Optical-packet-switched interconnect for supercomputer applications [Invited]

Feature Issue on Optical Interconnection Networks (OIN). We describe a low-latency, high-throughput scalable optical interconnect switch for high-performance computer systems that features a broadcast-and-select architecture based on wavelength- and space-division multiplexing. Its electronic control architecture is optimized for low latency and high use. Our demonstration system will support 64 nodes with a line rate of 40 Gbit/s per node and operate on fixed-length packets with a duration of 51.2 ns using burst-mode receivers. We address the key system-level requirements and challenges for such applications.