Data center with free-space optical communications

• US 8,483,568 B2
• Filed: 05/19/2010
• Issued: 07/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Davidson, Howard Lee, Hamilton, James R., Hyde, Roderick A., Josefsberg, Arne, Jung, Edward K. Y., Kare, Jordin T., Lord, Robert W., Lustig, Kenneth, Mangione-Smith, William Henry, Manos, Michael, Mundie, Craig J., Myhrvold, Nathan P., Rashid, Richard F., Smith, Burton, Tegreene, Clarence T., Welland, Robert V., Whitmer, Charles, Wood, Lowell L. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, DZUNG D
• Application Number:
  US12/800,665
• Publication Number:
  US 20110286748A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,147 Days
• Field of Search: 398115-130
• US Class Current: 398/124
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/1149 Arrangements for indoor wireless networking of information

Abstract

A data center for executing a data processing application includes processing units, sub-units or servers. Each of the processing units, sub-units or servers can execute a part or all of the data processing application. The processing units, sub-units or servers are electrical disjoint with respect to data communications, but can communicate with each other over free space optical links.

Claims

1. A data center comprising:

a plurality of data center units (DCUs) disposed in a region, wherein each DCU is configured to run a part or all of a data processing application; and

a number M of broadcasting transmitters (M>

1) and a number N of optical receivers (N>

1) associated with the plurality of DCUs disposed in the region,

wherein each of the M broadcasting transmitters is configured to broadcast optical control and/or data signals to the each of the N optical receivers over an internal network of separate free space optical communication links that form M×

N distinct communication channels between pairs of the M broadcasting transmitters and the N optical receivers in the region,

wherein each of the M×

N distinct communication channels between pairs of the M broadcasting transmitters and the N optical receivers in the region is associated with a distinct channel-identifying characteristic, and

wherein each of the N optical receivers is configured to identify a broadcasting transmitter by the channel-identifying characteristic of the communication channel between the broadcasting transmitter and the optical receiver.

2. The data center of claim 1, wherein the transmitter and receiver associated with each communication channel are respectively configured to transmit and receive optical control and/or data signals having the distinct channel-identifying characteristic.

3. The data center of claim 1, wherein the distinct channel-identifying characteristic comprises one or more of a channel-identifying wavelength, polarization, time-slots, header, and/or combination thereof.

4. The data center of claim 1, wherein each of the M broadcasting transmitters is configured to broadcast optical control and/or data signals simultaneously and/or sequentially to the N optical receivers.

5. The data center of claim 1, wherein the internal network includes one or more nodes associated with individual DCUs and/or one or more nodes interposed between the DCUs.

6. The data center of claim 1, wherein at least a first of the plurality of DCUs includes an optical interface unit (OIU) configured to connect the first DCU to the internal network in response to a free space optical control signal.

7. The data center of claim 1, wherein one or more of the M broadcasting transmitters are associated with respective identifying-wavelengths, and each of the one or more of the M broadcasting transmitters is configured to broadcast optical control and/or data signals at its respective identifying-wavelength.

8. The data center of claim 7, wherein one or more of the N optical receivers are configured to identify a broadcasting transmitter by the identifying-wavelength of the optical control and/or data signals broadcast by the broadcasting transmitter.

9. The data center of claim 1, wherein a first of the plurality of DCUs is configured to broadcast a free space optical control and/or data signal over the internal network at different wavelengths, and wherein an intended recipient is designated by a respective wavelength.

10. The data center of claim 9, wherein a receiving DCU is configured to recognize that it is the intended recipient of a free space optical control and/or data signal broadcast over the internal network by recognizing its respective wavelength signal.

11. The data center of claim 1, wherein one or more of the M broadcasting transmitters are associated with respective signal polarizations and each of the one or more of the M broadcasting transmitters is configured to broadcast optical control and/or data signals at its respective signal polarization.

12. The data center of claim 11, wherein one or more of the N optical receivers are configured to identify a broadcasting transmitter by the polarization of its broadcasted optical control and/or data signals.

13. The data center of claim 1, wherein a first of the plurality of DCUs is configured to broadcast a free space optical control and/or data signal over the internal network at different polarizations, wherein an intended recipient is designated by a respective polarization.

14. The data center of claim 13, wherein a receiving DCU is configured to recognize that it is the intended recipient of a free space optical control and/or data signal broadcast over the internal network by recognizing its respective polarization signal.

