A DEMULTIPLEXER FOR PROCESSING ULTRA HIGH-SPEED DATA FROM SUPERCONDUCTING CIRCUITS

SUPERCONDUCTIVE CIRCUITS ARE PROVING EFFECTIVE IN PROCESSING VERY HIGH-SPEED DATA STREAMS. FOR EXAMPLE, AN 8-BIT ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER (ADC) WITH 4.4 EFFECTIVE BITS AT 4 GHZ, AND 2 EFFECTIVE BITS AT 7 GHZ HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED. AN ADC PERFORMANCE OF 6 EFFECTIVE BITS AT 10 GHZ SHOULD BE ACHIEVED. HOWEVER, THE ABILITY OF SUPERCONDUCTIVE CIRCUITS TO WORK AT SUCH HIGH DATA RATES RENDERS IT DIFFICULT TO COMMUNICATE WITH ROOM-TEMPERATURE CIRCUITRY. RESEARCHERS ARE DESIGNING, FABRICATING, AND TESTING A DEMULTIPLEXER CIRCUIT TO DIVERT HIGH-SPEED DATA INTO SEVERAL LOWER-SPEED CHANNELS. EACH CHANNEL IS CLOCKED AT A RATE LOW ENOUGH FOR CONVENTIONAL CIRCUITS. THE DEMULTIPLEXER IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE ADC, AND GENERAL ENOUGH TO BE USED IN OTHER APPLICATIONS WHERE THE DATA RATE IS TOO HIGH FOR CONVENTIONAL CIRCUITS. PROOF OF PRINCIPLE IS DEMONSTRATED WITH A 1:4 DEMULTIPLEXER. THE DESIGN IS MODULAR SO THAT EXTENSION TO A CIRCUIT WITH A LARGER DEMULTIPLEXER RATIO IS STRAIGHTFORWARD.