of electrical input/output (I/O) and integrating optical I/O throughout the compute system to expand the possibilities for data center workloads and beyond.
Intro Video: Transitioning Server Interconnect from Electrical to Optical I/O
Watch this short video to learn how Intel is working to bring optical I/O directly to servers with integrated photonics. (Credit: Intel Corporation)
Integrated Photonics Research
Intel Labs pioneered silicon photonics to meet the growing demand for more efficient and resourceful network infrastructure for ever-increasing amounts of data. Commercialization of prototypes have transferred to Intel’s data center business and, with more than six million Intel 100G transceivers and integrated lasers in use, Intel is paving the way for next-generation deployments and future innovations.
Photonics offers superior reach, bandwidth density, power consumption and latency in high-speed networks and provides rack-to-rack connectivity for data center applications including optical communications and telecommunications. Integrated photonics brings together the advantages of silicon photonics and CMOS circuits. By integrating the power of optical directly with compute, memory, and peripheral technologies, high bandwidth data can be moved throughout the entire network with significantly less power.
Integrated photonics research at Intel Labs is focused on reducing costs, size, and operating power, and extending optical performance to enable more scalable, disaggregated architectures at the highest level of the network. Core technology building blocks under development include light generation, amplification, detection, modulation, CMOS interface circuits and package integration technology.
Demo: Building Future Technologies on Light
Senior Principal Engineers Haisheng Rong and Principal Engineer Ganesh Balamurugan, from Intel Labs speak on Intel’s vision for integrated photonics at Intel Labs Day 2020 and highlight current innovations that have brought the company to where it is today.
Watch the technical presentation to learn about Intel Labs’ photonics research and scientific breakthroughs, including the first silicon-based laser, the first silicon optical modulator, and silicon micro-ring modulators and detectors capable of transmitting and receiving optical data at 112 gigabits per second.
Intel Advances Progress in Integrated Photonics for Data Centers
Intel Labs highlights industry-leading technological advances toward the realization of the company’s long-standing vision of integrating photonics with low-cost, high-volume silicon.
The advancements represent critical progress in the field of optical interconnects, which address growing challenges around the performance scaling of electrical input/output (I/O) as compute-hungry data workloads increasingly overwhelm network traffic in data centers.
Integrated Photonics Presentation
View an in-depth technical presentation on Intel Labs’ integrated Photonics research.
Intel Labs Day Deep Dive with James Jaussi
Watch Intel Labs Senior Principal Engineer James Jaussi’s presentation from his Intel Labs Day 2020 session on “Transitioning Server Interconnect from Electrical to Optical I/O.”
James presents Intel Labs’ innovations in integrated photonics and the vision to bring optical I/O to servers opening new possibilities for more disaggregated architectures with multiple functional blocks interconnected via optical processor technology, software, and high-speed networks.
Intel Research Center for Integrated Photonics for Data Center Interconnects
Read about Intel Labs’ new research center that’s dedicated to accelerating optical I/O technology innovation in performance scaling and integration with a specific focus on photonics technology and devices, CMOS circuits and link architecture, and package integration and fiber coupling.