Topologies for optical interconnection networks based on the optical transpose interconnection system

Many results exist in the literature describing technological and theoretical advances in optical network topologies and design. However, an essential effort has yet to be made in linking those results together. We propose a step in this direction by giving optical layouts for several graph-theoretical topologies studied in the literature, using the optical transpose interconnection system (OTIS) architecture. These topologies include the family of partitioned optical passive star (POPS) and stack-Kautz networks as well as a generalization of the Kautz and the de Bruijn digraphs.     

Hierarchical optical ring interconnection (HORN): scalable interconnection network for multiprocessors and multicomputers

A new interconnection network for massively parallel computing is introduced. This network is called a hierarchal optical ring interconnection (HORN). The HORN consists of a single-hop, scalable, constant-degree, strictly nonblocking, fault-tolerant interconnection topology that uses wavelength-division multiple access to provide better utilization of the terahertz bandwidth offered by optics. The proposed optical network integrates the attractive features of hierarchical ring interconnections, e.g., a simple node interface, a constant node degree, better support for the locality of reference, and fault tolerance, with the advantages of optics. The HORN topology is presented, its architectural properties are analyzed, and an optical design methodology for it is described. Furthermore, a brief feasibility study of the HORN is conducted. The study shows that the topology is highly amenable to optical implementation with commercially available optical elements.     

一种可扩展的双层光互连网络设计与分析

本文设计一种具有可扩展性的双层并行光互连网络.顶层为数字路由结点和光网络接口卡组成的星型网,底层为光网络接口卡连接而成的环形网.结点机以及数字路由结点影响网络的性能.结点机的吞吐能力限制了整个网络的吞吐率;扩展PCI总线的位数能够提高光网络接口卡的吞吐速率,采用64bit/66MHz工作模式可获得4.224 Gbps峰值传输速率.网络的实际最大吞吐速率为8.448Gbps,环网内平均延迟2195ns,环网间平均延迟4713 ns.可以采用本文设计的数字路由结点对网络进行低成本级联扩展,扩展后网络性能显著提高.     

12路并行光互连子系统研究

针对高速芯片间光互连的应用,利用垂直腔面发射激光器(VCSEL)列阵作为光源、PIN列阵作为探测器,采用并行光传输的方式,设计了高密度的12路高速信号的光互连子系统,并利用12芯标准多模光纤带进行了1m距离内的光传输试验测试.测试结果表明,在零误码率的条件下系统单路速率大于6Gb/s,接收端信号的上升时间(F1)为91...     

Packaged optical interconnection system based on photorefractive correlation

We present an experimental implementation of a packaged free-space optical interconnection system by photorefractive correlation. The system consists of a phase code, a LiNbO(3) crystal, two computergenerated-hologram Fourier-transform lenses, and a detector, all mounted on a glass substrate. We present experimental results with a prototype packaged system showing interconnections between 25 inputs and 25 outputs, and we discuss the possibility of applying this packaging technology to interconnections between larger arrays.     

Free-space optical relay for the interconnection of multimode fibers

We present results from a system that shows that multimode fibers can be used for both the input and the output of a free-space optical system. The system consists of plastic microlenses integrated with plastic optomechanical components that are suitable for low-cost fabrication and assembly. Such a system opens up opportunities to construct large repeaters and switches for multigigabit ethernet applications by integration with two-dimensional arrays of optoelectronic devices. We demonstrate a 2.5-Gbit/s transmission rate by using commercial vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers coupled to 62.5-mum core fibers. We consider the design constraints and the capabilities of custom optical modules suitable for mass production.     

Space-variant optical interconnection through the use of computer-generated holograms

A space-variant optical interconnection through the use of computer-generated holograms is proposed, and specific configurations to increase the number of parallel channels are analyzed. To this end, the well-known method based on a matrix composed of subholograms is applied. The field diffracted by each channel (assumed to be square apertures) is calculated through the angular-spectrum technique, and the resulting fields are suitably superimposed to obtain a hologram matrix with a reduced bandwidth. Results show that a compact transmissive planar configuration can be handled; in particular, the small interconnect distance between the array planes and the hologram yields a limited system volume.     

