Intel Has Plans to Power AI with Glass Substrates for Its Chips

Intel has unveiled a new glass substrate technology that it says will “benefit our key players and foundry customers for decades to come.” The result of 10 years and $1 billion in development, the concept substitutes glass for the usual resin in which processors are embedded, enabling greater speed and the ability to accommodate the industry’s move toward packaging numerous “chiplets” into more powerful large processors, a configuration that has proven beneficial for the acceleration that drives artificial intelligence. This technology could potentially vault Intel ahead of competitors, some say. Continue reading Intel Has Plans to Power AI with Glass Substrates for Its Chips

Global Wireless: Google Acquires Alpental in Pursuit of 5G

As part of its inititaive to extend Internet access to countries not yet connected, Google has acquired Alpental Technologies, a small startup focusing on 5G cellular service. Alpental, which was founded by former Clearwire engineers, has developed a cheap, high-speed networking technology that runs on 60GHz spectrum band. The FCC said that this band of spectrum has been used to provide service for buildings a mile apart at speeds up to seven gigabits per second. Continue reading Global Wireless: Google Acquires Alpental in Pursuit of 5G

Google and AT&T Race to Expand U.S. Fiber Optic Networks

AT&T announced plans to bring its high-speed fiber optic network, AT&T U-verse with GigaPower, to as many as 100 cities, including some that are already part of Google Fiber’s planned expansion in the next few years. AT&T and Google have fiber optic development planned in several of the same cities, such as San Antonio, Texas; San Jose, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and the Raleigh-Durham region of North Carolina. Continue reading Google and AT&T Race to Expand U.S. Fiber Optic Networks