Optical module, photoelectric integrated semiconductor structure, and optical switching system

Abstract

An optical module (1000), a photoelectric integrated semiconductor structure, and an optical switching system. The optical module (1000) comprises: an electrical input / output interface (E-I / O); an optical input / output interface (O-I / O); a light emitting unit (100), which is used for converting an input electrical signal (110) received from the electrical input / output interface (E-I / O) into an output optical signal (120); a light receiving unit (200), which is used for converting an input optical signal (210) received from the optical input / output interface (O-I / O) into an output electrical signal (220); and a control unit (300), which is used for controlling the light emitting unit (100) to convert the input electrical signal (110) into the output optical signal (120), and controlling the light receiving unit (200) to convert the input optical signal (210) into the output electrical signal (220), wherein the input electrical signal (110) and the output electrical signal (220) are PCIe electrical signals.

Description

Optical modules, optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structures, and optical switching systems

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202311281991.0 filed on September 28, 2023, and the contents of the above-mentioned Chinese patent application disclosure are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety as a part of this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the field of optical communications, and in particular to an optical module, an optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure, and an optical switching system. Background Art

[0003] In recent years, with the rapid development of technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, virtual reality, and augmented reality, the demand for data center computing power has increased exponentially. However, architectural innovations and computing power improvements focused solely on individual computing nodes cannot meet the growing demand for large-scale computing power. Data centers typically require tens of thousands of computing devices, and simply stacking and combining multiple computing nodes often leads to network congestion. Furthermore, the configuration of resources such as CPUs, GPUs, and memory within data center servers is relatively fixed, while different computing tasks have varying resource requirements. Therefore, once a data center's hardware configuration is fixed, its utilization rate remains relatively low most of the time due to the inability to flexibly allocate computing power. A better approach is to consolidate computing resources and, through refined management, allocate them to computing tasks in a flexible and efficient manner. This approach is often referred to as resource pooling.

[0004] However, current data center infrastructure designs struggle to support high-performance resource pooling due to the large physical distances between large-scale distributed computing devices. Currently, computing devices in data centers typically communicate with each other using the Ethernet protocol. For example, as shown in Figure 1, in this architecture, the PCIe electrical signal output by the computing chip of a computing device must pass through an Ethernet card for physical and protocol layer conversion, thereby converting the PCIe electrical signal into an Ethernet electrical signal. This Ethernet electrical signal is then provided to an Ethernet optical module for electrical-to-optical conversion. The Ethernet optical signal output by the Ethernet optical module can be further provided to an Ethernet optical switch or optical switch. Conversely, for example, an Ethernet optical signal from an Ethernet optical switch or optical switch can be provided to an Ethernet optical module for electrical-to-electrical conversion. The Ethernet electrical signal obtained from the Ethernet optical module can then undergo protocol conversion via an Ethernet card to obtain a PCIe electrical signal. This PCIe electrical signal can then be received by the computing chip of another computing device. Through the above approach, data exchange between different computing devices can be achieved.

[0005] This configuration mode between computing devices is limited by the bandwidth of Ethernet data exchange and has high communication latency, making it difficult for data centers to achieve near-linear large-scale computing power expansion.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] In view of the above problems, the present disclosure aims to provide an optical data exchange solution that directly uses PCIe electrical signals without the need for Ethernet protocol conversion.

[0008] In one aspect, the present disclosure provides an optical module. The optical module includes: an electrical input / output interface; an optical input / output interface; an optical emitting unit for converting an input electrical signal received from the electrical input / output interface into an output optical signal; an optical receiving unit for converting an input optical signal received from the optical input / output interface into an output electrical signal; and a control unit for controlling the optical emitting unit to convert the input electrical signal into the output optical signal, and controlling the optical receiving unit to convert the input optical signal into the output electrical signal. The input electrical signal and the output electrical signal are PCIe electrical signals.

[0009] In some embodiments, the input electrical signal and the output electrical signal are PCIe electrical signals based on the physical layer of the PCIe interface on an external electronic integrated circuit chip or PCIe / CXL electrical signals based on the physical layer of the PCIe interface and the CXL protocol layer.

[0010] In some embodiments, the input electrical signal includes a first data electrical signal. The first data electrical signal has one or more channels, and the optical transmitting unit includes one or more transmitting channels for converting the first data electrical signal into a first data optical signal having one or more channels. The input optical signal includes a second data optical signal. The second data optical signal has one or more channels, and the optical receiving unit includes one or more receiving channels for converting the second data optical signal into a second data electrical signal having one or more channels.

[0011] In some embodiments, the input electrical signal further includes a first control electrical signal, and the light emitting unit further converts the first control electrical signal into a first control optical signal. The input optical signal further includes a second control optical signal, and the light receiving unit further converts the second control optical signal into a second control electrical signal.

[0012] In some embodiments, the light emitting unit includes a light emitter and a driver.

[0013] In some embodiments, the light emitter is a directly modulated laser, and the control unit controls the intensity of the light signal emitted by the light emitting unit by controlling the electrical signal provided by the driver to form the output light signal.

[0014] In some embodiments, the optical transmitter is an externally modulated laser, and the optical transmission unit further includes a modulator. The control unit modulates the light received from the optical transmitter by controlling an electrical signal input to the modulator to form the output optical signal.

[0015] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure. This optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure includes: the optical module described above; an electronic integrated circuit chip; a packaging substrate that encapsulates at least the electronic integrated circuit chip; and a printed circuit board (PCB) for arranging the packaging substrate. The electronic integrated circuit chip has a PCIe physical interface, and the PCIe physical interface of the electronic integrated circuit chip is directly electrically interconnected with the electrical input and output interfaces of the optical module. The PCB is also used to mount the optical module.

[0016] In some embodiments, a slot is arranged at an edge of the PCB board, and the optical module is pluggably arranged in the slot. The electrical interconnection between the optical module and the electronic integrated circuit chip is achieved through wiring in the packaging substrate and the PCB board.

[0017] In some embodiments, a slot is arranged at an edge of the PCB board, and the optical module is pluggably arranged in the slot. The electrical interconnection between the optical module and the electronic integrated circuit chip is achieved through wiring in the packaging substrate and overhead cables on the PCB board.

[0018] In some embodiments, the optical module is arranged in a first area of ​​the PCB, and the package substrate is arranged in a second area of ​​the PCB that is different from the first area. Electrical interconnection between the optical module and the electronic integrated circuit chip is achieved through wiring in the package substrate and the PCB.

[0019] In some embodiments, the electronic integrated circuit chip is arranged in a first region of the package substrate; the optical module is arranged in a second region of the package substrate that is different from the first region; the package substrate is arranged on a PCB. Electrical interconnection between the optical module and the electronic integrated circuit chip is achieved through wiring in the package substrate.

[0020] In some embodiments, the electronic integrated circuit chip inputs an input electrical signal to the electrical input / output interface of the optical module via the PCIe physical interface, and the optical module converts the received input electrical signal into an output optical signal. The optical module converts the input optical signal received from the optical input / output interface into an output electrical signal, and provides the output electrical signal to the electronic integrated circuit chip.

