Abstract

An optoelectronic multistage interconnection network (OE MIN) is a system of optoelectronic switching elements and free-space optical links that interconnect processing elements in a parallel processing system. Previously, we have designed an OE MIN based on the 2-D shuffle-exchange network and compared its performance and cost with VLSI implementations.¹ We have also optimized the performance and cost of this system with variable grain-size (e.g., using 4 × 4, 16 × 16, or 64 × 64 electronic switching elements).² In this paper, we analyze possible modifications of the system architecture, such as contention-free switches or Batcher-Banyan networks, in terms of system performance vs cost.

© 1991 Optical Society of America