Performance scaling comparison for free-space optical and electrical interconnection approaches

Projected performance metrics of free-space optical and electrical interconnections are estimated and compared in terms of smart-pixel input-output bandwidth density and practical geometric packaging constraints. The results suggest that three-dimensional optical interconnects based on smart pixels provide the highest volume, latency, and power-consumption benefits for applications in which globally interconnected networks are required to implement links across many integrated-circuit chips. It is further shown that interconnection approaches based on macro-optical elements achieve better scaling than those based on micro-optical elements. The scaling limits of micro-optical-based architectures stem from the need for repeaters to overcome diffraction losses in multichip architectures with high bisection bandwidth. The overall results provide guidance in determining whether and how strongly a free-space optical interconnection approach can be applied to a given multiprocessor problem.     

Scalable optical hypercube-based interconnection network for massively parallel computing

Two important parameters of a network for massively parallel computers are scalability and modularity. Scalability has two aspects: size and time (or generation). Size scalability refers to the property that the size of the network can be increased with nominal effect on the existing configuration. Also, the increase in size is expected to result in a linear increase in performance. Time scalability implies that the communication capabilities of a network should be large enough to support the evolution of processing elements through generations. A modular network enables the construction of a large network out of many smaller ones. The lack of these two important parameters has limited the use of certain types of interconnection networks in the area of massively parallel computers. We present a new modular optical interconnection network, called an optical multimesh hypercube (OMMH), which is both size and time scalable. The OMMH combines positive features of both the hypercube (small diameter, high connectivity, symmetry, simple routing, and fault tolerance) and the torus (constant node degree and size scalability) networks. Also presented is a three-dimensional optical implementation of the OMMH network. A basic building block of the OMMH network is a hypercube module that is constructed with free-space optics to provide compact and high-density localized hypercube connections. The OMMH network is then constructed by the connection of such basic building blocks with multiwavelength optical fibers to realize torus connections. The proposed implementation methodology is intended to exploit the advantages of both space-invariant free-space and multiwavelength fiber-based optical interconnect technologies. The analysis of the proposed implementation shows that such a network is optically feasible in terms of the physical size and the optical power budget.     

Broadband parallel-fiber optical link for short-distance interconnection with multimode fibers

In a multimode step-index fiber the propagation angle of a beam is conserved over short distances even if the fiber is bent slightly. This behavior can be exploited for a multiplexed signal transmission by the assignment of different channels to different propagation angles [angle-division multiplexing (ADM)]. Thus parallel transmission can be achieved. Because each channel occupies only a subrange of the fiber's numerical aperture, modal dispersion is reduced compared with single-channel transmission through the same fiber. The transmission properties of an ADM-based transmission line are analyzed for short propagation distances. Passive all-optical setups for multiplexing and demultiplexing operations are proposed. Cross-talk measurements are shown for a transmission with a length of 8 m and 13 multiplexed channels.     

Design and fabrication of binary slanted surface-relief gratings for a planar optical interconnection

We propose the use of binary slanted surface-relief gratings with parallel-groove walls as input and output couplers in a planar optical interconnect. Parametric optimization of cascaded output couplers is employed to design an interconnect consisting of N output couplers producing a uniform intensity distribution with a high efficiency that may be realized in one lithographic etching step. The sensitivity of a N = 4 interconnect to various fabrication errors is analyzed. We demonstrate the operation of a slanted surface-relief grating manufactured with electron-beam lithography and reactive-ion etching for an operating wavelength of lambda = 0.633 mum.     

Generalized methodology for modeling and simulating optical interconnection networks using diffraction analysis

Research in the field of free-space optical interconnection networks has reached a point where simulators and other design tools are desirable for reducing development costs and for improving design time. Previously proposed methodologies have only been applicable to simple systems. Our goal was to develop a simulation methodology capable of evaluating the performance characteristics for a variety of different free-space networks under a range of different configurations and operating states. The proposed methodology operates by first establishing the optical signal powers at various locations in the network. These powers are developed through the simulation by diffraction analysis of the light propagation through the network. After this evaluation, characteristics such as bit-error rate, signal-to-noise ratio, and system bandwidth are calculated. Further, the simultaneous evaluation of this process for a set of component misalignments provides a measure of the alignment tolerance of a design. We discuss this simulation process in detail as well as provide models for different optical interconnection network components.     