[0021] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an optical switching system. The optical switching system includes: one or more optical switches; a plurality of electronic integrated circuit chips, each of which has a PCIe physical interface; and a plurality of optical modules as described above. The PCIe physical interface of each of the plurality of electronic integrated circuit chips is directly electrically connected to the electrical input and output interface of a corresponding optical module, and the corresponding optical module is connected to the optical switch via an optical fiber.

[0022] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an optical switching system. The optical switching system includes: a plurality of servers; and a plurality of optical switches. Each of the plurality of servers includes at least one optical module as described above, and each server is optically interconnected with each optical switch via a corresponding optical module.

[0023] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an optical switching system. The optical switching system includes: multiple servers; and at least one optical switch. Each of the multiple servers includes at least one optical module as described above, and each server is optically interconnected with at least some of the at least one optical switch via a corresponding optical module. Furthermore, some of the multiple servers are optically interconnected point-to-point via corresponding optical modules. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] FIG1 shows a schematic diagram of a conventional optical interconnect structure based on PCIe and Ethernet protocol conversion.

[0025] FIG2 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an optical module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] 3A-3B are structural diagrams illustrating examples of optical modules according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG4 shows a structural diagram of another example of an optical module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] 5A-5D illustrate side views of examples of optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structures according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG6 shows a schematic diagram of an example of an optical switching system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG7 shows a schematic diagram of another example of an optical switching system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG8 shows a schematic diagram of yet another example of an optical switching system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The following describes embodiments of the present disclosure in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although some embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided to provide a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present disclosure are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0033] It should be noted that the various parts or components described in the various embodiments of the present disclosure are merely illustrative. In some cases, some of the parts or components may be omitted, or replaced with other parts or components with the same or similar functions, or additional parts or components may be added.

[0034] In addition, the various components or assemblies described in the various embodiments of the present disclosure as being separated or combined with each other are merely for convenience of description and do not imply that they are physically separated or combined with each other, nor do they imply that such separation or combination is required. Those skilled in the art may arbitrarily separate or combine the various components or assemblies according to actual needs.

[0035] Without departing from the inventive concept of the present disclosure, any modifications or combinations described above fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0036] PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard. Originally named "3GIO," it was proposed by Intel in 2001. PCIe is a full-duplex bus that uses high-speed serial transmission and supports higher frequencies. Furthermore, PCIe utilizes high-speed serial point-to-point transmission with high bandwidth. Connected devices are allocated dedicated channel bandwidth, rather than sharing bus bandwidth like the PCI bus.

[0037] PCIe has several specifications, including PCIe x1, PCIe x4, PCIe x8, PCIe x16, and PCIe x32. The number after the x represents the number of lanes within the PCIe slot. PCIe slots are backward compatible. For example, a PCIe x16 slot can accept x8, x4, or x1 cards. The final operating mode is determined by the PCIe card. For example, if a PCIe x4 card is inserted into a PCIe x16 slot, it will ultimately operate in PCIe x4 mode.

[0038] PCIe has released multiple versions, including PCIe 1.0, PCIe 2.0, PCIe 3.0, PCIe 4.0, PCIe 5.0, and PCIe 6.0. These versions are backward compatible, meaning any PCIe card and motherboard can operate at the lowest version. For example, if you insert a PCIe 3.0 card into a PCIe 2.0 slot, it will ultimately run at PCIe 2.0.

[0039] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an optical module that can be directly driven by an input PCIe electrical signal and can directly output a PCIe electrical signal.

[0040] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned input PCIe electrical signal can be a PCIe electrical signal output from a PCIe standard physical interface, and the above-mentioned output PCIe electrical signal can be directly fed to the PCIe standard physical interface and can be reversely converted by the PCIe standard physical interface.

[0041] For simplicity, in the following text, this optical module that is directly driven by a PCIe electrical signal and can directly output a PCIe electrical signal is referred to as a PCIe optical module.

[0042] It should be noted that, as used herein, the term "PCIe electrical signal" refers to an electrical signal that complies with the PCIe bus standard. For example, a PCIe electrical signal may be an electrical signal obtained by performing protocol conversion on the physical layer of a PCIe interface on an external electronic integrated circuit chip. Furthermore, for example, a "PCIe electrical signal" may include high-speed differential electrical signals and sideband low-speed electrical signals directly output from the PCIe physical interface of an external electronic integrated circuit chip.

[0043] Depending on the data transmission rate and modulation mode adopted by the system, the "PCIe electrical signal" may include, for example, a high-speed differential electrical signal in a 32G NRZ format, or a high-speed differential electrical signal in a 64G PAM4 format.

[0044] Various embodiments of the PCIe optical module will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0045] FIG2 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an optical module 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 2 , the optical module 1000 functionally includes an electrical input / output interface EI / O, an optical input / output interface OI / O, an optical transmitting unit 100 , an optical receiving unit 200 , and a control unit 300 .

[0047] The optical transmission unit 100 may also be called a TX unit, and is used to convert an input electrical signal 110 received from the electrical input / output interface EI / O into an output optical signal 120 , ie, perform electrical-to-optical conversion (also called EO conversion).

[0048] The optical receiving unit 200 may also be referred to as an RX unit, and is configured to convert an input optical signal 210 received from an optical input / output interface OI / O into an output electrical signal 220 , ie, perform optical-to-electrical conversion (also referred to as OE conversion).

[0049] The control unit 300 may be any form of controller or microcontroller, configured to control the optical emitting unit 100 to perform EO conversion of the input electrical signal 110 to the output optical signal 120. Similarly, the control unit 300 may also control the optical receiving unit 200 to perform OE conversion of the input optical signal 210 to the output electrical signal 220.

[0050] As mentioned above, the optical module proposed in the present disclosure can be directly driven by PCIe electrical signals and can directly output PCIe electrical signals. This is primarily achieved by configuring the aforementioned electrical input and output interface to directly connect to the PCIe interface in the output port of a functional electronic integrated circuit chip, and directly transmit the received signal to the driver in the optical transmission unit 100 of the optical module. In other words, the optical module receives the signal from the PCIe interface in the output port of the functional electronic integrated circuit chip and transmits it directly to the driver of the optical module without undergoing protocol conversion or other processing.

[0051] That is, the input electrical signal 110 and the output electrical signal 220 shown in FIG. 1 are both PCIe electrical signals.

[0052] In this way, compared with the Ethernet optical module, the PCIe optical module proposed in the present disclosure does not require a retimer, and does not require an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) or a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) to perform analog-to-digital / or digital-to-analog conversion on high-speed electrical signals, making the PCIe optical module completely transparent to the digital logic protocol and reducing system latency.

[0053] In some embodiments, in the EO conversion direction, the input electrical signal 110 can be an electrical signal from an external device, such as an external computing device, storage device, communication device, etc. In addition, the electrical signal 220 output from the optical module 1000 can be provided to the same external device.

[0054] For example, the external device may be a device having a PCIe physical interface and capable of receiving or sending PCIe electrical signals. In this case, the input electrical signal as described above may be input into the electrical input / output interface EI / O of the optical module 1000 via the PCIe physical interface of the external device, thereby performing EO conversion.

