Emerging silicon photonics technologies for multi-core platform architectures

Abstract

The integration of emerging silicon photonics technologies with CMOS processes offers important advantages for the realization of scalable interconnection networks for both intra-chip and off-chip communication in next-generation multi-core computing platforms. The combination of electronic and optical communication technologies increases the number of architectural options to design both networks-on-chip and off-chip communication channels. The exploration of this broad design space requires the development of new models, methodologies, and tools to capture the physical and functional characteristics of photonic devices and enable their combination with electronic components to realize scalable and efficient interconnection networks. In this talk I will review recent progress in this research area by discussing the opportunities that are offered for system-level design and the challenges that remain to be addressed.