Optoelectronics

Research into optoelectronics--the interface of electromechanical and optical systems--is proceeding very rapidly.

This first article details how a group in Edinburgh have developed interface elements to make optical volatile memory integrate with electronic processors, thus eliminating the CPU bottleneck, and effectively taking the leash off of existing processors.

The second article expounds upon the use of this technology to create optically-based IP routers, which will allow for true signal multiplexing by breaking the data into discrete visual bandwidths. Translated into non-geek, that means your home broadband speed will likely be several thousand times faster by the year 2010.

One can never have too much bandwidth and processing power.