[0055] In this case, for example, if the electrical signal output by the PCIe physical interface of an external device is a PCIe electrical signal carrying "information A," then when the optical module 1000 receives the PCIe electrical signal carrying "information A," the optical emitting unit 100 in the optical module 1000, under the control of the control unit 300, converts the PCIe electrical signal into a corresponding optical signal, which also carries the same "information A." This information is carried by light modulation in the optical emitting unit 100. The specific implementation of light modulation will be described in detail later.

[0056] Therefore, converting the received input electrical signal 110 into the output optical signal 120 as described above actually means loading the information carried by the input electrical signal 110 onto the output optical signal 120 in a modulated manner.

[0057] Accordingly, in the direction of OE conversion, the input optical signal 210 may also be an optical signal from an external device. In addition, the optical signal 120 output from the optical module 1000 may also be provided to the same external device.

[0058] For example, the external device can provide the input optical signal 210 to the optical module 1000 via an optical fiber. The input optical signal 210 can carry specific information (e.g., "information B"). In other words, the input optical signal 210 can carry "information B" using a certain modulation technique. The optical receiving unit 200 in the optical module 1000 performs OE conversion on the optical signal carrying "information B" to obtain an electrical signal carrying the same "information B." This output electrical signal can then be provided to external computing devices, storage devices, communication devices, etc., as described above.

[0059] The PCIe interface described above (e.g., a PCIe interface in an output port of an electronic integrated circuit chip) may include PCIe interfaces that conform to various versions, including but not limited to PCIe 1.0, PCIe 2.0, PCIe 3.0, PCIe 4.0, PCIe 5.0, and PCIe 6.0. Similarly, under the corresponding version, the PCIe interface of the optical module 1000 described above may also be any of various specifications, including but not limited to PCIe x1, PCIe x4, PCIe x8, PCIe x16, and PCIe x32.

[0060] Therefore, the PCIe electrical signal described above may be any one of the electrical signals conforming to the various PCIe versions and various specifications described above.

[0061] By providing a PCIe optical module as described above that is directly driven by PCIe electrical signals and can directly output PCIe electrical signals, such a PCIe optical module can be used to more simply interconnect computing devices when building an optical network, thereby avoiding the conversion of the physical layer and protocol layer from PCIe to Ethernet.

[0062] Furthermore, because the PCIe optical module proposed in this disclosure directly receives and outputs PCIe electrical signals, it eliminates the need for further digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversion within the optical module before and after conversion. In other words, the PCIe optical module proposed in this disclosure can eliminate the need for traditional DAC and ADC components, enabling faster optical-to-electrical and electro-optical conversion, further reducing data transmission latency.

[0063] Therefore, the PCIe optical module proposed in the present disclosure can not only solve the bandwidth limitation and high latency problems in Ethernet solutions, but also simplify hardware design.

[0064] Optionally, an electrical signal based on the CXL protocol may be used in the PCIe optical module described above to further reduce data transmission delay.

[0065] The CXL (also known as "High-Speed ​​Computing Link") protocol is an emerging technology specification developed by the open industry standards organization of the CXL Alliance, which can support data center acceleration. Since CXL is based on the PCIe protocol (PCIE 5.0) and is fully compatible with PCIe standard slots, it can enable the device's memory or cache to be quickly accessed globally by all devices that support the CXL protocol. Therefore, the CXL protocol can be used to quickly access the device through the PCIe standard interface, resulting in higher data access efficiency and lower local data access latency. In this article, the electrical signal based on the physical layer of the PCIe standard interface (such as PCIe 5.0) and using the CXL protocol can also be referred to as PCIe / CXL electrical signal.

[0066] In some embodiments, the input and output electrical signals described above can be PCIe / CXL electrical signals based on the physical layer of the PCIe interface and the CXL protocol layer. Transmitting CXL protocol-based electrical signals over a standard PCIe interface facilitates further acceleration of data access and data exchange.

[0067] The above describes various embodiments of the optical module in the present disclosure that directly supports PCIe electrical signals. Now, some examples of the internal configuration of the PCIe optical module proposed in the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG3A and FIG3B .

[0068] Fig. 3A shows a structural diagram of an example of an optical module 1100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the optical module 1100 shown in Fig. 3A can be regarded as a more detailed embodiment of the optical module 1000 shown in Fig. 2 .

[0069] For example, the light emitting unit 100 shown in FIG1 may include a light emitter 101A and a driver 102 as shown in FIG3A . The driver 102 is configured to drive the light emitter 101A to emit a light signal as an output light signal 120 .

[0070] In addition, the light receiving unit 200 shown in FIG1 may include a light detector 201 and an amplifier 202 as shown in FIG3A . The light detector 201 may convert the detected input light signal 210 into an electrical signal, and the amplifier 202 may further amplify the converted electrical signal and then output the amplified electrical signal as an output electrical signal 220.

[0071] The optical transmitter 101A shown in FIG. 3A may be a “directly modulated” optical transmitter, such as a directly modulated vertical surface cavity laser (VCSEL) or a distributed feedback (DFB) laser.

[0072] The so-called "direct modulation" means that the control unit 300 can control the electrical signal provided by the driver 102 to the optical transmitter 101A according to the input electrical signal 110, thereby controlling the intensity of the optical signal emitted by the optical transmitter 101A, without using other modulators to load or modulate the information in the electrical signal into the emitted optical signal.

[0073] For example, the control unit 300 can directly control the magnitude of the current provided by the driver 102 according to the amplitude of the logic levels "1" and "0" of the input electrical signal 110, so that the intensity of the light emitted by the light emitter 101A can be linearly or substantially linearly related to the amplitude of the input current.

[0074] Optionally, the optical transmitter in the optical module of the present disclosure may also be an "externally modulated" optical transmitter. As the name implies, an "externally modulated" optical transmitter is one that cannot modulate light itself but relies on external equipment to modulate light.

[0075] Figure 3B shows another example of a structure diagram of an optical module 1200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In Figure 3B , the optical transmitter 101B is, for example, an externally modulated laser, and the optical transmission unit 100 shown in Figure 1 needs to additionally include a modulator 103 in addition to the driver 102 and the optical transmitter 101B.

[0076] In this case, light emitter 101B is in a stable light-emitting state and emits light with consistent intensity. The light emitted by light emitter 101B is provided to modulator 103. Control unit 300 can control the electrical signal input to modulator 103 through driver 102, thereby modulating the amplitude, phase, and other characteristics of the light received from light emitter 101B. This modulates the information carried in input electrical signal 110 onto the light to form output optical signal 120.

[0077] Typical examples of the modulator 103 include integrated photonic modulators based on silicon, indium phosphide, thin-film lithium niobate or polymer, and the structure may be a micro-ring modulator, a Mach-Zehnder modulator or an electro-absorption modulator.

