Photonic Networks-on-Chip for Future Generations of Chip Multiprocessors

The design and performance of next-generation chip multiprocessors (CMPs) will be bound by the limited amount of power that can be dissipated on a single die. We present photonic networks-on-chip (NoC) as a solution to reduce the impact of intrachip and off-chip communication on the overall power budget. The low loss properties of optical waveguides, combined with bit-rate transparency, allow for a photonic interconnection network that can deliver considerably higher bandwidth and lower latencies with significantly lower power dissipation than an interconnection network based only on electronic signaling. We explain why on-chip photonic communication has recently become a feasible opportunity and explore the challenges that need to be addressed to realize its implementation. We introduce a novel hybrid microarchitecture for NoCs that combines a broadband photonic circuit-switched network with an electronic overlay packet-switched control network. This design leverages the strength of e...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2008
• Where: TC
• Authors: Assaf Shacham, Keren Bergman, Luca P. Carloni
• Keywords: Information Technology, Interconnection Network, Photonic, Photonic Interconnection Network, TC 2008