Opportunities for optical communications in Petaflops-scale computing

Abstract

This talk examines Petaflops scale computing as understood from the HTMT architecture and other design studies with a focus on their implications for optical communications. It is shown that for certain parts of the total communication budget, only optical technologies are likely to serve. The Data Vortex being developed by Princeton University is briefly described as an example of a possible network class that can meet the challenges described for the intra-memory fabric. This talk concludes with a set of near term challenges in the area of practical fabrication and integration of electrooptic technology necessary for meeting to needs of Petaflops scale computing systems.