[0078] For example, in the case where the modulator 103 is an electro-absorption modulator, the control unit 300 can control the switch of the modulator 103 through the driver 102 to make it absorb or not absorb light, thereby absorbing the light emitted by the light emitter 101B (for example, corresponding to the output logic "0"), or not absorbing the light emitted by the light emitter 101B (for example, corresponding to the output logic "1"). In this way, the intensity and phase of the final output light can be controlled, so that information can be modulated or loaded onto the output optical signal 120.

[0079] It should be noted that the modulation formats of the logic levels "1" and "0" of the input electrical signal 110 mentioned above are merely exemplary and not limiting. In practice, the input electrical signal 110 may have any suitable modulation format.

[0080] In addition, the driver 102 , the photodetector 201 , and the amplifier 202 shown in FIG. 3A-3B may be implemented using any suitable components in the art.

[0081] For example, the driver 102 can be implemented by a circuit composed of various electronic components such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors. For example, the light detector 201 can be various types of photodiodes with various sensitivities, such as a photomultiplier tube (PMT), an avalanche photodiode (APD), a silicon photomultiplier tube (SiPM), etc. Furthermore, the amplifier 202 can be a traditional transimpedance amplifier (TIA) or various types of amplifiers based on similar or other principles, which will not be elaborated on here.

[0082] Various embodiments of the internal structure of the PCIe optical module are described above mainly with reference to FIG. 3A-3B . The input signal and output signal of the PCIe optical module will be described in detail below.

[0083] In the field of optical transmission, the signals transmitted in the system can be roughly divided into two categories according to their functions: one is data signal and the other is control signal.

[0084] A data signal is a signal that carries the target information to be transmitted. It can be either an electrical signal or an optical signal. For example, an electrical signal can represent data information through its amplitude and timing, while an optical signal can represent data information through characteristics such as the intensity, phase, and frequency of the modulated light. Because data signals contain large amounts of information and change rapidly, they generally require high-speed differential signaling for transmission.

[0085] A control signal generally refers to a signal that carries control information or system information. It can be either an electrical signal or an optical signal. Compared to data signals, control signals carry less information and change more slowly in the time domain. Therefore, low-speed sideband signals can be used to transmit control signals.

[0086] The input and output signals discussed above with respect to Figures 2 to 3B in this disclosure include data signals, ie, signals carrying target information data to be transmitted. Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of various signals in an optical module 1300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0087] For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , the input electrical signal input into the optical module 1300 may include a first data electrical signal 110 - 1 , and the first data electrical signal 110 - 1 may be an electrical signal having multiple channels.

[0088] In this case, the optical transmission unit 100 needs to include a corresponding plurality of transmission channels for converting the first data electrical signal 110 - 1 into a first data optical signal 120 - 1 , wherein the first data optical signal 120 - 1 also has a corresponding plurality of channels.

[0089] For example, if the first data electrical signal 110-1 has eight channels, the optical transmission unit 100 also needs to include eight transmission channels to support EO conversion of the electrical signal in each channel of the first data electrical signal 110-1. After EO conversion, the first data optical signal 120-1 also has eight channels of optical output.

[0090] For example, if the first data electrical signal 110-1 has 32 channels, the optical transmission unit 100 also needs to include 32 transmission channels to support EO conversion of the electrical signal in each channel of the first data electrical signal 110-1. After EO conversion, the first data optical signal 120-1 also has 32 channels of optical output.

[0091] It should be noted that the optical emission unit 100 includes multiple emission channels, which means that for the electrical signal of each channel in the first data electrical signal 110 - 1 , a corresponding driver + optical emitter needs to be arranged to perform EO conversion on the electrical signal of the channel.

[0092] For example, if the first data electrical signal 110 - 1 has 8 channels, 8 sets of drivers + optical transmitters are required to drive the 8 channels. If the first data electrical signal 110 - 1 has 16 channels, 16 sets of drivers + optical transmitters are required to drive the 8 channels, and so on.

[0093] In some examples, the optical transmitters in each driver+optical transmitter group can be any of the directly modulated optical transmitters and externally modulated optical transmitters described above. Furthermore, when the optical transmitters in each driver+optical transmitter group are externally modulated optical transmitters, each transmission channel also needs to include a corresponding modulator. For example, the modulator can be one of the various modulators described above with respect to FIG. 3B .

[0094] Preferably, when the first data electrical signal 110 - 1 has multiple channels, the multiple transmission channels in the optical transmission unit 100 can be configured with the same driver + optical transmitter group, or driver + optical transmitter + modulator group, thereby simplifying the design and control of the PCIe optical module.

[0095] For example, when the first data electrical signal 110-1 has eight channels, each of the eight transmission channels in the optical transmission unit 100 has the same configuration. For example, each transmission channel may include the same driver and the same combination of directly modulated optical transmitters, or each transmission channel may include the same combination of the same driver, the same externally modulated optical transmitter, and the same modulator.

[0096] However, any other arrangements also fall within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, if the first data electrical signal 110-1 has eight channels, a driver + VCSEL direct modulation laser combination can be configured for channel 1, a driver + DFB direct modulation laser combination can be configured for channel 2, and a driver + external modulation laser + electro-absorption modulator combination can be configured for channels 3 to 8.

[0097] The same is true for the optical receiving direction. For example, as shown in FIG4 , the input optical signal input to the optical module 1300 may include a second data optical signal 210 - 1 , which may be an optical signal having multiple channels. The optical receiving unit 200 also correspondingly includes multiple receiving channels for converting the second data optical signal 210 - 1 into a second data electrical signal 220 - 1 having multiple channels.

[0098] For example, if the second data optical signal 210-1 has eight channels, the optical receiving unit 200 also needs to include eight receiving channels to support OE conversion of the optical signal in each channel of the second data optical signal 210-1. After OE conversion, the second data electrical signal 220-1 also has eight channels of electrical output.

[0099] For example, if the second data optical signal 210-1 has 32 channels, the optical receiving unit 200 also needs to include 32 receiving channels to support OE conversion of the optical signal in each channel of the second data optical signal 210-1. After OE conversion, the second data electrical signal 220-1 also has 32 channels of electrical output.

[0100] It should be noted that the optical receiving unit 200 includes multiple receiving channels, which means that for the optical signal of each channel in the second data optical signal 210 - 1 , a corresponding optical detector+amplifier needs to be arranged to perform OE conversion on the electrical signal of the channel.

[0101] For example, if the second data optical signal 210-1 has 8 channels, 8 sets of optical detectors + amplifiers are required to receive the 8 optical signals. If the second data optical signal 210-1 has 16 channels, 16 sets of optical detectors + amplifiers are required to receive the 16 optical signals, and so on.

[0102] In some examples, the optical receiver and amplifier in each optical detector+amplifier set can be any one of the photodiodes and transimpedance amplifiers described above.

[0103] Preferably, when the second data optical signal 210 - 1 has multiple channels, the multiple receiving channels in the optical receiving unit 200 may be configured with the same optical detector+amplifier group.

[0104] For example, when the second data optical signal 210 - 1 has 8 channels, each of the 8 receiving channels in the optical receiving unit 200 may have the same configuration, such as each receiving channel may include the same combination of a photodiode and a transimpedance amplifier.

