Silicon photonics is a new approach to using light (photons) to move huge amounts of data at very high speeds with extremely low power over a thin optical fiber rather than using electrical signals over a copper cable.
Optical technologies have revolutionized long-distance communications, replacing low-capacity copper wiring that carries electrical signals with combinations of lasers and fiber-optic cabling that send information over many high-speed channels.
Its 25 people include a PhD in Electrical Engineering who is an expert on fiber optics, an aerospace engineer, and a computer scientist with a string of entrepreneurial successes in his wake.
Transfer data packets from long-haul fiber-optic networks to the electrical power grid and shoot the data (alongside electricity) straight into people's homes.
The plane represented a big bet on new technology for Boeing: The plane's lightweight frame was to be built using mostly carbon-fiber composites, and it was to have an enhanced electrical system to power more systems and use less fuel than other jets.