Multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuits and memory structure having optical components mounted on multiple planes of a multi-dimensional package

1. A multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit comprising:

a substrate having a first side and a second side;

a multi-dimensional package having multi-dimensional planes, the multi-dimensional planes including one or more horizontal sides and one or more vertical sides; and

one or more optical components connected to the first side and the second side of the substrate and on the multi-dimensional planes of the multi-dimensional package;

wherein one or more of the optical components are mounted on at least one of the horizontal sides of the multi-dimensional package and one or more of the optical components are mounted on at least one of the vertical sides of the multi-dimensional package.

2. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 1 wherein the optical components are mounted on all planes of the multi-dimensional package.

3. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 1 wherein the multi-dimensional planes have a honeycomb shape.

4. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 1 wherein the optical components comprise one or more of: waveguides and lasers.

5. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 1 wherein the optical components are connected via optical fiber.

6. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 1 further comprising a laser source injecting light to drive the optical components.

7. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 1 further comprising one or more solar cells integrated within the photonic integrated circuit or used as on-chip solar cells.

8. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 7 wherein the one or more solar cells comprise one or more of: MEMS and on-chip solar cells.

9. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 1 further comprising a monolithic multi-dimensional memory architecture, the monolithic multi-dimensional memory architecture comprising:

one or more tiers, each tier having at least one memory cell;

one or more monolithic inter-tier vias spanning the one or more tiers;

at least one multiplexer disposed in one of the tiers, the multiplexer being communicatively coupled to the memory cell in the respective tier; and

control logic determining whether memory cells are active and which memory cells are active and controlling usage of the memory cells based on such determinations.

10. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 1 further comprising a light source comprised of one or more of: a laser, an LED, or a high-intensity LED.

11. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 1 wherein the multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit is configured to multiplex signals.

12. A multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit comprising:

a substrate having a first side and a second side;

a multi-dimensional electronic package having multiple planes; and

one or more optical components connected to the first side and the second side of the substrate and on the multiple planes of the electronic package;

wherein the multiple planes have a honeycomb shape.

13. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 12 wherein the optical components are mounted on all planes of the electronic package.

14. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 12 wherein the optical components are connected via optical fiber.

15. The multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit of claim 12 further comprising a laser source injecting light to drive the optical components.

16. A hybrid system of conventional multi-dimensional integrated circuits and multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuits comprising:

at least one multi-dimensional integrated circuit including an electronic board having a first side and a second side, a multi-dimensional electronic package having multiple planes, and one or more semiconductor wafers mounted on the multiple planes of the first side and the second side of the electronic board; and

at least one multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit including a substrate having a first side and a second side, a multi-dimensional package having multiple planes, and one or more optical components including one or more of: waveguides and lasers, the optical components being connected to the first side and the second side of the substrate and on the multiple planes of the multi-dimensional package;

wherein the at least one multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit is in communication with the at least one multi-dimensional integrated circuit via an optical-based wiring connection and dedicated circuitries facilitating light-based communication between the at least one multi-dimensional photonic integrated circuit and the at least one multi-dimensional integrated circuit.

17. The hybrid system of claim 16 wherein the multiple planes of the multi-dimensional electronic package include one or more horizontal sides and one or more vertical sides; and

wherein one or more of the semiconductor wafers are mounted on at least one of the horizontal sides of the multi-dimensional electronic package and one or more of the semiconductor wafers are mounted on at least one of the vertical sides of the multi-dimensional electronic package.

18. The hybrid system of claim 16 wherein the multiple planes of the multi-dimensional package include one or more horizontal sides and one or more vertical sides; and

wherein one or more of the optical components are mounted on at least one of the horizontal sides of the multi-dimensional package and one or more of the optical components are mounted on at least one of the vertical sides of the multi-dimensional package.

19. The hybrid system of claim 16 wherein the multiple planes of the multi-dimensional electronic package have a honeycomb shape.

20. The hybrid system of claim 16 wherein the optical components are mounted on all planes of the multi-dimensional package.

21. The hybrid system of claim 16 wherein the optical-based wiring connection comprises one or more of: microfiber optics functioning as light-based wires or light-conducting wires embedded into the substrate.