Low-cost virtual parallel optical fiber PCI link

Abstract

In this paper, we present a low cost fiber-optic data link for the computing cluster. The link is a 32 bit-virtual- channel fiber-optic computer bus used only a pair of OE devices and fibers. The link is integrated with the popular PCI Bus interface in order to make the link hold the same bandwidth as that of the PCI Bus, and it can operate under managed by PCI Bus. Our research addresses how to match accessing bandwidth between computer bus and high-speed optical interconnections, and how to make low overhead and latency interfaces between optics and electronics, and integrates fiber optic link into computing system designs.