Three-dimensional optoelectronic architectures for massively parallel processing systems

Advances in optical interconnection technology create the potential of constructing three-dimensional systems. This has a profound impact on the performance of the designs implemented in such a way. Using the average interconnection length and the interconnection length distribution as performance measures, we will show that three-dimensional architectures are much more suitable for the implementation of massively parallel processing systems than traditional two-dimensional architectures. For optoelectronic three-dimensional architectures, we have to take into account the physical and geometric differences between optical and electrical channels. The main consequences of these differences on system performance will be discussed.