Fujitsu’s Optical Switch Reduces Power Consumption by 50%

Fujitsu, provider of IT products and services, announced that it has developed an optical waveguide switch that reduces power consumption by 50%.

The switch is based on silicon photonics and has been developed by utilizing finely-patterned silicon germanium (SiGe) instead of traditional silicon (Si) material.

Reduced power consumption will enable high-speed optical switches to operate in a diverse range of wavelengths, in addition to having low power requirements. Power consumption of networking devices is a continuous trend, which is caused by increased data volume transported over networks. Increased power consumption raises concerns for  future energy requirements.

Fujitsu’s new technology will aid in containing power usage and will support huge-volume network traffic. This will allow high-end services connecting numerous cloud networks and high-definition videoconferencing applications..