GLOW: A global router for low-power thermal-reliable interconnect synthesis using photonic wavelength multiplexing

In this paper, we examine the integration potential and explore the design space of low power thermal reliable on-chip interconnect synthesis featuring nanophotonics Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM). With the recent advancements, it is foreseen that nanophotonics holds the promise to be employed for future on-chip data signalling due to its unique power efficiency, signal delay and huge multiplexing potential. However, there are major challenges to address before feasible on-chip integration could be reached. In this paper, we present GLOW, a hybrid global router to provide low power opto-electronic interconnect synthesis under the considerations of thermal reliability and various physical design constraints such as optical power, delay and signal quality. GLOW is evaluated with testing cases derived from ISPD07-08 global routing benchmarks. Compared with a greedy approach, GLOW demonstrates around 23%–50% of total optical power reduction, revealing great potential of on-chip WDM interconnect synthesis.