OPTICALLY AUGMENTED 3-D COMPUTER - SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE

In order to achieve high performance parallel computing in terms of ba ndwidth versus power consumption and volume, denser and faster means o f implementing interconnections while minimizing power and crosstalk a re required, Global interconnections can be implemented using free-spa ce interconnect technology and can be coupled to 3-D electronic proces sing stacks such as those developed at Hughes Research Laboratories or Irvine Sensors Corp. to obtain an optoelectronic 3-D computer with in creased throughputs for routing or sorting operations, To this end, th e 3-D optoelectronic architecture needs to be designed for optimal per formance, light transmitters and receivers need to be integrated with the 3-D VLSI stacks to allow optical inputs and outputs, and free-spac e optical interconnect elements need to be assembled with the modified 3-D stacks, In this paper, the concepts of the technology and archite cture of the optically augmented 3-D computer are evaluated. (C) 1997 Academic Press.