Laser microchips set to speed computing
Silicon-and-wire-based computer chips not fast enough for you? Your gaming rig may one day be supercharged by chips that communicate by laser light.
The New York Times has a report on a new study in academic journal Optics Express that details how using lasers rather than electrical pulses to send data could result in transfer rates up to 100 times what is currently possible. The technology could allow computer makers to pack chips even tighter inside a case and remove a significant bottleneck in the download of broadband data from the internet.
Commercial applications aren't likely before the end of the decade, the article says, and affordable consumer versions will likely take even longer. As gamers know better than anyone, when it comes to hot new technology, patience is a virtue.
