POLO-parallel optical links for gigabyte data communications

A collaborative effort by the parallel optical link organization (POLO), a consortium of Hewlett-Packard, AMP, Du Pont, SDL, and the University of Southern California, to develop 10-20 Gb/s parallel optical links is described. The POLO consortium is supported by the advanced research projects agency (ARPA) and will operate between August 1994 and August 1997. Individual strengths of the consortium members are leveraged to develop affordable, high performance parallel optical interconnect modules for computer cluster, multimedia, and switching systems. The POLO consortium has also formed a User Group of seven leading computer and telecommunications companies to evaluate the POLO parallel optical link and provide feedback to the consortium.