• Latest
  • Trending
IBM launches advanced quantum computers, driving scientific breakthroughs

IBM brings the speed of light to data centers with optics breakthrough for AI

O2 Telefónica, Tech Mahindra & NVIDIA launch Large Telco Model

O2 Telefónica, Tech Mahindra & NVIDIA launch Large Telco Model

Fusion CX expands in India with new 350-seat delivery center in Bengaluru

Fusion CX expands in India with new 350-seat delivery center in Bengaluru

Galaxy Tab S10 Lite: A value-packed tablet for everyday needs

Galaxy Tab S10 Lite: A value-packed tablet for everyday needs

Hiring declines in Indian IT as layoffs increase worldwide

Hiring declines in Indian IT as layoffs increase worldwide

Defence Production Dept. strengthens ties with Karnataka to boost manufacturing

Defence Production Dept. strengthens ties with Karnataka to boost manufacturing

xAI launches Grok Code Fast 1 to compete in AI coding

xAI launches Grok Code Fast 1 to compete in AI coding

Google Cloud brings Gemini AI to all platforms, boosts enterprise AI in Singapore

Google Cloud brings Gemini AI to all platforms, boosts enterprise AI in Singapore

New AI tool from OpenAI can write and fix code

New AI tool from OpenAI can write and fix code

ADIO partners with Ant International to boost Abu Dhabi’s fintech ecosystem

ADIO partners with Ant International to boost Abu Dhabi’s fintech ecosystem

Cognizant and Eagle Eye partner for AI-Powered loyalty solutions

Cognizant and Eagle Eye partner for AI-Powered loyalty solutions

Nvidia hits $4 trillion as AI demand surges

Nvidia hits $4 trillion as AI demand surges

India’s top export destinations: how trade tells the story of global alliances

Data Story: India faces the highest US tariff in Asia

Friday, August 29, 2025
  • Login
Data Biz Times
  • Data Story
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Media Release
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Data Story
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Media Release
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Data Biz Times
No Result
View All Result

IBM brings the speed of light to data centers with optics breakthrough for AI

in Media Release
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0
IBM launches advanced quantum computers, driving scientific breakthroughs
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

DBT Bureau

Pune, 11 Dec 2024

RelatedPosts

Fusion CX expands in India with new 350-seat delivery center in Bengaluru

Defence Production Dept. strengthens ties with Karnataka to boost manufacturing

Google Cloud brings Gemini AI to all platforms, boosts enterprise AI in Singapore

IBM has unveiled breakthrough research in optics technology that could dramatically improve how data centers train and run generative AI models. Researchers have pioneered a new process for co-packaged optics (CPO), the next generation of optics technology, to enable connectivity within data centers at the speed of light through optics to complement existing short reach electrical wires. By designing and assembling the first publicly announced successful polymer optical waveguide (PWG) to power this technology, IBM researchers have shown how CPO will redefine the way the computing industry transmits high-bandwidth data between chips, circuit boards, and servers.

Today, fiber optic technology carries data at high speeds across long distances, managing nearly all the world’s commerce and communications traffic with light instead of electricity. Although data centers use fiber optics for their external communications networks, racks in data centers still predominantly run communications on copper-based electrical wires. These wires connect GPU accelerators that may spend more than half of their time idle, waiting for data from other devices in a large, distributed training process which can incur significant expense and energy.

IBM researchers have demonstrated a way to bring optics’ speed and capacity inside data centers. In a technical paper, IBM introduces a new CPO prototype module that can enable high-speed optical connectivity. This technology could significantly increase the bandwidth of data center communications, minimizing GPU downtime while drastically accelerating AI processing. This research innovation, as described, would enable:

Lower costs for scaling generative AI through a more than 5x power reduction in energy consumption compared to mid-range electrical interconnects1, while extending the length of data center interconnect cables from one to hundreds of meters.
Faster AI model training, enabling developers to train a Large Language Model (LLM) up to five times faster with CPO than with conventional electrical wiring. CPO could reduce the time it takes to train a standard LLM from three months to three weeks, with performance gains increasing by using larger models and more GPUs.2
Dramatically increased energy efficiency for data centers, saving the energy equivalent of 5,000 U.S. homes’ annual power consumption per AI model trained.3
“As generative AI demands more energy and processing power, the data center must evolve – and co-packaged optics can make these data centers future-proof,” said Dario Gil, SVP and Director of Research at IBM. “With this breakthrough, tomorrow’s chips will communicate much like how fiber optics cables carry data in and out of data centers, ushering in a new era of faster, more sustainable communications that can handle the AI workloads of the future.”

