Presentation
FlexLION: Scalable and Reconfigurable All-to-All Photonic Interconnects
Event Type
Emerging Technologies
TP
EX
EXH
TimeMonday, November 12th7pm - 9pm
LocationBooth 619
DescriptionWe propose FlexLION (Flexible Low-Latency Interconnect Optical Network) to pursue energy-efficient, scalable, and reconfigurable all-to-all silicon photonic (SiPh) interconnects. FlexLION offers contention-less and arbitration-free all-to-all communication among selected nodes (processors or electronic switches) while providing bandwidth-adaptive interconnection between the other nodes. The proposed technology consists of a scalable all-to-all Thin-CLOS architecture [1] based on arrayed waveguide grating routers (AWGRs) combined with micro-ring-based flexible wavelength selective filters and optical MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems) [2]. Benchmarking simulation studies indicate ≥ 3× energy efficiency improvements compared to state-of-the-art switching solutions for typical workloads. At the SC14 Emerging Technologies track, we presented the first all-to-all optically-interconnected 8-node testbed demo with 32-port AWGRs and FPGA-based nodes, and at SC17, we reported technology advancements toward close 2.5D integration between electronic ICs and silicon photonic transceivers interconnected by AWGRs. For the SC18 Emerging Technology showcase, we will present the following innovations: (1) design, fabrication and testing of a 64-port All-to-All Thin-CLOS AWGR prototype; (2) architecture and simulation studies for the proposed FlexLION; (3) current research activities toward SiPh integration of FlexLION.