[0105] However, different arrangements for each receiving channel are also within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0106] The above example of the input and output of the PCIe optical module including multiple channels is shown in FIG4 . It should be understood that in actual applications, the input and output of the PCIe optical module may also include a single channel.

[0107] In addition, the number of channels of the data signal in the EO direction may be equal to the number of channels of the data signal in the OE direction. Alternatively, the number of channels of the data signal in the EO direction may not be equal to the number of channels of the data signal in the OE direction.

[0108] In addition, it should be noted that the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned above in this disclosure are only for distinguishing some terms or components, and are not intended to limit the primary and secondary relationships of these terms or components, nor are they intended to limit the time order of these terms or components when performing operations.

[0109] For example, in the above embodiment, “first” is used to distinguish each signal in the EO conversion direction, and “second” is used to distinguish each signal in the OE conversion direction.

[0110] For example, the first data electrical signal and the first data optical signal described above represent electrical signals and optical signals in the EO conversion direction, respectively, and the second data electrical signal and the second data optical signal represent electrical signals and optical signals in the OE conversion direction, respectively.

[0111] For clarity, each embodiment described later will also follow this rule, that is, "first" is used to define each signal in the EO conversion direction, and "second" is used to define each signal in the OE conversion direction.

[0112] Typically, the multiple channels of the first and second data electrical signals (110-1 and 220-1) described above correspond to different numbers of high-speed differential channels in different PCIe specifications. For example, they may correspond to different numbers of differential channels in the aforementioned PCIe x1, PCIe x4, PCIe x8, PCIe x16, PCIe x32 specifications.

[0113] For example, the 16-channel first data electrical signal 110 - 1 may represent an electrical signal of a 16x 32G high-speed differential channel in NRZ format, or an electrical signal of a 16x 64G high-speed differential channel in PAM4 format.

[0114] The first and second data electrical signals ( 110 - 1 and 220 - 1 ), and the first and second data optical signals ( 120 - 1 and 210 - 1 ) discussed above refer to data signals carrying target data information.

[0115] In some embodiments, in addition to the data signals of the multiple channels, the input and output signals of the optical module may further include additional control signals, for example, the control signals indicated by the black bold arrows in FIG. 4 .

[0116] As shown in FIG. 4 , for example, the input electrical signal of the optical module 1300 may further include a first control electrical signal 110 - 2 input to the EI / O.

[0117] For example, the first control electrical signal 110 - 2 may carry first control information, and the optical transmission unit 100 may convert the first control electrical signal 110 - 2 into a first control optical signal 120 - 2 carrying the first control information.

[0118] In addition, similarly, the input optical signal of the optical module 1300 may further include a second control optical signal 210 - 2 .

[0119] For example, the second control optical signal 210 - 2 may carry second control information, and the optical receiving unit 200 may convert the second control optical signal 210 - 2 into a second control electrical signal 220 - 2 carrying the second control information.

[0120] Similar to the principles described above regarding the first data electrical signal and the second data electrical signal (110-1 and 220-1), and the first data optical signal and the second data optical signal (120-1 and 210-1), for the first control electrical signal 110-2, a special driver + optical emitter combination needs to be set in the optical emission unit 100 to perform EO conversion of the first control electrical signal 110-2, thereby outputting the first control optical signal 120-2.

[0121] Similarly, for the second control optical signal 210 - 2 , a dedicated optical detector+amplifier combination needs to be provided in the optical receiving unit 200 for performing OE conversion of the second control optical signal 210 - 2 , thereby outputting a second control electrical signal 220 - 2 .

[0122] 4 is similar to that of FIG2 . The emitting unit 100 and the light receiving unit 200 in FIG4 can have any configuration as described above with respect to FIG3A-3B , and will not be described in detail here.

[0123] It should be noted that although the first control electrical signal 110-2, the first control optical signal 120-2, the second control optical signal 210-2, and the second control electrical signal 220-2 are described above as a single channel, this is merely for simplification of the description. In other embodiments, the above control signals may also have multiple channels, for example, two, three, or more channels, to achieve EO / OE conversion of more control signals.

[0124] In the case where the above-mentioned control signal has multiple channels, each channel also needs to be arranged with a dedicated transmission channel or receiving channel. The configuration of the transmission channel or receiving channel discussed above for the data signal is also applicable to the control signal and will not be repeated here.

[0125] In some embodiments, the above control signal may be a PCIe sideband low-speed control signal.

[0126] For example, the first control electrical signal 110-2 may be a PCIe sideband low-speed control electrical signal, and the first control optical signal 120-2 after EO conversion may be a corresponding sideband low-speed control optical signal. The second control optical signal 210-2 may also be a sideband low-speed control optical signal, and the second control electrical signal 220-2 output after OE conversion may also be a PCIe sideband low-speed control electrical signal.

[0127] Various embodiments of PCIe optical modules have been described above. As mentioned above, by providing a PCIe optical module that is directly driven by and capable of directly outputting PCIe electrical signals, such a PCIe optical module can be used to more easily interconnect computing devices when building an optical network, thereby avoiding the physical and protocol layer conversion from PCIe to Ethernet. Optionally, the CXL protocol can be used in the PCIe optical module to reduce data transmission latency.

[0128] In addition, since the PCIe optical module proposed in the present disclosure directly receives PCIe electrical signals and directly outputs PCIe electrical signals, the further digital-to-analog conversion and analog-to-digital conversion operations before and after the conversion are eliminated inside the optical module, thereby enabling optical-to-electrical and electro-optical conversion to be performed more quickly, which can help to further reduce the delay in data transmission.

[0129] The following describes, with reference to the accompanying drawings, an example of a typical optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure for interconnecting computing devices using any of the PCIe optical modules described above during optical network design.

[0130] A typical optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure generally includes any of the aforementioned optical modules, an electronic integrated circuit chip, a packaging substrate, and a printed circuit board (PCB). The packaging substrate is used to package at least the electronic integrated circuit chip, and the PCB is used to house the packaging substrate. The electronic integrated circuit chip is equipped with a PCIe physical interface, and the PCIe physical interface of the electronic integrated circuit chip is electrically interconnected with the electrical input and output interfaces of the optical module. Furthermore, the PCB is used to mount the optical module.

[0131] 5A-5D further illustrate side views of various examples of optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structures according to embodiments of the present disclosure, with a focus on examples of various different implementations of electrical interconnection between an electronic integrated circuit chip and a PCIe optical module.

[0132] In the present disclosure, the electronic integrated circuit chip is configured to have a PCIe physical interface, also known as a PCIe PHY interface. The PCIe PHY interface is used to perform protocol conversion on the input and output I / O signals of the electronic integrated circuit chip so that they comply with the PCIe standard.

[0133] For example, the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 shown in FIG. 5A to FIG. 5D below is provided with a PCIe PHY interface, so that the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 can be interconnected with the PCIe optical module 2010 through the PCIe PHY interface.

[0134] It should be noted that in the embodiment shown in Figures 5A-5D, the PCIe PHY interface on the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 can convert the digital signal inside the chip into a PCIe electrical signal. The PCIe electrical signal can be directly fed into the electrical input interface of the PCIe optical module 2010 for EO conversion.

