Transparent switch using optical and electrical proximity communication

1. A switch, comprising:

input ports configured to receive signals, wherein the signals include data;

output ports configured to output the signals;

switching elements, wherein a given switching element in the switching elements is coupled to a given input port in the input ports through a first electrical signal path and is coupled to a given output port in the output ports through a second electrical signal path, and wherein a given electrical signal path, which can be either the first electrical signal path or the second electrical signal path, is configured to use proximity communication to communicate the data; and

a flow-control mechanism configured to provide flow-control information associated with the data to the switching elements, wherein the flow-control mechanism is coupled to the switching elements through an optical control path; and

wherein the switching elements are configured to selectively couple the input ports to the output ports based on the flow-control information.

2. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the optical control path includes an optical waveguide.

3. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the given electrical signal path includes a first semiconductor die and a second semiconductor die, and wherein proximity connectors proximate to a first surface of the first semiconductor die are coupled to proximity connectors proximate to a second surface of the second semiconductor die.

4. The switch of claim 3 , wherein the proximity connectors on the first semiconductor die are capacitively coupled to proximity connectors on the second semiconductor die.

5. The switch of claim 3 , wherein the proximity connectors on the first semiconductor die are coupled to proximity connectors on the second semiconductor die via a bridge component.

6. The switch of claim 3 , wherein the first surface and the second surface face each other.

7. The switch of claim 3 , wherein the first semiconductor die and the second semiconductor die are included in a macro-chip, and wherein the macro-chip includes multiple semiconductor dies that communicate the data using proximity communication.

8. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the data includes data packets.

9. The switch of claim 8 , wherein the flow-control information is based on addresses in the data packets.

10. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the switch is configured to configure the switching elements prior to routing the data through the switching elements.

11. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the flow-control mechanism is configured to determine the flow-control information based on feedback from the switching elements;

wherein the feedback is in response to a proposed routing of the data; and

wherein the feedback is communicated to the flow-control mechanism via the optical control path.

12. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the selective coupling in the given switching element is further based on local flow-control information determined in the given switching element, and wherein the local flow-control information is determined based on communication between the given switching element and adjacent switching elements in the switch.

13. The switch of claim 12 , wherein the given switching element is configured to convert first optical signals corresponding to the flow-control information into first electrical signals to determine the local flow-control information, and wherein the given switching element is configured to convert second electrical signals corresponding to the local flow-control information into second optical signals and to communicate the second optical signals to other switching elements via the optical control path.

14. The switch of claim 1 , further comprising memory, wherein the memory is configured to store a history of the flow-control information.

15. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the optical control path is configured to communicate the flow-control information using multiple sub-channels.

16. The switch of claim 15 , wherein the sub-channels are encoded using time-division multiple access, frequency-division multiple access, or code-division multiple access.

17. The switch of claim 15 , wherein the communication of the flow-control information uses wavelength-division multiplexing.

18. The switch of claim 1 , further comprising:

a first conversion element configured to convert first optical signals corresponding to the received signals into electrical signals prior to coupling to the switching elements; and

a second conversion element configured to convert the electrical signals into second optical signals prior to coupling to the output ports.

19. A computer system, comprising:

a processor;

memory; and

a switch, wherein the switch includes:

input ports configured to receive signals, wherein the signals include data;

output ports configured to output the signals;

switching elements, wherein a given switching element in the switching elements is coupled to a given input port in the input ports through a first electrical signal path and is coupled to a given output port in the output ports through a second electrical signal path, and wherein a given electrical signal path, which can be either the first electrical signal path or the second electrical signal path, is configured to use proximity communication to communicate the data; and

a flow-control mechanism configured to provide flow-control information associated with the data to the switching elements, wherein the flow-control mechanism is coupled to the switching elements through an optical control path; and

wherein the switching elements are configured to selectively couple the input ports to the output ports based on the flow-control information.

20. A method for switching signals, comprising:

providing flow-control information to switching elements in a switch via an optical control path;

selectively coupling the signals from one or more input ports to one or more output ports of the switch using the switching elements, wherein the selective coupling is determined by the flow-control information; and

communicating the signals to and from the switching elements using electrical signal paths, wherein the electrical signal paths are configured to use proximity communication to communicate the signals.