OMRAM and ODSP Smart Pixel Chipset Development

摘要

This research program focused on the development of optoelectronic interconnection networks that combine communication and processing capabilities in network hardware to accelerate distributed computing applications. On the architecture front, we have designed an optoelectronic hardware module that can be used as a building block of smart networks with application-specific performance and cost requirements. A detailed technological comparison between the optoelectronic design and an equivalent advanced electronic MCM implementation was carried out to assess the advantages provided by the optoelectronic solution. The results of our work are incorporated into a prototype optoelectronic switch currently being built at Bell Laboratories, a division of Lucent Technologies. On the hardware front, we have collaborated with Bell Laboratories to demonstrate a 2Kbit, 50Mpage/s, photonic first-in, first-out page buffer based on CaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well diodes flip- chip bonded to sub-micron CMOS circuits. This photonic chip provided a number of breakthroughs in the area of optical interconnects, including: First implementation of a hybrid 850nm GaAs MQW/CMOS VLSI circuit with modulators bonded directly on top of active silicon circuits; First demonstration of a hybrid 850nm GaAs MQW/CMOS transimpedance transmitter/receiver circuit operating at 375 Mbis/sec with switching energy of >>370 femto-joules; Design and implementation of a high-density 2Kbit photonic first-in first-out page buffer circuit with optical input and output functionality; Measurement of ring oscillator circuits loaded with hybrid MQW devices operating at 2GHZ.