Abstract

A prototype multiprocessor system using three-dimensional board-to-board free-space optical interconnects is constructed for the first time to our knowledge. In the system, 64 processing units form a three-dimensional mesh processor network with the help of bidirectional board-to-board free-space optical interconnects. A theoretical analysis shows that the three-dimensional board-to-board free-space optical interconnects effectively solve common interconnection problems such as wiring congestion, signal delay, and clock skew. The prototype system, COSINE-III, is confirmed to work well as a multiprocessor system. The system is also shown to be easy to extend to a larger and more flexible system.

© 1995 Optical Society of America

Design and performance of a multiprocessor system employing board-to-board free-space optical interconnections: COSINE-1

Toshikazu Sakano, Takao Matsumoto, Kazuhiro Noguchi, and Tomoko Sawabe
Appl. Opt. 30(17) 2334-2343 (1991)

Multiprocessor system using an automatically rearrangeable free-space multichannel optical switch: COSINE-2

Toshikazu Sakano, Kazuhiro Noguchi, and Takao Matsumoto
Appl. Opt. 32(20) 3690-3699 (1993)

Hybrid free-space optical bus system for board-to-board interconnections

Jang-Hun Yeh, Raymond K. Kostuk, and Kun-Yii Tu
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Design and implementation of a modulator-based free-space optical backplane for multiprocessor applications

Andrew G. Kirk, David V. Plant, Ted H. Szymanski, Zvonko G. Vranesic, Frank A. P. Tooley, David R. Rolston, Michael H. Ayliffe, Frederic K. Lacroix, Brian Robertson, Eric Bernier, and Daniel F. Brosseau
Appl. Opt. 42(14) 2465-2481 (2003)

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

Guoqiang Li, Dawei Huang, Emel Yuceturk, Philippe J. Marchand, Sadik C. Esener, Volkan H. Ozguz, and Yue Liu
Appl. Opt. 41(2) 348-360 (2002)