Optics could push chips beyond 10GHz
IDG | at | by Mike
As chip makers battle to increase their processor speeds, they are quickly running into problems controlling the amount of heat generated by swifter processors. One company is looking to solve the temperature issue with a futuristic approach that involves putting fiber-optic technology on a chip, possibly making it easier to transfer information and reduce the heat around a processor. To increase the performance of processors, companies such as Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) try to double the number of transistors on a chip about every 24 months and push processing components closer together. Both of these techniques tend to increase the amount of heat produced by a processor, to the point that companies are now trying to find new ways to dissipate heat and spread components farther apart.