Will Intel's Light Peak Interface Beat USB?

Posted by: Mike Pallante on February 25, 2011 at 2:24PM
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Intel's New Light Peak Offers Amazing New Transfer Rates

Earlier this year Intel, the world's largest chip producer, introduced a new optical interface Light Peak. Intended as the new universal standard, Light Peak offers an unprecedented 10 Gigabyte Per Second simultaneous (out and in) transfer bandwidth. The new interface, available to customers in early 2011, features an optical module and controller chip. The optical module, which converts electricity to light, facilitates the 10 Gb/s bandwidth. The controller chip interprets multiple protocols, or devices, coming from a single Light Peak interface.

A boon for handheld devices like the iPhone which suffer from size limitations preventing multiple port connections, Light Peak also offers DC power at a range of up to 100 Meters. Plans to expand Light Peak's capabilities from 10 Gb/s to 100 Gb/s by 2020 reflect the power order rise in demand for transfer bandwidth.

USB Reaches Its Upper Limits of Usability After 15 Years

The current standard, USB (Universal Serial Bus), has grown from 12Mbit/s to 3Gb/s, or roughly a factor of ten in the last 15 years. Originated in 1996 to address the problem of increasing numbers of unique ports and interfaces required to run multiple devices on most PCs of that time, USB 1.0 operated at 12,000 Kilobits per second and offered Direct Current up to 5V for powered devices. The low bandwidth limited its usability to simple devices such as printers, keyboards and mouse. However, with the introduction of USB 2.0 in 2000 and subsequent widespread chipset support, rates of up to 480 Mbit/s realized aspirations of a truly universal bus. Nearly all computers currently ship with multiple standard USB ports. USB only facilitates one protocol at a time without significant latency due to bandwidth overload or drop in DC power available for powered devices.

Introduced in 2008, USB 3.0, capable of up to 3 Gb/s transfer rates, has not seen widespread implementation. Currently unsupported by Intel chipsets (though they maintain plans for future support) and only available on a handful of computers by other producers, the fate of USB 3.0 remains unknown. Since 2005, Apple computers use an Intel x86 processor and chipset. Subsequently, no Apple products feature USB 3.0. Earlier this year, Apple announced plans to implement Light Peak technology in future products.

While the new technology presents users with new convenience and usability for PCs and laptops, handheld devices demonstrate the real appeal of Light Peak technology. In Apple products, for example, including USB ports to facilitate multiple protocols in the iPhone increases the size of the unit and thus subverts the appeal of the device. However, a single Light Peak Port, backward compatible with USB, allows users to hook an iPhone up to any number of external devices and expand the capability of those devices. Some developers point to the lack of any USB port on Apple's iPad as a possible source of less-than-impressive initial sales. A Light Peak port on next generation iPads potentially transforms the device from a luxury item to an infinitely functional and convenient portable device. If Acer's Tablet PC design (it comes with a docking port for external keyboard use) is any indication, users may soon expect amenities like high bandwidth interface on handhelds.

Critics Question the Viability of Light Peak Technology

The introduction of new technology, especially one billed as a new standard, expectantly invites criticism. Several OEMs panned Light Peak technology in a report, not anticipating widespread implementation of Light Peak by non-Intel manufacturers. Pointing to Acer, Dell and HP, the three largest computer manufacturers, who intend to support USB 3.0 over Light Peak in 2011, critics question the viability of Light Peak as a new universal interface. An unnamed engineer at a top PC manufacturer remarked on Apple's commitment to Light Peak, “[Apple's users] already pay a premium and they want the coolest gadget.” The remark seems to downplay the value of Apple users who identify themselves as early adopters of technology and the success of a company who in the past ten years dominated the portable MP3 player market, pioneered the paid download with over 10 Billion songs sold on iTunes and set the standard for smart phone technology.

Further criticism of Light Peak suggests a 10Gb/s optical interface offers no significant advantage over a 3Gb/s copper interface for current devices. However, USB 3.0 approaches the upper bound of transfer limitations through copper connections, whereas Light Peak's optical interface anticipates tenfold expansion. While critics may rightfully note the expected $10.00-12.00 cost of Light Peak ports as prohibitive, the multiple protocol capability may offset that cost when one considers a single Light Peak port accomplishes as much as three USB 3.0 ports. Lastly, OEMs question the necessity of a new standard at this time when USB 3.0 accommodates most current peripherals. In 1995, USB answered the problem of conflicting interfaces for multiple devices requiring varying amounts of bandwidth. In 2010, however, a simple look at any consumer market computer reveals a variety of high bandwith interfaces such as HDMI and eSATA accommodating new end user demands such as HD video interface and terabyte drive backups.


Despite the criticisms, most developers applaud Light Peak technology as, if not the new standard, the first step towards a desired shift from copper to optics.