Data processing network having an optical network interface
View Patent ↗An optical data processing network having an optical network interface is disclosed. The optical data processing network includes a first multi-processor system and a second multi-processor system. The first multi-processor system includes a first set of processors and a first set of optical network interfaces electrically coupled to the first set of processors. Similarly, the second multi-processor system includes a second set of processors and a second set of optical network interfaces electrically coupled to the second set of processors. An optical cable is connected between the first set and the second set of optical network interfaces. The first multi-processor system communicates with the second multi-processor system via the optical cable.
1. An optical network interface comprising:
an optical component having
an optical interface adapted to connect to an optical device capable of transmitting and receiving optical signals;
a detector array, coupled to said optical interface, for translating optical signals received from said optical interface to corresponding differential electrical signals in the form of a serial data stream;
a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) array, coupled to said optical interface, for translating electrical signals to corresponding optical signals to be transmitted to said optical interface; and
an electrical component having
a decoder array, coupled to said detector array, for converting said serial data stream to a corresponding set of parallel data;
a receive router coupled to said decoder array;
a plurality of receive buffers, coupled to said receive router, wherein said parallel data is directed to one of said receive buffers by said receive router;
a plurality of send buffers;
an electrical interface adapted to connect to an electrical device capable of transmitting and receiving electrical signals, wherein said electrical interface receives parallel data from said one receiver buffer and sends said parallel data to said electrical device, wherein said electrical interface also directs parallel data received from said electrical device to one of said send buffers;
a send router, coupled to said send buffers, for routing said parallel data received from said electrical device; and
a plurality of encoders, coupled to said router, wherein one of said encoders received parallel data received from said electrical device and converts said parallel data received from said electrical device to a second serial data stream to be sent to one of said VCSELs as differential electrical signals.
2. The optical network interface of claim 1 , wherein said optical component and said electrical component are connected to each other via bump bonding.
3. The optical network interface of claim 1 , wherein said decoder removes 8B/10B encoding from parallel data.
4. The optical network interface of claim 1 , wherein said encoder encodes parallel data received from said one receiver buffer as an 8B/10B structure.