Electronics Inside Optical Fiber 25
Ben writes "Science Blog reports a team from Penn State and the UK has built electronic compenents inside optical fiber. As the story describes it, if you think of the fiber as a water main, the structure places the pumping station inside the pipe. The goal is to figure out how to most efficiently exchange info between the fibers that carry data and the devices that manipulate it."
Can the... (Score:3, Interesting)
What happens on failure? (Score:4, Interesting)
-Rick
Re:What happens on failure? (Score:1)
Gtnx
Marcel
Re:What happens on failure? (Score:2)
-Rick
Re:What happens on failure? (Score:1)
I mostly meant that active equipment in fibre cabling is quite common for very long fibres (but they are produced to very high specifications if they can't be reached). Even if they would be mounted in a fibre that could be reached, it's still possible to cut out a broken active compone
Re:What happens on failure? (Score:2)
Re:What happens on failure? (Score:1)
Re:What happens on failure? (Score:2)
Re:What happens on failure? (Score:2)
Better link (Score:3, Informative)
Not really a pumping station inside the pipe (Score:4, Informative)
It'll be interesting to see if this gets any traction in the real world. I guess I don't see much benefit beyond a possible reduction in latency.
Reduction in Latency (Score:1)
Upgrading? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Upgrading? (Score:1)
Good and bad (Score:2)
The bad news: it is 40 meters long, and even though it looks pretty (ooohhh blinky lights) you dare not touch it for it will burn your hands.
Re:Good and bad (Score:1)
http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/F/fiber-seeking-b
Interesting Thoughts (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Interesting Thoughts (Score:2)
Now that would be hot
Compenents? (Score:2)
Wow, i don't know what they are, but putting a but of compenents in an optical fiber must be cool. Today compenents, tomorrow entire motherbroads!
Does it improve cost, function, or performance? (Score:2)
The neato factor may be sky high, but there needs to be something to drive adoption of the technologh