Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpcc05!hpsciz!peng
From: peng@hpsciz.sc.hp.com (Peng Lee)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Optical Interconnect
Message-ID: <510001@hpsciz.sc.hp.com>
Date: 10 Apr 91 01:17:55 GMT
References: <12618@pt.cs.cmu.edu>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Clara, CA
Lines: 36


Here's one more idea for you:


        Laser

     |	  |    |
     |	  |    |
     | 	  |    |
    \ /  \ /  \ /

  -------------------  Chip A

  -------------------  Chip B

	

	As long at the laser wavelength (IR) is less than the Si 's band gap,
the silicon will be transparent to the Laser.

	On chip A, one can use the liquid crystal to modulate the light.  On
chip B, one can use the CCD to detect the IR (a very bad idea, someone please
point out a different way to do it.).

	The only non-optical interconnection for this device is the power and
ground for each chip. 

	While I was in school, I used to fatasize an one cubic inch
workstation.  It is a stack of chips with lasers on top and bottom as optical
sources.  This workstation data and address buses are optical interconnected
with as much as 1 GByte/sec transfer rate even though the LC switch is
only toggling at 10MHz. An one cubic inch Kille-Nano.

	Let me know if anyone likes to build something like this.

-Peng