Intel is preparing for press event on February 24th where it will discuss a new technology heading for our computers. According to sources it will be about the superfast Light Peak data interface, which falls well in with Apple’s expected launches tomorrow where the new MacBook Pro series will be the star.
Intel has developed Light Peak for some time now and did a demonstration during Intel Developer Conference 2009. Fittingly it was an Apple machine with Mac OS X that was used during the demo, which of course started rumors of Light Peak in coming Apple products.
Light Peak is a technology that sends data with light. Ironically Intel will use regular copper lanes isntead of fiber optics when launch the technology in 2011, but the good news is that this hasn’t affected the bandwidth of the interface.
Light Peak has a capacity of 10 Gbps in both directions, which is a lot higher than even the fast SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface with a theoretic max speed of 5 Gbps. Even if Light Peak may look like a competitor and replacement to USB it doesn’t look like that will happen, at least any day soon. USB has firm grip of the market and Intel has said that it expects the two to exist next to each other.
The idea with Light Peak is that through its high transfer speeds it can use a single data cable for moving data from several different interfaces. For example, a single Light Peak cable can be used to carry Gigabit Ethernet, HD video, HD audio and other data protocols at the same time. This would be perfect for docking stations or similar solutions. Intel hopes that the technology will replace many of the cables we have today and improve performance. The capacity will scale to 100 Gbps in future versions.
Apple has been interested in Intel’s Light Peak technology for some time and it has used alternatives to USB in the past, e.g. FireWire that is still with us. Apple is expected to launch a new series of MacBook Pro computers tomorrow, if it is a coincidence that Intel will also announce Light Peak we will leave unsaid.
Source: CNET
