Optical interconnection technologies based on vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers and smart pixels

In the development of advanced information systems, such as parallel processing computers and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switching systems, the speed and capacity of board-mountable processors and switches will increase considerably through advances in VLSI technology. However, bottlenecks are likely to occur in the interconnections due to the limitations of electric wiring. Parallel optical interconnections will not only be instrumental in avoiding such a bottleneck, but will also allow the designer to create innovative systems featuring broadband and high-density networks. VCSELs and smart pixel arrays are the key devices for constructing parallel optical interconnection systems, such as parallel optical fiber links and free-space optical interconnects, because they can simultaneously emit, switch and process a large number of broadband optical signals with little power consumption. In this paper, parallel optical interconnection technologies based on VCSELs and smart pixels are reviewed, and the device and system application issues related to parallel processing computers and ATM switching nodes are discussed.