No. 781: Increasing the processing speed of a computer dramatically (September 27, 2013)

Technology:

Professor Yasuhiko Arakawa of the University of Tokyo developed a technology to increase the processing speed of a computer dramatically using a circuit board that transmits signals between multiple LSIs not by electrons but by light. The new technology makes it possible for a PC to realize the speed achieved in 2002 by the supercomputer Earth Simulator toward 2020. His research team will present this technology in the 39th European Conference and Exhibition on Optical Communication (EOC) scheduled for September 22-26. 

The circuit board that transmits signals 

 by light between LSIs 

The newly developed circuit board is about 5 mm square. It processes information by electrons in a conventional manner inside an LSI. The processed signals are conveyed by laser, and they returns to the next LSI after they are converted into electrons. As the processing speed by light is approaching the limit, the research team used light in place of electron to increase the processing speed of a computer. This research was funded by the Funding Program for World-Leading Innovative R and D on Science and Technology (FIRST) by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. 

Professor Yasuhiko Arakawa