Part 4/9:
This impending shift is exemplified through NVIDIA's latest creation: the Quantum-X optical chip. It promises to alleviate the limitations faced with electrical signals by utilizing light to transfer data between GPUs. By encoding data into light via integrated lasers and micro ring modulators within silicon pathways, this technology enables a level of parallel data transmission that is not possible with traditional wiring.
By employing the Micro Ring Resonator Modulator, NVIDIA's optical chip is engineered to deliver astonishingly fast data speeds—up to 1.6 terabits per second—while reducing power consumption by a factor of 3.5. This is particularly relevant considering that a staggering 70% of data center energy expenditure is currently consumed in moving data rather than computing.