Scaling silicon photonic switch fabrics for data center interconnection networks

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Optical Networking
• Data Center Technology

Background:

• Growing data center bandwidth demands necessitate advanced optical interconnects.
• High-radix transparent optical switch fabrics are crucial for scalable networks.
• Silicon photonics offers a promising platform due to its small footprint and CMOS compatibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the feasibility of silicon photonic microring-based switch fabrics for data centers.
• To evaluate the scalability of microring switch fabrics for Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) signals.
• To examine critical parameters like crosstalk, insertion loss, and switching speed.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of microring-based switch fabric scalability for WDM signals.
• Evaluation of crosstalk, insertion loss, and switching speed.
• Examination of parameter sensitivity to device characteristics.
• Review of microring operations and control demonstrations.

Main Results:

• Optimization of physical layer parameters can reduce crosstalk and improve switch fabric scalability.
• A 128x128 silicon photonic single-chip switch fabric is feasible with current technology.
• Tolerable power penalty is achievable for high-radix switch fabrics.

Conclusions:

• Silicon photonic microrings are applicable for data center switching.
• Further research can address challenges and leverage opportunities in this technology.
• State-of-the-art devices support the development of scalable, high-performance optical switches.