Optical Data Transmission Between High Speed Digital Integrated Circuit Chips

Advances in computational speed and system complexity are proceeding at a rapid pace. As these systems become more complex and computation speed demands increase, parallel processing becomes the viable solution to meeting the requirements for future systems. Optical signal processing and interconnection provide parallel signal processing capability. A concerted effort is underway to develop optical signal processing and interconnection under the impetus and direction of DARPA. This paper discussed the design, development, and performance of GaAs optoelectronic integrated circuits for application in optical interconnection control and signal processing. Performance of optical transmitters and receivers are given as well as data obtained on 8:1 multiplexed transmitters and 1:8 demultiplexed receivers. Optical data transmission and reception at data rates of 1.5 GHz has been obtained.