[0135] In addition, the PCIe electrical signal output from the electrical output interface after O-E conversion by the PCIe optical module 2010 can also be directly fed to the PCIe PHY interface on the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020, and the PCIe PHY interface then converts it into a digital signal for use by the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020.

[0136] 5A-5B show two embodiments in which a PCIe optical module is arranged at the edge of a PCB board 2040 in a pluggable manner.

[0137] For example, in the electrical packaging structure 2100 shown in FIG5A , a slot (not shown) may be arranged at an edge of the PCB board 2040 , and the optical module 2010 is pluggably arranged in the slot.

[0138] The electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 is arranged on a package substrate 2030 , and the package substrate 2030 is arranged on a PCB board 2040 .

[0139] In FIG. 5A , the electrical interconnection between the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 and the optical module 2010 is achieved through wiring 2060 in the package substrate 2030 and the PCB board 2040 .

[0140] For example, the edge of the PCB board 2040 in Figure 5A may correspond to the front panel of the server device. In this case, the optical module 2010 can be easily plugged in and out of the front panel of the server, thus avoiding the impact on other components caused by operating the optical module.

[0141] In addition, in the case of the package as shown in Figure 5A, the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 can be arranged as close to the optical module 2010 as possible, thereby reducing the length of the wiring 2060 between the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 and the optical module 2010, which is conducive to improving signal integrity.

[0142] In addition, corresponding wiring 2060 can be arranged for the various data signals and control signals described above for the optical module, so that the optical module 2010 can perform EO conversion on various electrical signals from the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020, and then the optical fiber array 2050 as shown in the figure transmits the converted optical signals.

[0143] FIG5B shows another embodiment of a package in which the optical module is arranged at the edge of the PCB board 2040 in a pluggable manner.

[0144] In the electrical packaging structure 2200 shown in FIG5B , a similar slot (not shown) may be arranged at an edge of the PCB board 2040 , and the optical module 2010 is pluggably arranged in the slot.

[0145] The electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 is arranged on a package substrate 2030 , and the package substrate 2030 is arranged on a PCB board 2040 .

[0146] Unlike FIG5A , in FIG5B , the electrical interconnection between the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 and the optical module 2010 is achieved through wiring in the packaging substrate 2030 and an overhead cable 2070 above the PCB board 2040 , and the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 can be arranged at any suitable position on the PCB board 2040 .

[0147] Generally speaking, compared to wiring within the PCB 2040, overhead cables have relatively lower loss and noise. Therefore, for pluggable optical modules, using overhead cables is relatively easy to ensure that the optical transmission system has a good signal-to-noise ratio, thereby meeting the signal-to-noise ratio requirements of PCIe.

[0148] In addition to the examples of pluggable optical module packaging shown in FIG. 5A-5B , FIG. 5C also shows a schematic diagram of another onboard optical module packaging.

[0149] In the electrical package structure 2300 shown in FIG5C , the optical module 2010 is arranged in a first region of the PCB 2040, rather than being pluggably arranged in a slot at the edge of the PCB 2040 as shown in FIG5A-5B . Furthermore, the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 is arranged on the package substrate 2030, and the package substrate 2030 is arranged in a second region of the PCB 2040 that is different from the first region. That is, the package substrate 2030 and the optical module 2010 are not arranged in an overlapping manner.

[0150] As shown in FIG. 5C , similar to FIG. 5A , the electrical interconnection between the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 and the optical module 2010 is achieved through wiring 2080 in the package substrate 2030 and the PCB board 2040 .

[0151] However, in this case, unlike FIG5A , the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 can be arranged as close to the optical module 2010 as possible, thereby further reducing the length of the wiring 2080 between the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 and the optical module 2010 , which is beneficial to improving signal integrity.

[0152] In the packaging structures described above with respect to Figures 5A-5C, the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 and the optical module 2010 are separate, that is, not packaged in the same substrate. In some cases, a co-packaged structure of the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 and the optical module 2010 may also be considered.

[0153] FIG. 5D shows an example of co-packaging of an electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 and an optical module 2010 .

[0154] In the electrical package structure 2400 shown in FIG5D , the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 is arranged in a first region of a package substrate 2030, and the optical module 2010 is arranged in a second region different from the first region of the same package substrate 2030. The package substrate 2030, on which both the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 and the optical module 2010 are arranged, is then placed on a PCB 2040.

[0155] In this co-packaged structure, the electrical interconnection between the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 and the optical module 2010 is achieved through the wiring 2090 in the packaging substrate 2030 .

[0156] The co-packaged structure allows the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 and optical module 2010 to be placed closer together, allowing the wiring 2090 in the package substrate 2030 to be shortened as much as possible, thereby reducing insertion loss and noise. Therefore, the co-packaged optical module can relatively easily ensure a good signal-to-noise ratio for the optical transmission system, thereby meeting the PCIe signal-to-noise ratio requirements.

[0157] In any of the above optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structures, in the EO conversion direction, the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 shown in Figures 5A-5D can input an input electrical signal into the optical module 2010 through its PCIe PHY interface, and the optical module 2010 can convert the received input electrical signal into an output optical signal. The output optical signal can be transmitted through the optical fiber array 2050, for example.

[0158] In the OE conversion direction, the optical module 2010 can convert the received input optical signal into an output electrical signal, and provide the output electrical signal to the electronic integrated circuit chip 2020 .

[0159] The various features and functions of the PCIe optical module described above with respect to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 are applicable to the various packaging structures in FIG. 5A-5D and are not described in detail here.

[0160] 5A-5D describe various optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structures between the PCIe optical module and the electronic integrated circuit chip. When designing a package or building an optical network, those skilled in the art may select different packaging structures based on actual needs to achieve different objectives.

[0161] For example, to facilitate maintenance, the pluggable optical module packaging structure shown in Figures 5A and 5B may be preferred. Conversely, if the requirements for signal-to-noise ratio and signal integrity are relatively high, the non-pluggable packaging structure shown in Figure 5C or the co-packaging structure shown in Figure 5D may be preferred.

[0162] The packaging structure disclosed in the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. Those skilled in the art can easily combine or split the above-mentioned arrangements in various ways without departing from the design concept of the present invention, and the resulting modified packaging structure also falls within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0163] The present disclosure also provides an optical switching system based on the PCIe optical module as described above. Figures 6-8 show schematic diagrams of various examples of optical switching systems of embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the optical switching system shown in Figure 6 is actually equivalent to the functional topology of the optical switching system proposed in the present disclosure. The optical switching systems shown in Figures 7-8 are two different specific implementation forms of the functional topology shown in Figure 6. Therefore, the various operations and functions described in Figure 6 are also applicable to the optical switching systems shown in Figures 7 to 8.

[0164] In one example, as shown in FIG6 , an optical switching system 3000 includes one or more optical switches 3100 , a plurality of electronic integrated circuit chips EICs ( 3200 - 1 , 3200 - 2 , . . . , 3200 -N), and a plurality of optical modules ( 3300 - 1 , 3300 - 2 , . . . , 3300 -N).

