Optical broadcast buses with shared optical interfaces

Abstract

The embodiments of the invention are targeted at broadcast buses with shared optical interfaces, wherein the broadcast buses are used for fan-in and fan-out of optical signals. On the one hand, the optical broadcast buses (100, 200, 300) include a plurality of optical interfaces (121-123, 210, 212, 216,218, 301-303), fan-in buses (102, 202) which are optically coupled to the plurality of optical interfaces and fan-out buses (104, 204) optically coupled to the plurality of optical interfaces. Each optical interface is configured to convert electrical signals generated by at least one node into optical signals. The optical signals are received by the fan-in buses and lead to the fan-out buses and then broadcasted to the plurality of optical interfaces by the fan-out buses. Each optical interface converts the optical signals into electrical signals which are sent to at least one node of an electrical coupling so as to be processed.

Description

technical field [0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to computer buses, and more particularly to optical broadcast buses. Background technique [0002] A typical electronic broadcast bus consists of a collection of signal lines interconnecting nodes. A node can be a processor, a memory controller, a server blade of a blade system, a core within a multi-core processing unit, a circuit board, an external network connection. The broadcast bus allows nodes to broadcast messages, such as instructions, addresses, and data, to nodes of the computing system. Any node in electrical communication with the bus can receive messages sent from other nodes. However, the performance and scalability of electronic broadcast buses are limited by issues of bandwidth, latency, and power consumption. As more nodes are added to the system, bandwidth-affecting behavior is more likely to occur and the need for longer interconnects increases latency. Both bandwidth and latency are s...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, the performance and scalability of electronic broadcast buses are limited by issues of bandwidth, latency, and power consumption

As more nodes are added to the system, bandwidth-affecting behavior is more likely to occur and the need for longer interconnects increases latency

Both bandwidth and latency are satisfied with more resources, which leads to an increase in power

In particular, electronic broadcast buses tend to be relatively large and consume relatively large amounts of power, and in some cases scaling is detrimental to performance

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