WADIMOS - Tune up your data transfers!

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Abstract:

Wavelength Division Multiplexed Photonic Layer on CMOS The enormous computing power of multi-processor systems and manufacturing tools now on the drawing table will require data transfer rates of over 100Terabit/s. These data rates may be needed on-chip, e.g. in multicore processors, which are expected to need total on-chip data rates of up to 100TB/s by 2015, or off-chip, e.g. in short distance data interconnects, requiring up to 100TB/s over a 10m to 100m long distance. The only viable technology for transmitting this level of information is using optical interconnects. Besides a huge data rate, optical interconnects also allow for additional flexibility through the use of wavelength division multiplexing. This additional flexibility may be employed for the realization of more intelligent interconnect systems, such as the optical network-on-chip system also investigated in this project. WADIMOS will build a complex photonic interconnect layer incorporating multi-channel microsources, microdetectors and different advanced wavelength routing functions directly integrated with electronic driver circuits and demonstrate the application of such electro-photonic ICs in two representative applications, an on-chip optical network and a terabit optical datalink.