VLSI photonic ring multicomputer interconnect: Architecture and signal processing performance

This paper presents the architectural design of a multicomputer interconnection network based on the use of optical technology. The performance of the system is evaluated on a set of signal processing applications. The interconnect uses Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers ( VCSELs) and flexible fiber image guides to implement a physical ring topology that is logically configured as a multiring. Processors in the multicomputer are nodes on the ring and extremely high communication bandwidth is possible. Using the Laser Channel Allocation ( LCA) algorithm and the Deficit Round Robin ( DRR) media access protocol, the bandwidth available in the optical interconnect can be reconfigured to make efficient use of the interconnect resources. A discrete- event simulation model of the interconnect is used to examine performance issues such as throughput, latency, fairness, and the impact of reconfigurability.