Testbed for a scalable terabit optical local area network

Area of Science:

• Computer Engineering
• Optical Communications
• Network Architecture

Background:

• Local Area Networks (LANs) are crucial for data communication.
• Existing network technologies face bandwidth limitations.
• Optoelectronic technology offers a path to higher bandwidth solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and demonstrate a scalable fiber-optic LAN system.
• To test prototype network interface cards (NICs) and switch cores.
• To explore the potential of integrated optoelectronics for terabit bandwidth.

Main Methods:

• Developed a prototype NIC with parallel fiber-optic datalinks.
• Constructed a high-speed bipolar switch core with crossbar switches and optoelectronic transceivers.
• Integrated complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) substrates with vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and photodetectors.
• Demonstrated high-speed packetized data transmission through the system.

Main Results:

• A functional subset of the fiber-optic LAN demonstrator was built and operated.
• Achieved 128 Gbit/s bandwidth in the current configuration.
• Successfully transmitted packetized data between NICs via the switch core.
• Validated the use of VCSEL transceivers and optoelectronic switching.

Conclusions:

• The designed fiber-optic LAN demonstrator is a viable step towards terabit bandwidth systems.
• The prototype components (NIC and switch core) performed as expected.
• Further development is focused on achieving terabit switch core capabilities.
• The integrated optoelectronic approach shows promise for future high-speed networking.