OPTICAL COHERENCE MULTIPLEXING FOR INTERPROCESSOR COMMUNICATIONS

The development of an optical circuit that multiplexes gigabit-per-second electronic data streams into a very broad bandwidth (greater than 10 Gbit/s) optical signal would greatly enhance interprocessor communications in a parallel computer. One possibility that we are investigating is coherence multiplexing. In this method, time delays exceeding the coherence time of the light source are used to achieve multiplexing. We have analyzed the limitations of coherence multiplexing for high-speed data links. For the geometry we are investigating, the analysis shows that the signal decreases inversely as the square of the number of channels. Noise sources include photon shot noise, excess noise (classical optical field fluctuations), and detector noise. A suitable optical source must have a smooth, broad spectrum. Superluminescent diodes or edge-emitting diodes are the best candidates. We show how all of these factors affect the total information transfer rate. An integrated optical circuit for coherence multiplexing is being designed and built. This device is an array of four Mach-Zehnder interferometers integrated on a lithium niobate substrate. The differential delays will be achieved using proton exchange. Each interferometer will have two sets of electrodes, one for signal modulation and a second for fine adjustments of the delay.