Chipzilla is developing new interconnect tech which could be ready by 2015.
The silicon photonics based tech can shuttle data between computers at up to five times the speed of its recently launched Thunderbolt. Silicon photonics combines silicon components with optical networking, to carry data at up to 50 gigabits per second over distances of up to 100 meters.
Jeff Demain, strategy director of circuits and system research at Intel Labs, told a company event Chipzilla expects the technology to be ready for use in PCs, tablets, smartphones, televisions and other products by 201. While it is faster than today's interconnect technologies, it's expected to lower costs because the components will be built using existing silicon manufacturing techniques.
It will be seen in TVs and set-top boxes to carry video streams at much higher definition. Image resolution is likely to quadruple by the middle of the decade, when successors to 1080p have arrived, and that will mean more data has to be pushed to the TV. It should also enable faster data transfers between smartphones, tablets, PCs and peripherals such as external storage drives.