Modular Interconnection System for Optical PCB and Backplane Communication

This paper presents a way of building modular systems with a powerful optical interconnection network. Each module, placed on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), has a generic optical communication interface with a simple electronic router. Together with optical switching using micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technology, packet switching over reconfigurable topologies is possible. The interconnection system gives the possibility to integrate electronics with optics without changing existing PCB technology. Great interest from industry is therefore expected and the cost advantages are several: reuse of module designs, module upgrades without changing the PCB, low-cost conventional PCB technology, etc. In the version described in this paper, the interconnection system has 48 bidirectional optical channels for intra-PCB communication on each board. For inter-PCB communication, a backplane with 192 bidirectional optical channels supports communication between twelve PCBs. With 2.5 Gbit/s per optical channel in each direction, the aggregated intra-PCB bit rate is 120 Gbit/s full duplex (on each PCB) while the aggregated inter-PCB bit rate is 480 Gbit/s full duplex. A case study shows the feasibility of the interconnection system in a parallel processing system for radar signal processing.