Archive for December, 2007
IBM has silicon Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator
IBM continues to focus on ways of making multi-cores chips shuttle info between cores. On Dec 6, the company discussed using pulses of light through silicon, instead of electrical signals on wires. A silicon Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator does the work of converting electrical signals into pulses of light. The IBM modulator is 100 to 1,000 times smaller in size compared to previously demonstrated modulators of its kind.
Central to the modulator are silicon nanophotonic waveguides that control the flow of light on a silicon chip. The waveguides are made of tiny silicon strips. Strong confinement of light allows the IBM modulator to be dramatically scaled down in size.
In April IBM announced success with 3-D chip stacking that eliminated the need for metal wires that connect standard 2-D chips together. The April 3-D demo instead used through-silicon vias etched through a silicon wafer and filled with metal.
On-chip silicon nanophotonics work seems to continue to confirm IBM’s central role in semiconductor advancement. An IMB researcher said nanophotonics can do for computers what fiber optic networks did for the Internet. – Jack Vaughan
Add comment December 16, 2007
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In November, Microsoft trotted out a concept piece known as Oslo. Oslo is a bit vague on detail. It seems to comprise any updates to Windows Communication Foundation and BizTalkServer that the company manages to create between
Add comment December 2, 2007