SYMNET: an optical interconnection network for scalable high-performance symmetric multiprocessors

We address the primary limitation of the bandwidth to satisfy the demands for address transactions in future cache-coherent symmetric multiprocessors (SMPs). It is widely known that the bus speed and the coherence overhead limit the snoop/address bandwidth needed to broadcast address transactions to all processors. As a solution, we propose a scalable address subnetwork called symmetric multiprocessor network (SYMNET) in which address requests and snoop responses of SMPs are implemented optically. SYMNET not only has the ability to pipeline address requests, but also multiple address requests from different processors can propagate through the address subnetwork simultaneously. This is in contrast with all electrical bus-based SMPs, where only a single request is broadcast on the physical address bus at any given point in time. The simultaneous propagation of multiple address requests in SYMNET increases the available address bandwidth and lowers the latency of the network, but the preservation of cache coherence can no longer be maintained with the usual fast snooping protocols. A modified snooping cache-coherence protocol, coherence in SYMNET (COSYM) is introduced to solve the coherence problem. We evaluated SYMNET with a subset of Splash-2 benchmarks and compared it with the electrical bus-based MOESI (modified, owned, exclusive, shared, invalid) protocol. Our simulation studies have shown a 5-66% improvement in execution time for COSYM as compared with MOESI for various applications. Simulations have also shown that the average latency for a transaction to complete by use of COSYM protocol was 5-78% better than the MOESI protocol. SYMNET can scale up to hundreds of processors while still using fast snooping-based cache-coherence protocols, and additional performance gains may be attained with further improvement in optical device technology.     

An efficient method for decomposition of regular structures using graph products

In this paper an efficient method is presented for calculating the eigenvalues of regular structural models. A structural model is called regular if they can be viewed as the direct or strong Cartesian product of some simple graphs known as their generators. The eigenvalues of the adjacency and Laplacian matrices for a regular graph model are easily obtained by the evaluation of eigenvalues of its generators. The second eigenvalue of the Laplacian of a graph is also obtained using a much faster and much simple approach than the existing methods. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Minimal optical decomposition of ray transfer matrices

The properties of first-order optical systems are described paraxially by a ray transfer matrix, also called the ABCD matrix. Here we consider the inverse problem: an ABCD matrix is given, and we look for the minimal optical system that consists of only lenses and pieces of free-space propagation. Similar decompositions have been studied before but without the restriction to these two element types or without an attempt at minimalization. As the main results of this paper, we found that general lossless one-dimensional optical systems can be synthesized with a maximum of four elements and two-dimensional optical systems can be synthesized with six elements at most.     

Feasibility study of a scalable optical interconnection network for massively parallel processing systems

The theoretical modeling of a novel topology for scalable optical interconnection networks, called optical multimesh hypercube (OMMH), is developed to predict size, bit rate, bit-error rate, power budget, noise, efficiency, interconnect distance, pixel density, and misalignment sensitivity. The numerical predictions are validated with experimental data from commercially available products to assess the effects of various thermal, system, and geometric parameters on the behavior of the sample model. OMMH is a scalable network architecture that combines positive features of the hypercube (small diameter, regular, symmetric, and fault tolerant) and the mesh (constant node degree and size scalability). The OMMH is implemented by a free-space imaging system incorporated with a space-invariant hologram for the hypercube links and fiber optics to provide the mesh connectivity. The results of this work show that the free-space links can operate at 368 Mbits/s and the fiber-based links at 228 Mbits/s for a bit-error rate of 10(-17) per channel. The predicted system size for 32 nodes in the OMMH is 4.16 mm × 4.16 mm × 3.38 cm. Using 16-bit, bit-parallel transmission per node, the system can operate at a bit rate of up to 5.88 Gbits/s for a size of 1.04 cm × 1.04 cm × 3.38 cm.     

