For initial Light Peak, copper may be better than a sharp stick in the optics

CNET's Brooke Crothers is reporting that for its initial version of the much-ballyhooed Light Peak, Intel will use electrical- rather than photonic-based circuitry. To you and me, that means copper rather than fiber.

Light Peak will be a 10-Gbit/sec technology connecting electronic devices, and threatens to supplant USB as the connection-technology of choice. Sony and Apple have supported the Intel technology, which should still roll out as anticipated in the first half of 2011.

I was particularly interested in Crothers's notation that despite the use of copper rather than fiber, Light Peak will still achieve its stated 10-Gbit/sec transmission rate. What do you know about that?

Light Peak: 10-Gbit connectivity at your fingertips

Remember a few years ago when IBM aired commercials for its blade servers? The commercials' tagline was Out With Cables. The theme: Use blade servers, get rid of all those nasty, tangled cables in your data center. Cable: that dreaded, necessary evil.

Now it's Intel's turn. Last week at the Intel Developers Forum the company announced its Light Peak technology. Intel's not claiming that Light Peak will eliminate all cables--just those pesky ones that are subject to electromagnetic interference.

Light Peak is a high-speed (read: 10-Gbit/sec) optical cable, which Intel promises will be available next year, meant to connect devices including consumer-electronic equipment as well as disk drives, printers, and other networked devices.

Light Peak's web page goes into detail explaining the benefits of optical-fiber transmission. The video takes viewers inside Intel's optical lab.

A far cry from IBM's clever swipe at cabling, Intel's Light Peak looks like a promising technology of the near future.