15. The data center of claim 1, wherein one or more of the broadcasting transmitters are configured to broadcast optical control and/or data signals over at least a color region (˜

1% wide frequency region).

16. The data center of claim 15 wherein the color region is a color region at about 1.44, 1.47, or 1.55 microns wavelength.

17. The data center of claim 1, wherein one or more of the broadcasting transmitters are configured to broadcast optical control and/or data signals over two or more color regions.

18. The data center of claim 1, wherein one or more of the M broadcasting transmitters are associated with respective transmitter-identifying characteristics, and wherein each of the one or more of the M broadcasting transmitters are configured to transmit optical control and/or data signals having respective transmitter-identifying characteristics.

19. The data center of claim 18, wherein one or more of the N optical receivers are configured to identify a broadcasting transmitter by recognizing the respective transmitter-identifying characteristics of the optical control and/or data signals broadcast by the broadcasting transmitter.

20. The data center of claim 18, wherein the respective transmitter-identifying characteristics comprise one or more of an identifying wavelength, a polarization, a transmit time slot, a header and/or any combination thereof.

21. The data center of claim 1, wherein a first of the plurality of DCUs is configured to broadcast a free space optical control and/or data signal over the internal network with identifying characteristics, and wherein an intended recipient is designated by a respective combination of identifying characteristics.

22. The data center of claim 21, wherein a receiving DCU is configured to recognize it is the intended recipient of a free space optical control and/or data signal broadcast over the internal network by recognizing its respective combination of the identifying characteristics.

23. The data center of claim 21 wherein the respective identifying characteristics comprise one or more of an identifying wavelength, a polarization, a transmit time slot, a header and/or any combination thereof.

24. The data center of claim 1, wherein a multiplicity of the data center units are associated with respective identifying-wavelengths, wherein the multiplicity of the data center units is configured to simultaneously broadcast optical control and/or data signals at their respective identifying-wavelengths over the internal network, and wherein a receiving DCU comprises a detector configured to wavelength-demultiplex a received optical control and/or data signal.

25. The data center of claim 24, wherein the detector configured to wavelength-demultiplex a received optical control and/or data signal comprises an array of photodiodes operating at different wavelengths.

26. The data center of claim 25, wherein the detector is further configured to buffer the wavelength-demultiplexed signal.

27. The data center of claim 1, wherein the plurality of data center units comprises one or more of data center bottles and/or data processing units, wherein the data center bottles include a plurality of data processing units, wherein the data processing units include one or more data processing circuits, and wherein the data processing circuits include one or more electronic modules, boxes, servers, cards, boards, and/or racks or free standing assemblies thereof.

28. A data center unit (DCU) comprising:

one or more data processing units that are configured to run a part or all of a data processing application; and

a transmitter and/or a receiver coupled to the one or more data processing units, the transmitter having a transmitting position and the receiver having a receiving position, wherein the transmitter in its transmitting position is configured to broadcast optical data signals over a plurality of optical communication links extending from the DCU in its transmitting position, and wherein the receiver in its receiving position is configured to receive multiple optical control and/or data signals over a plurality of free space optical communication links leading to the DCU,

wherein the transmitter in its transmitting position is configured to broadcast optical control and/or data signals having unique DCU-identifying characteristics, and

wherein the receiver in its receiving position is configured to identify a sending DCU by a DCU-identifying characteristic of the optical control and/or data signal broadcast from the sending DCU.

29. The data center unit of claim 28, wherein the DCU-identifying-characteristic is one or more of an identifying-wavelength, signal polarization, transmit time slot, signal header and/or a combination thereof.

30. The data center unit of claim 28, wherein the receiver includes an imaging device, and wherein the receiver is configured to recognize a sending DCU by recognizing an angular direction of a received signal.

31. The data center unit of claim 28, wherein the transmitter in its transmitting position is configured to broadcast optical control and/or data signal so that an intended recipient is designated by a respective recipient-identifying characteristic.

32. The data center unit of claim 31, wherein the receiver in its receiving position is configured to recognize that it is an intended recipient of a free space optical control and/or data signal by recognizing its respective recipient-identifying characteristic.

33. The data center unit of claim 31, wherein the respective recipient-identifying characteristic comprises one or more of a signal wavelength, signal polarization, transmit time slot, header and/or any combination thereof.

34. The data center unit of claim 28, wherein the receiver is configured to wavelength-demultiplex received optical control and/or data signals.

