Crosstalk Analysis for Microring Based Optical Interconnection Networks

Recently a new approach was proposed to tackle the wavelength non-uniformity problem of the silicon photonic ring technology. By lowering the Q value of the ring, the likelihood of finding a common operating wavelength can be significantly increased. But lowering Q will increase the crosstalk level in such a network. This crosstalk problem can be tackled with a generalized space dilation technique. Since crosstalk is a central issue of this approach, computing the crosstalk level accurately is critical for a microring-based photonic interconnect. Prior work on crosstalk analysis for interconnects based on directional couplers assumed that the extinction ratios are the same for the two switching states. But this is usually not the case for silicon photonic microrings. In this paper, we develop an analytical model for analyzing the crosstalk level in a microring-based optical interconnection network. The analytical approach presented in the paper can be used for studying the crosstalk problem in optical networks based on other optical switching technologies.