Intel's Light Peak Technology Aims to Replace all Data Cables in a PC with One Fiber Cable

Intel has developed a new technology called Light Peak to replace the bunch of cables sprouting out of PCs with a single fiber-optic link. Intel's vision is one replacement for the cable to monitors, external drives, scanners, and any other device that plugs in to a computer.

Dadi Perlmutter, the newly promoted co-general manager of Intel's Architecture Group said the components for the technology will be ready in 2010. "We hope to see one single cable," Perlmutter added.

The cable can be as long as 100 meters and can carry data at 10 gigabits per second in both directions simultaneously, though Intel expects it will reach 100 gigabits per second in the next decade, said Jason Ziller, Intel's director of optical input-ouput program office.

"Sony is excited about the potential for Light Peak technology that Intel has been developing, and believe it could enable a new generation of high-speed device connectivity," said Ryosuke Akahane, vice president of Sony's Vaio Business Group.