Multichip free-space global optical interconnection demonstration with integrated arrays of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers and photodetectors

The experimental optical interconnection module of the Free-Space Accelerator for Switching Terabit Networks (FAST-Net) project is described and characterized. Four two-dimensional (2-D) arrays of monolithically integrated vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL's) and photodetectors (PD's) were designed, fabricated, and incorporated into a folded optical system that links a 10 cm x 10 cm multichip smart pixel plane to itself in a global point-to-point pattern. The optical system effects a fully connected network in which each chip is connected to all others with a multichannel bidirectional data path. VCSEL's and detectors are arranged in clusters on the chips with an interelement spacing of 140 mum. Calculations based on measurements of resolution and registration tolerances showed that the square 50-mum detector in a typical interchip link captures approximately 85% of incident light from its associated VCSEL. The measured optical transmission efficiency was 38%, with the losses primarily due to reflections at the surfaces of the multielement lenses, which were not antireflection coated for the VCSEL wavelength. The overall efficiency for this demonstration is therefore 32%. With the measured optical confinement, an optical system that is optimized for transmission at the VCSEL wavelength will achieve an overall efficiency of greater than 80%. These results suggest that, as high-density VCSEL-based smart pixel technology matures, the FAST-Net optical interconnection concept will provide a low-loss, compact, global interconnection approach for high bisection-bandwidth multiprocessor applications in switching, signal processing, and image processing.     

Experimental demonstration of the optical multi-mesh hypercube: scaleable interconnection network for multiprocessors and multicomputers

A prototype of a novel topology for scaleable optical interconnection networks called the optical multi-mesh hypercube (OMMH) is experimentally demonstrated to as high as a 150-Mbit/s data rate (2(7) - 1 nonreturn-to-zero pseudo-random data pattern) at a bit error rate of 10(-13)/link by the use of commercially available devices. OMMH is a scaleable network [Appl. Opt. 33, 7558 (1994); J. Lightwave Technol. 12, 704 (1994)] architecture that combines the positive features of the hypercube (small diameter, connectivity, symmetry, simple routing, and fault tolerance) and the mesh (constant node degree and size scaleability). The optical implementation method is divided into two levels: high-density local connections for the hypercube modules, and high-bit-rate, low-density, long connections for the mesh links connecting the hypercube modules. Free-space imaging systems utilizing vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays, lenslet arrays, space-invariant holographic techniques, and photodiode arrays are demonstrated for the local connections. Optobus fiber interconnects from Motorola are used for the long-distance connections. The OMMH was optimized to operate at the data rate of Motorola's Optobus (10-bit-wide, VCSEL-based bidirectional data interconnects at 150 Mbits/s). Difficulties encountered included the varying fan-out efficiencies of the different orders of the hologram, misalignment sensitivity of the free-space links, low power (1 mW) of the individual VCSEL's, and noise.     

Three-dimensional optoelectronic stacked processor by use of free-space optical interconnection and three-dimensional VLSI chip stacks

We present a demonstration system under the three-dimensional (3D) optoelectronic stacked processor consortium. The processor combines the advantages of optics in global, high-density, high-speed parallel interconnections with the density and computational power of 3D chip stacks. In particular, a compact and scalable optoelectronic switching system with a high bandwidth is designed. The system consists of three silicon chip stacks, each integrated with a single vertical-cavity-surface-emitting-laser-metal-semiconductor-metal detector array and an optical interconnection module. Any input signal at one end stack can be switched through the central crossbar stack to any output channel on the opposite end stack. The crossbar bandwidth is designed to be 256 Gb/s. For the free-space optical interconnection, a novel folded hybrid micro-macro optical system with a concave reflection mirror has been designed. The optics module can provide a high resolution, a large field of view, a high link efficiency, and low optical cross talk. It is also symmetric and modular. Off-the-shelf macro-optical components are used. The concave reflection mirror can significantly improve the image quality and tolerate a large misalignment of the optical components, and it can also compensate for the lateral shift of the chip stacks. Scaling of the macrolens can be used to adjust the interconnection length between the chip stacks or make the system more compact. The components are easy to align, and only passive alignment is required. Optics and electronics are separated until the final assembly step, and the optomechanic module can be removed and replaced. By use of 3D chip stacks, commercially available optical components, and simple passive packaging techniques, it is possible to achieve a high-performance optoelectronic switching system.