Experimental evaluation of the 3-D optical shuffle interconnection module of the sliding Banyan architecture

A free-space optical interconnection module for the sliding Banyan (SE) multistage interconnection network is experimentally evaluated. This three-dimensional (3-D) optical shuffle topology employs a macro-lens array in a reflective architecture, Interconnections for multiple stages are interleaved across a single two-dimensional (2-D) multichip array of ''smart pixels.'' The experimental module implements five interleaved stages of shuffle interconnections with approximately 10 mu m resolution and 10 mu m registration accuracy across a 10 x 10 cm, 256 node, simulated optoelectronic (OE) backplane. The experiments demonstrate the use of conventional refractive optical elements to implement the required shuffle interconnection pattern in a SE network. The results suggest that this reflective 3-D shuffle interconnected SE approach may lead to ATM switching fabrics with aggregate throughputs scaleable to >1 Tb/s. Such a system could be implemented with vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) based smart pixel OE technology.