Abstract

A major advantage of optical and superconducting interconnections is their ability to transfer large amounts of information per unit cross section over long distances. Let the maximum information flux a given communication medium can support be denoted by I and be measured in bits/m²sec. For the length scales involved in a computing system (< 10 m), it is possible to reduce the effects of dispersion and attenuation to the extent that I may be assumed to be independent of length for optical and superconducting interconnections. On the other hand, 1 is a decreasing function of communication length for resistive interconnections, making them disadvantageous over longer distances. However, for distances less than about the order of a centimeter, they can provide greater information flux than optical or superconducting interconnections.

© 1991 Optical Society of America