IBM develops 160 Gigabits per second chip

IBM has developed a new optical networking chip, using light signals instead of the traditional electrical signals. With this change in technology, the chip can speed data transmission to 160 GB/sec. This is fast enough to download one high definition movie in one second, and is part of the overall push to move out the frontiers of technology in the computing arena.
The optical receiver chip is a CMOS chip made with materials like indium phosphide and gallium arsenide. As per IBM, the production model will be small, just 3.25 mm by 5.25 mm in size.
At current technology, such a chip would be limited by current broadband technology, that runs at a max projected speed of 100 Mbps in research conditions, and even Ethernet tops out at 1 Gb/sec.