The design, packaging approach, and experimental evaluation of the free-spa
ce accelerator for switching terabit networks (FAST-Net) smart-pixel-based
optical interconnection prototype are described. FAST-Net is a high-through
put data-switching concept that uses a reflective optical system to globall
y interconnect a multichip array of smart pixel devices. The three-dimensio
nal optical system links each chip directly to every other with a dedicated
bidirectional parallel data path. In the experiments, several prototype sm
art-pixel devices were packaged on a common multichip module (MCM) with int
erchip registration accuracies of 5-10 mu m. The smart-pixel arrays (SPA's)
consist of clusters of oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting las
ers and photodetectors that are solder bump-bonded to Si integrated circuit
s. The optoelectronic elements are arranged within each cluster on a checke
rboard pattern with 125-mu m pitch. The experimental global optical interco
nnection module consists of a mirror and lens array that are precisely alig
ned to achieve the required interchip parallel connections between up to 16
SPA's. Five prototype SPA's were placed on the MCM to allow the evaluation
of a variety of interchip links. Measurements verified the global link pat
tern across several devices on the MCM with high optical resolution and reg
istration. No crosstalk between adjacent channels was observed after alignm
ent. The I/O density and efficiency results suggest that a multi-terabit/s
switch module that incorporates global optical interconnections to overcome
conventional interconnection bottlenecks is feasible.