[0165] Each optical module in the plurality of optical modules (3300-1, 3300-2, ... 3300-N) can be any of the PCIe optical modules described above with respect to Figures 2 to 4. Each electronic integrated circuit chip EIC (3200-1, 3200-2, ... 3200-N) has a PCIe PHY interface, and the PCIe PHY interface of each electronic integrated circuit chip EIC (3200-1, 3200-2, ... 3200-N) is directly connected to the electrical input and output interface of the corresponding optical module (3300-1, 3300-2, ... 3300-N).

[0166] In addition, each optical module ( 3300 - 1 , 3300 - 2 , . . . , 3300 -N) is connected to the optical switch 3100 via an optical fiber.

[0167] The optical switch 3100 can control the optical path based on different physical principles, including piezoelectric, micro-electromechanical, electro-optical, etc. For example, the optical switch 3100 can be composed of a series of free-space optical components or a series of integrated optical components.

[0168] In this configuration, a first electronic integrated circuit chip among the plurality of electronic integrated circuit chips can exchange data with a second electronic integrated circuit chip among the plurality of electronic integrated circuit chips through the optical switch 3100. For example, the electronic integrated circuit chip 3300-K (K=1, 2, ...N) can send data in the form of a PCIe data signal to the optical module 3300-K through the PCIe PHY interface. The optical module 3300-K can perform EO conversion on the PCIe data signal and then transmit the resulting optical signal to the optical switch 3100 via an optical fiber. The optical switch 3100 can then transmit the optical signal to the optical module 3300-M (M=1, 2, ...N, and M≠K). The optical module 3300-M can perform OE conversion on the optical signal and then transmit the resulting PCIe data signal directly to the electronic integrated circuit chip 3200-M, for example, through the PCIe PHY interface of the electronic integrated circuit chip 3200-M. The above method can realize all-optical data exchange between any two electronic integrated circuit chips, and reconstruct the connection relationship of the interconnected link through the optical switch. The link reconstruction process does not require protocol conversion or electrical switching, which greatly reduces the delay and simplifies the line connection.

[0169] Furthermore, for example, before transmitting the aforementioned PCIe data signal, electronic integrated circuit chip 3300-K may first send a PCIe control signal to optical module 3300-K via a PCIe PHY interface. For example, the PCIe control signal may include information such as a destination (e.g., the index of electronic integrated circuit chip 3300-M) and a time. Optical module 3300-K may then perform EO conversion on the PCIe control electrical signal and transmit the resulting optical control signal via optical fiber to optical switch 3100. After learning the control information contained in the optical control signal, optical switch 3100 may switch the optical path to the corresponding position, for example, reconfiguring and connecting the optical paths of electronic integrated circuit chip 3300-K and electronic integrated circuit chip 3300-M, thereby transmitting the data sent by electronic integrated circuit chip 3300-K to electronic integrated circuit chip 3300-M at the specified time.

[0170] The above example method can achieve data exchange between different electronic integrated circuit chips. Because no protocol conversion to Ethernet or electrical switching is required, PCIe signals on the electronic integrated circuit chip can reach other electronic integrated circuit chips with minimal delay, thus achieving high-speed and delay-free data exchange.

[0171] In another example, as shown in FIG7 , a fully reconfigurable and fully interconnected optical switching system 4000 is provided. The optical switching system 4000 includes a plurality of servers 4100 and at least a plurality of optical switches 4200 .

[0172] Each server 4100 includes at least one optical module 4120 as described above with respect to Figures 2 to 4. In addition, each server 4100 also includes a computing device 4110. As shown in the figure, each server 4100 and each optical switch 4200 are optically interconnected via a corresponding optical module 4120 (e.g., using optical fiber 4300).

[0173] It is called a fully reconfigurable fully interconnected optical switching system because all the servers 4100 shown in Figure 7 can re-arrange the bandwidth transmission path between each other through the optical path switching in the corresponding optical switch 4200, thereby realizing fully reconfigurable all-optical interconnection between each server 4100, and the computing devices attached to the servers perform electro-optical / photoelectric conversion through the corresponding optical modules 4120, and then connect to the optical switch 4200 through optical fibers / optical fiber arrays, and the connection lines are simple.

[0174] It should be noted that the optical interconnection mentioned above can be achieved through, for example, optical fibers or optical fiber arrays.

[0175] The computing device 4110 attached to the server 4100 may include a graphics card, an artificial intelligence acceleration card, memory, storage, etc., and the computing device 4110 is directly electrically connected to the PCIe optical module through its PCIe PHY interface, thereby achieving a direct electrical connection without the need for physical layer and protocol layer conversion to Ethernet.

[0176] For example, the computing device 4110 may include an electronic integrated circuit chip EIC as described in relation to Figure 6, wherein the EIC is provided with a PCIe PHY interface. In this case, the computing device 4110 may be directly electrically connected to the PCIe optical module via the PCIe PHY interface of the EIC.

[0177] Furthermore, as mentioned above, the optical switch 4200 can control the optical path based on different physical principles, including piezoelectric, micro-electromechanical, electro-optical, etc. For example, the optical switch 4200 can be composed of a series of free-space optical components or a series of integrated optical components.

[0178] In yet another example, as shown in FIG8 , an optical switching system 5000 with hybrid connection of point-to-point and all-optical switching is provided. The optical switching system 5000 includes multiple servers 5100 and at least one optical switch 5200 .

[0179] Each server 5100 includes at least one optical module 5120 as described above with respect to Figures 2 to 4. In addition, each server 5100 also includes a computing device 5110. As shown in the figure, each server 5100 is optically interconnected (e.g., using optical fiber 5300) with at least some of the at least one optical switch 5200 via the corresponding optical module 5120.

[0180] In addition, some servers 5100 are optically interconnected point-to-point (e.g., using optical fiber 5400) via corresponding optical modules. Alternatively, data exchange between adjacent servers can be achieved via point-to-point optical interconnection, while data exchange between other servers can be achieved by optical switches reconfiguring the optical path. This implementation can reduce the number of optical switches in a server cluster, saving costs.

[0181] The hybrid optical switching system, characterized by point-to-point and all-optical connections, is characterized by optical interconnections between all servers and some optical switches, as shown in the figure. Some servers also have point-to-point optical interconnections between each other. In this hybrid architecture, optical path switching within the optical switches allows for the rerouting of some bandwidth transmission paths, enabling partially reconfigurable all-optical interconnections between servers.

[0182] It should be noted that the optical interconnection mentioned above can be achieved through, for example, optical fibers or optical fiber arrays.

[0183] The computing device 5110 attached to the server 5100 may include a graphics card, an artificial intelligence acceleration card, memory, storage, etc., and the computing device 5110 can be directly electrically connected to the PCIe optical module through its PCIe PHY interface, thereby achieving a direct electrical connection without the need for physical layer and protocol layer conversion to Ethernet.

[0184] For example, the computing device 5110 may include an electronic integrated circuit chip EIC as described in relation to Figure 6, wherein the EIC is provided with a PCIe PHY interface. In this case, the computing device 5110 may be directly electrically connected to the PCIe optical module via the PCIe PHY interface of the EIC.