Eighty times faster bandwidth than today’s chip-to-chip communication
In recent years, advances in chip technology have densely packed transistors onto a chip; IBM’s 2 nanometer node chip technology can contain more than 50 billion transistors. CPO technology aims to scale the interconnection density between accelerators by enabling chipmakers to add optical pathways connecting chips on an electronic module beyond the limits of today’s electrical pathways. IBM’s paper outlines how these new high bandwidth density optical structures, coupled with transmitting multiple wavelengths per optical channel, have the potential to boost bandwidth between chips as much as 80 times compared to electrical connections.

IBM’s innovation, as described, would enable chipmakers to add six times as many optical fibers at the edge of a silicon photonics chip, called “beachfront density,” compared to the current state-of-the-art CPO technology. Each fiber, about three times the width of a human hair, could span centimeters to hundreds of meters in length and transmit terabits of data per second. The IBM team assembled a high-density PWG at 50 micrometer pitch optical channels, adiabatically coupled to silicon photonics waveguides, using standard assembly packaging processes.

The paper additionally indicates that these CPO modules with PWG at 50 micrometer pitch are the first to pass all stress tests required for manufacturing. Components are subjected to high-humidity environments and temperatures ranging from -40°C to 125°C, as well as mechanical durability testing to confirm that optical interconnects can bend without breaking or losing data. Moreover, researchers have demonstrated PWG technology to an 18-micrometer pitch. Stacking four PWGs would allow for up to 128 channels for connectivity at that pitch.

IBM’s continued leadership in semiconductor R&D
CPO technology enables a new pathway to meet AI’s increasing performance demands, with the potential to replace off-module communications from electrical to optical. It continues IBM’s history of leadership in semiconductor innovation, which also includes the first 2 nm node chip technology, the first implementation of 7 nm and 5 nm process technologies, Nanosheet transistors, vertical transistors (VTFET), single cell DRAM, and chemically amplified photoresists.

Researchers completed design, modeling, and simulation work for CPO in Albany, New York, which the U.S. Department of Commerce recently selected as the home of America’s first National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), the NSTC EUV Accelerator. Researchers assembled prototypes and tested modules at IBM’s facility in Bromont, Quebec, one of North America’s largest chip assembly and test sites. Part of the Northeast Semiconductor Corridor between the United States and Canada, IBM’s Bromont fab has led the world in chip packaging for decades.

Related Posts

Fusion CX expands in India with new 350-seat delivery center in Bengaluru

Fusion CX expands in India with new 350-seat delivery center in Bengaluru

0

DBT Bureau Pune, 29 August 2025 Fusion CX, a global leader in customer experience (CX) and business process management, has...

Defence Production Dept. strengthens ties with Karnataka to boost manufacturing

Defence Production Dept. strengthens ties with Karnataka to boost manufacturing

0

DBT Bureau Pune, 29 August 2025 As a part of outreach to strengthen the defence ecosystem, the Department of Defence...

Google Cloud brings Gemini AI to all platforms, boosts enterprise AI in Singapore

Google Cloud brings Gemini AI to all platforms, boosts enterprise AI in Singapore

3

DBT Bureau Pune, 28 August 2025 Today at its “AI Asia: Building Beyond Borders” conference, Google Cloud unveiled transformative innovations...

ADIO partners with Ant International to boost Abu Dhabi’s fintech ecosystem

ADIO partners with Ant International to boost Abu Dhabi’s fintech ecosystem

0

DBT Bureau Pune, 28 August 2025 The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with...

O2 Telefónica, Tech Mahindra & NVIDIA launch Large Telco Model
Business

O2 Telefónica, Tech Mahindra & NVIDIA launch Large Telco Model

0

DBT Bureau Pune, 29 August 2025 O2 Telefónica Germany will launch its Large Telco Model (LTM) to strengthen the Service...

Read moreDetails
Fusion CX expands in India with new 350-seat delivery center in Bengaluru
Media Release

Fusion CX expands in India with new 350-seat delivery center in Bengaluru

0

DBT Bureau Pune, 29 August 2025 Fusion CX, a global leader in customer experience (CX) and business process management, has...

Read moreDetails
Galaxy Tab S10 Lite: A value-packed tablet for everyday needs
Mobile

Galaxy Tab S10 Lite: A value-packed tablet for everyday needs

0

Immersive display: A 10.9-inch screen with Vision Booster and up to 600 nits peak brightness delivers vibrant viewing indoors and...

Read moreDetails
Hiring declines in Indian IT as layoffs increase worldwide
Tech

Hiring declines in Indian IT as layoffs increase worldwide

0

Athira Sethu Kochi, 29 August 2025 In 2025, numerous individuals across the globe have lost employment in the tech industry....

Read moreDetails
DBT Bureau

Data Biz Times © 2024. All Rights Reserved.

Navigate Site

  • Media Release
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Media Release
  • Data Story
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Artificial Intelligence

Data Biz Times © 2024. All Rights Reserved.

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?