New data transmission system developed: 10 times faster than USB

A new data-transfer system is here that's 10 times faster than USB.

Researchers have developed a new data transmission system that pairs high-frequency silicon chips with hair-thin polymer cables to transfer information 10 times faster than USB. The system could one day improve the energy efficiency of data centers and reduce the load on electronic components.

Experts say that while there is a growing demand for fast data transmission (more than 100 gigabits per second) through conduits longer than a meter, the current mainstream solution has been "increasingly bulky and expensive" copper wires.

One alternative to copper wire is fiber optic cable, but this has its own problems. Copper wire uses electrical signals, while optical fiber uses photons. This allows optical fiber to transmit data quickly and with little energy loss. But computer chips are generally not very compatible with photons, which makes interconnecting fiber optic cables and computers a challenge.

The new cable is superior to copper tubes in size, with a cross-sectional area of ​​0.4 mm x 0.25 mm, so it is super tiny, like a strand of hair.

Despite its slender size, it can carry a lot of data because it sends signals through three different parallel channels, separated by frequency. The link has a total bandwidth of 105 gigabits per second, almost an order of magnitude faster than copper-based USB cables."