Optical Interconnects and Switching Reduce Power Consumption
You may not realize it but using the internet accounts for 5% of
all the power we consume. Every byte that gets pumped through
your computer is consuming power and that notebook is heating up
your lap. Optical switching can lower that by more efficiently
switching the data you transmit. Here we explain the problem and
a solution to part of the problem.  The Internet has become an
important business and entertainment tool for hundreds of
millions of people worldwide. The data carried by the Internet
doubles every 18 months and that rate seems likely to continue
as we transition from email and audio downloads to high density
graphic transmission and video on demand downloads1. The power
consumed by the Internet is rising rapidly from around 4% of the
world’s electricity today to greater than 10% of the world’s
electricity in a few years2. For example, it is estimated that
40 Million transceivers are shipped per year. At ~1W power
consumption, this co