POST-QUANTUM TEK

Post-Quantum Tek is developing a High-speed Optical Switch (HOS), an optical approach to redirecting light that carries data from the transmission point to the reception point based on technology developed and patented by the University of Arizona’s College of Optical Sciences. Our HOS is capable of carrying signals with data rates of 1Tb/s, providing transmission capability well beyond today’s 100Gb/s switches. Our HOS switch keeps the signal in the optical domain, allowing for directionless and contentionless operation, dramatically simplifying network management and significantly reducing reconfiguration times.

During Phase I, Post-Quantum Tek will develop our HOS to be installed in a data center to run in parallel to the other data center switches.  In this way, the Phase I prototype of the High-speed Optical Switch will readily demonstrate the efficacy of the optical switch to the industry and the commercial viability of creating faster, more energy efficient data communications.

Post-Quantum Tek will refine its Phase I High-speed Optical Switch to serve as a novel, top-of-rack optical switch for data center networks, potentially reducing energy consumption by more than 100-times over existing 100Gb/s electrical switches. Additional improvements to the optical HOS in Phase II could reduce the energy consumption to less than 1pJ/bit.

Our HOS will have low cross-talk and consume substantially less power than existing optical and hybrid switches and will enable new network fat-tree architectures that can significantly cut energy use, reduce latency, and decrease the number of switches required for large data centers and metro networks.