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VLSI Photonic Ring Multicomputer Interconnect: Architecture and Signal Processing Performance

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Abstract

This paper presents the architectural design of a multicomputer interconnection network based on the use of optical technology. The performance of the system is evaluated on a set of signal processing applications. The interconnect uses Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) and flexible fiber image guides to implement a physical ring topology that is logically configured as a multiring. Processors in the multicomputer are nodes on the ring and extremely high communication bandwidth is possible. Using the Laser Channel Allocation (LCA) algorithm and the Deficit Round Robin (DRR) media access protocol, the bandwidth available in the optical interconnect can be reconfigured to make efficient use of the interconnect resources. A discrete-event simulation model of the interconnect is used to examine performance issues such as throughput, latency, fairness, and the impact of reconfigurability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer and Communications Research Center, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

    Roger Chamberlain, Mark Franklin, Praveen Krishnamurthy & Abhijit Mahajan

Authors
  1. Roger Chamberlain
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  2. Mark Franklin
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  3. Praveen Krishnamurthy
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  4. Abhijit Mahajan
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Correspondence to Roger Chamberlain.

Additional information

Roger D. Chamberlain completed the degrees BSCS and BSEE in 1983, MSCS in 1985, and DSc (computer science) in 1989 all from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is currently an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Washington University, where he is Director of the Computer Engineering Program. Dr. Chamberlain teaches and conducts research in the areas of computer architecture, parallel computing, embedded systems, and digital design.

Mark A. Franklin received his BA, BSEE and MSEE from Columbia University, and his Ph.D. in EE from Carnegie-Mellon University. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and holds the Hugo F. and Ina Champ Urbauer Chair in Engineering. He founded and is former Director of the Computer and Communications Research Center.

Dr. Franklin is a Fellow of the IEEE and a member of the ACM. He has been Chair of the IEEE TCCA (Technical Committee on Computer Architecture), and Vice-Chair of the ACM SIGARCH (Special Interest Group on Computer Architecture). His research areas include computer and systems architecture, ASIC and embedded processor design, parallel and distributed systems, and systems performance evaluation.

Praveen Krishnamurthy received the Bachelor of Engineering degree from University of Madras (India) in 2000 and the MS degree in Computer Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2002. He is currently a doctoral student at Washington University in St. Louis.

Abhijit Mahajan received his B.E (Electronics) degree from University of Mumbai in 1998. He received is MSEE from Washington University in 2000. He is presently working with Broadcom Corporation in India. His main area of work is signal integrity and systems engineering.

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Chamberlain, R., Franklin, M., Krishnamurthy, P. et al. VLSI Photonic Ring Multicomputer Interconnect: Architecture and Signal Processing Performance. J VLSI Sign Process Syst Sign Image Video Technol 40, 57–72 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11265-005-4938-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11265-005-4938-2

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