[0185] Furthermore, as mentioned above, the optical switch 5200 can control the optical path based on different physical principles, including piezoelectric, micro-electromechanical, electro-optical, etc. For example, the optical switch 5200 can be composed of a series of free-space optical components or a series of integrated optical components.

[0186] The optical module mentioned above in Figures 6 to 8 can be any PCIe optical module previously described in Figures 2 to 4, and the packaging structure between the optical module mentioned above in Figures 6 to 8 and the electronic integrated circuit chip or the electronic integrated circuit chip of the computing device can be any optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure as described in Figures 5A-5D, and the details are not repeated here.

[0187] In summary, in the various optical switching systems proposed in this disclosure, the PCIe optical modules proposed in this disclosure can be used to implement all-optical data exchange between different chips or devices. Because PCIe optical modules are directly driven by PCIe electrical signals and can directly output PCIe electrical signals, chips or devices with PCIe PHY interfaces can be directly electrically connected to such PCIe optical modules, thereby eliminating the protocol conversion operations, digital-to-analog / analog-to-digital conversion operations, and retiming operations and corresponding components in existing designs, facilitating faster data exchange and thus resolving the bandwidth limitations and high latency issues in traditional Ethernet solutions.

[0188] In addition, by utilizing the corresponding optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure as described in relation to Figures 5A-5D in the optical switching system, insertion loss and noise on the line can be further reduced, thereby ensuring signal integrity and facilitating the implementation of the PCIe protocol or CXL protocol.

[0189] In addition, by utilizing the corresponding optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure as described in relation to Figures 5A-5D in the optical switching system, the optical module can also be arranged in a pluggable form on the front panel of the server or other device, thereby facilitating system maintenance and component replacement.

[0190] In the above description, the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the above embodiments are merely illustrative, and those skilled in the art should understand that the combination of the constituent elements and processes of the present embodiment can be modified in various ways, and such modifications also fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An optical module, comprising: Electrical input and output interface; Optical input and output interface; an optical emitting unit, for converting an input electrical signal received from the electrical input / output interface into an output optical signal; An optical receiving unit, used to convert an input optical signal received from the optical input and output interface into an output electrical signal; as well as a control unit, configured to control the light emitting unit to convert the input electrical signal into the output optical signal, and control the light receiving unit to convert the input optical signal into the output electrical signal, Wherein, the input electrical signal and the output electrical signal are PCIe electrical signals.

2. The optical module according to claim 1, wherein: The input electrical signal and the output electrical signal are PCIe electrical signals based on the physical layer of the PCIe interface on an external electronic integrated circuit chip or PCIe / CXL electrical signals based on the physical layer of the PCIe interface and the CXL protocol layer.

3. The optical module according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The input electrical signal comprises a first data electrical signal, The first data electrical signal has one or more channels, and the optical transmission unit includes one or more transmission channels for converting the first data electrical signal into a first data optical signal having one or more channels; and The input optical signal comprises a second data optical signal, The second data optical signal has one or more channels, and the optical receiving unit includes one or more receiving channels for converting the second data optical signal into a second data electrical signal having one or more channels.

4. The optical module according to claim 3, wherein: The input electrical signal further includes a first control electrical signal, and the optical emitting unit further converts the first control electrical signal into a first control optical signal, and The input optical signal also includes a second control optical signal, and the optical receiving unit further converts the second control optical signal into a second control electrical signal.

5. The optical module according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The light emitting unit includes a light emitter and a driver.

6. The optical module according to claim 5, wherein: The optical transmitter is a directly modulated laser, and the control unit controls the intensity of the optical signal emitted by the optical transmitter by controlling the electrical signal provided by the driver to form the output optical signal.

7. The optical module according to claim 5, wherein: The optical transmitter is an externally modulated laser, and the optical transmission unit further comprises a modulator, The control unit modulates the light received from the optical transmitter by controlling the electrical signal input to the modulator to form the output optical signal.

8. An optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure, comprising: The optical module according to any one of claims 1 to 7; Electronic integrated circuit chips; A packaging substrate, at least packaging the electronic integrated circuit chip; as well as A PCB board, used for arranging the packaging substrate; The electronic integrated circuit chip has a PCIe physical interface, the PCIe physical interface of the electronic integrated circuit chip and the electrical input and output interface of the optical module are electrically interconnected, and Wherein, the PCB board is also used to install the optical module.

9. The optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure according to claim 8, wherein: A card slot is arranged at the edge of the PCB board, and the optical module is pluggably arranged in the card slot; and The electrical interconnection between the optical module and the electronic integrated circuit chip is achieved through the wiring in the packaging substrate and the PCB board.

10. The optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure according to claim 8, wherein: A card slot is arranged at an edge of the PCB board, and the optical module is pluggably arranged in the card slot; and The above-mentioned method is realized by wiring in the packaging substrate and overhead cables on the PCB board. Electrical interconnection between the optical module and the electronic integrated circuit chip.

11. The optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure according to claim 8, wherein: The optical module is arranged in the first area of ​​the PCB board; The package substrate is arranged in a second area on the PCB board that is different from the first area; and The electrical interconnection between the optical module and the electronic integrated circuit chip is achieved through the wiring in the packaging substrate and the PCB board.

12. The optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure according to claim 8, wherein: The electronic integrated circuit chip is arranged in a first region of the packaging substrate; The optical module is arranged in a second area of ​​the packaging substrate that is different from the first area; The packaging substrate is arranged on the PCB board; and Wherein, the electrical interconnection between the optical module and the electronic integrated circuit chip is achieved through wiring in the packaging substrate.

13. The optoelectronic integrated semiconductor structure according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein: The electronic integrated circuit chip inputs the input electrical signal to the electrical input and output interface of the optical module through the PCIe physical interface, and the optical module converts the received input electrical signal into an output optical signal, and The optical module converts an input optical signal received from the optical input-output interface into an output electrical signal, and provides the output electrical signal to the electronic integrated circuit chip.

14. An optical switching system, comprising: one or more optical switches; A plurality of electronic integrated circuit chips, each of the plurality of electronic integrated circuit chips having a PCIe physical interface; as well as A plurality of optical modules according to any one of claims 1 to 7; The PCIe physical interface of each of the plurality of electronic integrated circuit chips is directly electrically connected to the electrical input and output interface of the corresponding optical module, and the corresponding optical module is connected to the optical switch via an optical fiber.

15. An optical switching system, comprising: Multiple servers; as well as A plurality of optical switches, wherein: Each of the plurality of servers comprises at least one optical module according to any one of claims 1 to 7; and Each server and each optical switch are optically interconnected through corresponding optical modules.

16. An optical switching system, comprising: Multiple servers; as well as At least one optical switch, wherein: Each of the plurality of servers comprises at least one optical module according to any one of claims 1 to 7; Each server is optically interconnected with at least part of the at least one optical switch through a corresponding optical module; and At least some of the multiple servers are optically interconnected point-to-point via corresponding optical modules.

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