Yet another possible solution to the USB data speed bottleneck is speeding it’s way towards us. Light Peak by Intel is a solution that utilizes fiber optics in place of traditional USB cables to allow incredibly fast connections between PCs and devices such as phones, external drives and MP3 players.

In the first generation, Light Peak will transfer data at about 10 gigabits per second (USB 2.0 transfers at about 500 Megabits per second, and the upcoming superspeed USB 3.0 can manage 5 gigabits per second). At those speeds, Light Peak could transfer the entire contents of a typical Blu-ray disc in about 30 seconds. Intel claims that in the future Light Peak could reach 100 gbps transfers.

In addition to being blazing fast, Light Peak cables can transmit farther and are thinner then current USB technology, and will likely use smaller connectors.

So, when will we see this revolutionary tech in the local Best Buy? How about early in 2010?

Foci Fiber Optic has stated that it could start mass producing Light Peak-based, USB cables as early as the start of 2010. This would suggest that Foci is anticipating that there will be products to connect those cables to then by the middle of next year, which sounds fantastic. That timetable would have Light Peak devices coming out just as USB 3.0 starts becoming more common in devices, so some vendors may need to choose which technology to back. It is also possible both may be supported side by side, like USB 2.0 and Firewire or eSata.

Beyond having devices such as external drives and media players ready that are designed for connecting using Light Peak, Intel will need to have a chipset ready that recognizes Light Peak and also possibly adaptors for existing mother boards. Intel already promised to have a Light Peak enabled chipset ready sometime in 2010.

Companies were originally expected to use plastic fiber for the Light Peak cables as glass fiber is usually brittle, but Foci was unhappy with the performance of plastic. Instead they are using a particularly flexible variety of glass fiber treated to give it extra resistance. The glass cables give the speed needed to sustain Light Peak’s 10Gbps but can be coiled as tightly as an inch in diameter.

So if all goes well (and Intel has it’s way), by this time next year we may be syncing our iPods and Zunes in just a couple seconds using Light Peak cables.

Zealot (469 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

By day a department manager and writer for a major network device vendor...by night Zealot stalks the mean magnetic streets, striking fear into the hearts of bandwidth abusers and theme park mascots. Zealot has been involved with mobile devices for more than a decade now, starting off with dumb phones, moving to PDAs and then to smartphones, notebooks and netbooks with the odd PMP thrown in. Most of his mobile time currently is spent on a Treo Pro, Zune HD, Thinkpad T61, Gigabyte M912M or a Hackintoshed Compaq Mini 704. He proudly groks the Geek community and considers himself a Neo Maxi Zune Dweebie (thanks Will Wheaton!).