When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works .
(Image credit: Alphawave) Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Flipboard Share this article Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Scale-up connectivity is crucial for the performance of rack-scale AI systems, but achieving high bandwidth and low latency for such interconnections using copper wires is becoming increasingly complicated with each generation. Using optical interconnections for scale-up connectivity is a possibility, but it may be an overkill, so start-ups Point2 and AttoTude propose to use radio-based interconnections operating at millimeter-wave and terahertz frequencies over waveguides that connect to systems using standard pluggable connectors, reports IEEE Spectrum .
Point2's implementation uses what it calls an 'active radio cable' built from eight 'e-Tube' waveguides . Each waveguide carries data using two frequencies — 90 GHz and 225 GHz — and plug-in modules at both ends convert digital signals directly into modulated millimeter-wave radio and back again. A full cable delivers 1.6 Tb/s, occupies 8.1mm, or about a half the volume of a comparable active copper cable, and can reach up to seven meters, more than enough for scale-up connectivity. Point2 says the design consumes roughly one-third the power of optical links, costs about one-third as much, and adds as little as one-thousandth the latency.
(Image credit: Point2) (Image credit: Point2) (Image credit: Point2) (Image credit: Point2) (Image credit: Point2) (Image credit: Point2) (Image credit: Point2) A notable aspect of Point2's approach is the relative maturity of its technology. The radio transceivers can be fabricated at standard semiconductor production facilities using well-known fabrication processes — the company has already demonstrated this approach using a 28nm chip with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Also, its partners Molex and Foxconn Interconnect Technology have shown that the specialized cables can be produced on existing lines without major retooling.
Industry's first TSMC COUPE-based optical connectivity solution for next-gen AI chips displayed — Alchip and Ayar Labs show future silicon photonics device
$13 billion in two years towards undersea data cables
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/networking/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/networking/start-up-proposes-scaled-up-ai-data-center-active-radio-cable-connectivity-radio-based-interconnections-operating-at-millimeter-wave-and-terahertz-frequencies-offer-1-6-tb-s-using-half-the-volume-of-copper#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
- Ride Into Adventure With Capcom’s ‘Monster Hunter Stories’ Series in the Cloud
- Grab this 4K gaming PC with an RTX 5080 and 9800X3D for just $2,499 before prices skyrocket — $200 saving on powerful Skytech rig with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and 1TB
- Xbox Full-Screen Experience support come to Lenovo Legion Go devices in latest update, with native FSE toggle — Legion Space now available as a widget in Xbox G
- How NVIDIA H100 GPUs on CoreWeave’s AI Cloud Platform Delivered a Record-Breaking Graph500 Run
- As AI Grows More Complex, Model Builders Rely on NVIDIA
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.