New simulation research that evaluated delay and power performance of both electrical and optical intercon-nects has shown optical interconnects are best for communication over any kind of distance ― more than half a centimeter ― but electrical interconnects actually outperform optical from a power consumption perspective for short distances, in the range of 3-5 mm. This is significant because it means that chips of the future will most likely include both optical and metallic wiring, and the industry's costly development of copper and low-k technologies will not have been in vain. The work, done at Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.), was presented by Professor Krishna Saraswat at the recent International Interconnect Technology Conference (IITC).
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