Researchers at Cornell University have developed a simple device that could be used to move vast quantities of data at fast speeds over the Internet or on optical chips inside computers, using a silicon chip called a “time lens,” lengths of optical fiber, and a laser.

It splits up a data stream encoded at 10 gigabits per second, puts it back together, and outputs the same data at 270 gigabits per second.

It could also be a critical step in the development of practical optical chips that could make computers run faster without generating waste heat.