

MIT almost produces an optoelectronic computer chip - 11031a
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/118485-mit-almost-produces-an-optoelectronic-computer-chip

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jpdoctor
FYI: I first saw this headline in the late 80s.

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sp332
I don't see a real advantage to a optical link between the CPU and RAM. The
copper only adds a quarter of a nanosecond to the latency anyway. The rest of
the applications sound cool though.

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stewartbutler
It only adds a quarter of a nanosecond at the current distance from the CPU,
but using it you could place more RAM at greater distance on the motherboard
without significantly increasing delays. For applications where you want to
store large data structures entirely in RAM this would be ideal.

Also, optical signals are less susceptible to RF interference from noisy
components.

