The race to silicon photonics has begun to heat up, with Chinese researchers developing early light-based chips. Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times reports that researchers at Fudan University have developed a "silicon photonic integrated high-order mode multiplexer chip", or more simply put, a multiplexer that sends instructions via light rather than via electricity.
The multiplexer is a switch that can receive multiple inputs and send them through a single output, used to select data from, for example, multiple memory chips. Tests from Fudan University show that its silicon photonic multiplexer supports 38 Tbps, capable of transferring 4.75 trillion LLM parameters per second. The multiplexer matters because it sends data and instructions via light rather than electrons, making it the newest member of a very young wave of photonics-based chips.
The obvious elephant in the room is the source of this information. Global Times operates under the People's Daily, the official flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, and has been accused of spreading fabrications and misinformation in the past. However, we are reporting on today's multiplexer news in part because Fudan University has allegedly submitted its findings to Nature, the world's most respected scientific journal, for review, which would more than likely corroborate the claims if it is printed in Nature.
"Research into photonic chips has gained momentum, facilitating the shift from electronic to optical transmission," shared Ma Jihua, a telecom industry insider. "Major breakthroughs in application may come within the next three to five years," Ma continues, likely attempting to hint at a full silicon photonic CPU release coming from China.
Another major breakthrough for the multiplexer beyond being a microchip that uses lasers to send data is its ability to bridge the gap between photonic and electronic languages. As memory communication "typically relies on CMOS technology", the new chip successfully interconnects light-based data transmission with CMOS in a low-latency manner.
Assuming the silicon photonics multiplexer is real, it sits in rare air as a silicon photonics-based IC in the current day, particularly one coming from China. Photonics and the use of light to transmit data is in high demand in the enterprise space, as its higher speeds and lower energy draw compared to traditional electronics promise a major paradigm shift in computer design.
Today, bleeding-edge enterprise applications use photonics-based network switches to send data across AI clusters at up to 400 Tb/s, like this one from Nvidia. Startups have grown in size and notoriety as well, with Lightmatter recently announcing its photonics-based chiplet interconnect platform and firm Enosemi's recent acquisition by AMD.
China may or may not have early photonic chips up its sleeves today, but the threat of China overtaking U.S. photonics development in the long run is very real. China's research institutions are currently more than doubling U.S. research output on post-Moore's Law chip technologies, and representing the lion's share of top-cited research, with a special interest in photonics. China sits ready to "change lanes and overtake" U.S. chipmaking tech in under a decade, a fear often quietly voiced by U.S. interests.
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