<title>Optically interconnected MCMs for gigabit ATM switches</title>

Abstract

In this paper we focus on the design of optically interconnected MCMs for gigabit ATM switching networks. Our approach is to design a generic hardware module that can be used to implement ATM switches with application-specific functionality, cost and performance requirements. The module design is partitioned on the MCM such that it can be built using VLSI chips interconnected with holographic free-space optical interconnects. Holographic optical interconnects are also used for inter-MCM communication. A comparison of our approach with electrical MCM, all-optical, and guided-wave implementations of ATM switches is presented. A detailed review of the technology used in our design and various switch architectures that can be achieved can be found in references 1 and 2 respectively.