Abstract

A single stage optical crossbar switch has been developed as part of a collaborative project entitled Optically Connected Parallel Machines (OCPM). The aim of this project is to develop electronically controlled, free-space optical systems capable of inter-connecting large numbers of advanced electronic processors and arbitrarily switching high bandwidth signals between them. The implications of this high performance communications technology for parallel computing architectures is being analysed by way of simulations and technology demonstrators. The optoelectronic interconnect system consists of an electronically addressed spatial light modulator positioned at the centre of a single stage optical crossbar configuration formed with holographic and bulk optical elements. This paper describes the development of the optical crossbar switch and both its current and predicted performance.

© 1993 Optical Society of America