No matter how advanced the computer system, optimum perfrmance still depends heavily on the ability of the backplane to accurately and reliably move large amounts of data from one system board to another as quickly as possible. Backplanes are becoming more and more of a bottleneck to increased system performance as processor speeds spiral upwards and as parallel processing becomes more predominant. In the latter case, system performance can be further hindered i the backplane supports less than full connectivity between the processing elements. In light of these demands for higher throughputs and greater functionality, a team headed by Northrop Grumman Corporation is developing a free-space optically connected crossbar assembly that has the potential for scaling to meet the demands of future multi-processor systems operating in the 0.1 to 10 Tbit/second range. The other team members are the University of Colorado, Picolight Inc., the University of Suthern California, MCNC, Mercury Computer Systems, the Mayo Foundation, and Bosonics Inc. This paper describes the first interim demonstration of this development program and discusses planned developments beyond this demonstration.
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