We present a textbooklike treatment of hybrid systems employing both optical and electrical interconnections. We investigate how these two different interconnection media can be used in conjunction to realize a system not possible with any alone. More specifically, we determine the optimal mix of optical and normally conducting interconnections maximizing a given figure-of-merit function. We find that optical interconnections have relatively little to offer if the optical paths are constrained to lie on a plane (such as in an integrated optics system). However, if optical paths are permitted to leave the plane, they may enable considerable increase in performance. In any event the prize in terms of performance is accompanied by a penalty in terms of system power and/or size.

© 1994 Optical Society of America

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Citation lists with outbound citation links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Article level metrics are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription