The Offset Cube: A Three-Dimensional Multicomputer Network Topology Using Through-Wafer Optics

—Three-dimensional packaging technologies are critical for enabling ultra-compact, massively parallel processors (MPPs) for embedded applications. Through-wafer optical interconnect has been proposed as a useful technology for building ultra-compact MPPs since it provides a simplified mechanism for interconnecting stacked multichip substrates. This paper presents the offset cube, a new network topology designed to exploit the packaging benefits of through-wafer optical interconnect in ultra-compact MPP systems. We validate the offset cube’s topological efficiency by developing deadlock-free adaptive routing protocols with modest virtual channel requirements (only two virtual channels per link needed for full adaptivity). A preliminary analysis of router complexity suggests these protocols can be efficiently implemented in hardware. We also present a 3D mesh embedding for the offset cube. Network simulations show the offset cube performs comparably to a bidirectional 3D mesh of equa...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 1998
• Where: TPDS
• Authors: W. Stephen Lacy, José Cruz-Rivera, D. Scott Wills
• Keywords: Cube, Optical Interconnect, TPDS 1998, Ultra-compact Mpp