WAVELENGTH-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING FOR USE IN MULTI-CHIP SYSTEMS

• US 20120230695A1
• Filed: 09/28/2007
• Published: 09/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: O'Krafka, Brian W., Krishnamoorthy, Ashok V., Cunningham, John E., Zheng, Xuehze, Sharapov, Ilya A., Ho, Ronald
• Granted Patent: US 8,346,087 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 398/87
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/3897 Connectors fixed to housings, casing, frames or circuit boards G02B6/44528 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/43 Arrangements comprising a plurality of opto-electronic elements and associated optical interconnections
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/48 Arrangements for conducting electric current to or from the solid state body in operation, e.g. leads, terminal arrangements ; Selection of materials therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/02 Wavelength-division multiplex systems

Abstract

Embodiments of a system that includes an array of chip modules (CMs) is described. In this system, a given CM in the array includes a semiconductor die that is configured to communicate data signals with one or more adjacent CMs through electromagnetic proximity communication using proximity connectors. Note that the proximity connectors are proximate to a surface of the semiconductor die. Moreover, the given CM is configured to communicate optical signals with other CMs through an optical signal path using optical communication, and the optical signals are encoded using wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM).

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an array of chip modules (CMs) that includes N subsets of CMs, each of which includes M CMs, wherein a given CM in the array includes a semiconductor die that is configured to communicate data signals with one or more adjacent CMs through electromagnetic proximity communication using proximity connectors;

wherein the proximity connectors are proximate to a surface of the semiconductor die;

wherein the given CM is configured to communicate optical signals with other CMs through an optical signal path using optical communication, wherein the given CM is coupled to CMs in a given subset by a first optical signal path and is coupled to other subsets by a second optical signal path, and wherein the optical signal paths are configured for bidirectional communication of information between the CMs; and

wherein the optical signals are encoded using wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM),

wherein CMs in the array communicate with the given CM using optical signals in a sub-channel on the first optical signal path or on the second optical signal path that is associated with a given wavelength in a set of wavelengths.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical communication between CMs includes communication of optical signals between two CMs that pass through an intermediate CM without intermediate processing of electrical signals associated with the optical signals.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the electromagnetically coupled proximity communication includes capacitive proximity communication, inductive proximity communication, conductive proximity communication, or optical proximity communication.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the proximity connectors include optical coupling elements.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein optical coupling elements include a lens, a diffraction grating, an arrayed-waveguide gating, or a mirror.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical proximity communication includes evanescent coupling.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the array includes a 1-dimensional chain of CMs or a 2-dimensional array of CMs.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical signal path facilitates communication in a first direction and a second optical signal path facilitates communication in a second direction.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first direction and the second direction are approximately perpendicular to each other.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the first direction and the second direction are approximately parallel to each other but oriented in approximately opposite directions.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical signal path includes one or more waveguides.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the array includes N subsets of CMs, and wherein the given CM communicates with CMs in a given subset using optical signals in a sub-channel on the optical signal path, which is associated with a given wavelength in a set of N wavelengths.

14. The system of claim 1,

wherein within the given subset CMs communicate with the given CM using optical signals on a sub-channel in the first optical signal path, which is associated with a given wavelength in a set of M wavelengths;

and

wherein the given CM communicates with another subset using optical signals in another sub-channel on the second optical signal path, which is associated with a given wavelength in a set of N wavelengths.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of wavelengths includes N×

M wavelengths.

16. The system of claim 1,

wherein CMs within a given subset are coupled by a separate optical signal path;

wherein the given CM communicates with a particular CM in the given subset using optical signals in a sub-channel on the separate optical signal path, which is associated with a given wavelength in a set of M wavelengths.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein a surface of a first CM in the array faces a surface of a second CM in the array, so that proximity connectors on the first CM are coupled to proximity connectors on the second CM, thereby facilitating the electromagnetic proximity communication between the first CM and the second CM.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein proximity connectors on a first CM in the array are coupled to proximity connectors on a second CM in the array via a bridge component, thereby facilitating the electromagnetic proximity communication between the first CM and the second CM.

11. (canceled)

19. A method for communicating data signals in an array of CMs that includes N subsets of CMs, each of which includes M CMs, the method comprising:

receiving optical signals from a first CM at a second CM via an optical signal path and receiving the optical signals from the second CM at a third CM via the optical signal path, wherein the optical signal path is configured for bidirectional communication of information between the CMs; and

wherein adjacent CMs, such as the first CM and the second CM or the second CM and the third CM, are configured to communicate with each other using electromagnetic proximity communication through electromagnetically coupled proximity connectors; and

wherein the optical signals are encoded using wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM);

wherein the given CM which can include the first or second or third CM is coupled to CMs in a given subset by a first optical signal path and is coupled to other subsets by a second optical signal path; and

wherein CMs in the array communicate with the given CM using optical signals in a sub-channel on the first optical signal path or on the second optical signal path, which is associated with a given wavelength in a set of wavelengths.

20. A computer system, comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

an array of chip modules (CMs) that includes N subsets of CMs, each of which includes M CMs, wherein a given CM in the array includes a semiconductor die that is configured to communicate data signals with one or more adjacent CMs through electromagnetic proximity communication using proximity connectors;

wherein the proximity connectors are proximate to a surface of the semiconductor die;

wherein the given CM is configured to communicate optical signals with other CMs through an optical signal path using optical communication, wherein the given CM is coupled to CMs in a given subset by a first optical signal path and is coupled to other subsets by a second optical signal path, and wherein the optical signal paths are configured for bidirectional communication of information between the CMs; and

wherein the optical signals are encoded using wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM),

wherein CMs in the array communicate with the given CM using optical signals in a sub-channel on the first optical signal path or on the second optical signal path, which is associated with a given wavelength in a set of wavelengths.