Bandwidth-Reconfigurable Optical Interconnect Using AWGR and Wavelength Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-performance computing systems face challenges in efficiently managing bandwidth and latency in interconnection networks due to uneven traffic distribution and increasing network size, leading to high power consumption and cost, with existing solutions like dynamic voltage and frequency scaling having limitations in maximizing data rate and resource utilization.
Innovation Solution
A bandwidth-reconfigurable optical interconnect system using an arrayed waveguide grating router, wavelength-insensitive switches, and microring resonators to provide flexible all-to-all connectivity, allowing dynamic allocation of wavelengths based on traffic demands, reducing latency and resource requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If dynamic voltage and frequency scaling is used to adapt data rate to workload, then power consumption is reduced, but maximum data rate is limited by power penalties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from single-wavelength to multi-wavelength optical channels, adding a spectral dimension to the communication medium. This allows parallel data transmission across multiple wavelengths simultaneously, dramatically increasing total data rate without proportionally increasing power consumption per wavelength.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical interconnect is designed to handle multiple wavelengths on the same physical fiber infrastructure, making the system universally capable of adapting to different bandwidth requirements. The same hardware platform can dynamically allocate different numbers of wavelengths to different communication pairs based on workload demands.
2Productivity
If higher-port routers and transceivers are deployed to provide sufficient network bandwidth, then network capacity increases, but system cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
By exploiting the wavelength dimension in optical communication, the patent enables multiple logical channels to share the same physical fiber infrastructure. This allows N×N all-to-all connectivity to be achieved without requiring N² separate physical links, dramatically reducing the number of required transceivers and routers while maintaining full bandwidth capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses wavelength division multiplexing to create virtual copies of communication channels on the same physical medium. Multiple wavelengths carry independent data streams simultaneously over shared fibers, effectively copying channel capacity without duplicating physical infrastructure.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multi-hop fat tree topology is used for load-balancing, then network scalability improves, but latency increases due to switch traversal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces wavelength routing as an additional dimension for path selection beyond traditional spatial routing. This enables direct single-hop connections between any pair of nodes by selecting appropriate wavelength pairs, eliminating the need for multi-hop traversal through intermediate switches while maintaining load-balancing capabilities through wavelength allocation.
4Productivity
If all-to-all connectivity is implemented to reduce routing overhead, then routing efficiency improves, but network resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the wavelength dimension to provide virtual all-to-all connectivity without requiring physical direct links between all node pairs. Each node pair can establish direct communication by allocating dedicated wavelength pairs, achieving all-to-all routing efficiency while sharing the underlying physical fiber infrastructure among all nodes.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves near-optimal bandwidth utilization with minimal latency and reduced resource needs, enabling efficient handling of uneven traffic distributions while lowering power consumption and system costs, making it suitable for high-performance computing networks.
Implementation Method 1
an arrayed waveguide grating router (AWGR), which provides cyclic, single-wavelength, all-to-all routing between N AWGR inputs and N AWGR outputs using N wavelengths
Implementation Method 2
a wavelength-selective input switch, which selectively directs up to L wavelengths from each of the N interconnect inputs
Implementation Method 3
couples optical signals between N interconnect inputs and N interconnect outputs
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed system implements a bandwidth-reconfigurable optical interconnect, which couples optical signals between N interconnect inputs and N interconnect outputs. The system includes an arrayed waveguide grating router (AWGR), which provides cyclic, single-wavelength, all-to-all routing between N AWGR inputs and N AWGR outputs. The system also includes a wavelength-insensitive switch, which provides all-wavelength, all-to-all connectivity between N wavelength-insensitive inputs and N wavelength-insensitive outputs. The system additionally includes a wavelength-selective input switch, which selectively directs up to L wavelengths from each of the N interconnect inputs into a corresponding input of the wavelength-insensitive switch, wherein unselected wavelengths from each of the N interconnect inputs pass into a corresponding AWGR input. Finally, the system includes a wavelength-selective output switch, which selectively directs up to L wavelengths from each of the N wavelength-insensitive outputs into a corresponding interconnect output, wherein each of the N AWGR outputs pass into a corresponding interconnect output.