A POLYMER BASED OPTICAL DATA BUS FOR HIGHLY PARALLEL SYSTEMWIDE COMMUNICATIONS

THIS PROJECT STUDIES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A POLYMER-BASED OPTICAL DATA BUS (ODB) FOR HIGH SPEED SYSTEMWIDE INTERCONNECTIONS FOR USE IN HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS DATA PROCESSING AND DETECTOR INSTRUMENTATION. THE CONCEPT PROVIDES AN ODB COMPATIBLE WITH WIDELY USED MODULE INTERCONNECTION STANDARDS (E.G., CAMAC, FASTBUS, VMEBUS) WHILE IMPROVING COMMUNICATION SPEED AND PARALLELISM. BOTH SEGMENT AND GLOBAL INTERCONNECTIONS BASED ON THE PLANNED TECHNOLOGY CAN BE REALIZED. THE USE OF A HIGH SPEED POLYMER-BASED ODB FOR CHIP-TO-CHIP, INTRAMODULE, AND MODULE-TO-MODULE INTERCONNECTION IS BEING STUDIED. THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL TUNABILIITY OF THE REFRACTIVE INDEX OF THE POLYMER MICROSTRUCTURE PROVIDES THE CAPABILITY TO MAKE A MICROSTRUCTURED CHANNEL WAVEGUIDE ON ANY SUBSTRATE OF INTEREST. THIS CHARACTERISTIC PROVIDES AN EASY MEANS OF CONSTRUCTING OPTICAL BACKPLANES AND PRINTED ODB BOARDS FOR SYSTEMWIDE COMMUNICATION. FURTHERMORE, THE HOST MATERIAL CAN BE USED TO INTRODUCE A NONLINEAR OPTICAL MOIETY IN A GUEST/HOST POLYMER SYSTEM FOR THE HIGHLY PARALLEL PROCESSING NEEDED FOR FASTBUS INTERCONNECTIONS. THE POLYMERODB SHOULD BE IMMUNE TO ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE AND NUCLEAR RADIATION. THE PHASE I RESEARCH IS ATTEMPTING TO DEMONSTRATE A BOARD-TO-BOARD ODB SYSTEM THROUGH A BACKPLANE. THE SYSTEM WILL HAVE SPEED AND COMMUNICATION DISTANCES BEYOND ANY CONVENTIONAL ELECTRONIC SYSTEMWIDE INTERCONNECTIONS.