Design and test of an optoelectronic-VLSI chip with 540-element receiver-transmitter arrays using differential optical signaling

We have constructed an optoelectronic very-large-scale integration (OE-VLSI) chip with a 540-element receiver and transmitter array. Differential optical signaling was used in conjunction with a fully differential electrical architecture for the receiver and transmitter circuits. The chip was partitioned into multiple functional channels to demonstrate different chip-to-chip communication functions appropriate for applications of OE-VLSI technology. Wide optical input-output busses were provided for each channel in order to demonstrate high degrees of parallelism. The architecture and design of the chip are described in detail, including the digital functionality, the optoelectronic devices, and the arrays of receiver and transmitter circuits. The design verification of the chip is also described. We present experimental results that both verify the full functionality of the chip design and verify that the receiver and transmitter circuits and digital circuitry met their designed performance targets.