35. The data center unit of claim 34, wherein the receiver configured to wavelength-demultiplex a received optical control and/or data signal comprises an array of photodiodes operating at different wavelengths.

36. The data center unit of claim 34, wherein the receiver is further configured to buffer the wavelength-demultiplexed signal.

37. The data center unit of claim 28, wherein the one or more data processing units are arranged as one or more individual data processing units and/or in one or more groups as data center bottles, wherein the plurality of data processing units include one or more data processing circuits, and wherein the data processing circuits include one or more electronic modules, boxes, servers, cards, boards, and/or racks or free standing assemblies thereof.

38. A method comprising:

providing a plurality of data center units (DCUs) disposed in a region, wherein each DCU is configured to run a part or all of a data processing application; and

providing a number M of broadcasting transmitters M>

1 and a number N of optical receivers N>

1 associated with the plurality of DCUs disposed in the region, wherein each of the M broadcasting transmitters is configured to broadcast optical control and/or data signals to the each of the N optical receivers over an internal network of separate free space optical communication links that form M×

N distinct communication channels between pairs of the M broadcasting transmitters and the N optical receivers in the region,

wherein each of the M×

N distinct communication channels between pairs of the M broadcasting transmitters and the N optical receivers in the region is associated with a distinct channel-identifying characteristic, and

wherein each of the N optical receivers is configured to identify a broadcasting transmitter by the channel-identifying characteristic of the communication channel between the broadcasting transmitter and the optical receiver.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the transmitter and receiver associated with the channel are respectively configured to transmit and receive optical control and/or data signals having the distinct channel-identifying characteristic.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the distinct channel-identifying characteristic comprises one or more of a distinct channel-identifying wavelength, polarization, time-slots in optical control and/or data signals, header and/or combination thereof.

41. The method of claim 38, wherein each of the M broadcasting transmitters is configured to broadcast optical control and/or data signals simultaneously and/or sequentially to the N optical receivers.

42. The method of claim 38, wherein one or more of the M broadcasting transmitters are associated with respective identifying-characteristic, and each of the one or more of the M broadcasting transmitters is configured to broadcast optical control and/or data signals with its respective identifying characteristic(s).

43. The method of claim 42, wherein one or more of the N optical receivers are configured to identify a broadcasting transmitter by the identifying-characteristic(s) the optical control and/or data signals broadcast by the broadcasting transmitter.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein the identifying-characteristic(s) comprise one or more of an identifying wavelength, polarization, time-slots in optical control and/or data signals, header and/or combination thereof.

45. The method of claim 38, wherein a first of the plurality of DCUs is configured to broadcast a free space optical control and/or data signal over the internal network with different identifying characteristics, wherein an intended recipient is designated by a respective identifying characteristic.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein a receiving DCU is configured to recognize that it is the intended recipient of a free space optical control and/or data signal broadcast over the internal network by recognizing its respective identifying characteristics.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein the identifying-characteristic(s) comprise one or more of an identifying wavelength, polarization, time-slots in optical control and/or data signals, header and/or combination thereof.

48. A method for executing a data processing application, comprising:

in a data center unit (DCU),

providing one or more data processing units that are configured to run a part or all of a data processing application; and

providing a transmitter and/or a receiver coupled to the one or more data processing units, the transmitter having a transmitting position and the receiver having a receiving position, wherein the transmitter in its transmitting position is configured to broadcast optical data signals over a plurality of optical communication links extending from the DCU in its transmitting position, and wherein the receiver in its receiving position is configured to receive multiple optical control and/or data signals over a plurality of free space optical communication links leading to the DCU,

wherein the transmitter in its transmitting position is configured to broadcast optical control and/or data signals having unique DCU-identifying characteristics, and

wherein the receiver in its receiving position is configured to identify a sending DCU by a DCU-identifying characteristic of the optical control and/or data signal broadcast from the sending DCU.

49. The method of claim 48, further comprising, providing an optical interface unit configured to connect the DCU to a network of optical communication links including the plurality of optical communication links extending from and leading to the DCU.

50. The method of claim 48, wherein the transmitter in its transmitting position is configured to broadcast a multiplicity of optical control and/or data signals simultaneously and/or sequentially to a plurality of receivers.

51. The method of claim 48, wherein the plurality of data processing units include one or more data processing circuits, and wherein the data processing circuits include one or more electronic modules, boxes, servers, cards, boards, and/or racks or free standing assemblies thereof.