Plastic Optics for Low Cost Optical Computer Motherboards.

Evolving military applications require higher computing performance which is Nrealized by increasing the number of processors or the processor clock speed. F Trends toward sharing resources in multi-processor systems and using Mdistributed processing systems for reliability and speed place more emphasis @on availability of a wide bandwidth network to interconnect the Nmicroprocessors. The addition of processors and the increase in connectivity Mbetween processors requires more physical paths on the boards, at backplane, Nand at the board-to-backplane interface. For military missions this enhanced Ncapability must be available for the same or lower weight and volume. A very Jhigh density of signal paths on the boards and a very high I/O weight and Jvolume density at the board-to-backplane connector are required. Optical Kinterconnects solve the board-to-backplane problem which limits electrical Sinterconnects. Plastic Optical Fiber is easily terminated, rugged, and flexible. KOptical waveguides made from polymeric materials have been demonstrated at Rthe intra-cabinet level. These intra-box optical interconnects use high density, Hencapsulated multimode waveguides fabricated on standard printed wiring Mboards that are easily integrated into MCM packaging technology. The use of Qfluorinated-based plastic optical fiber has the promise of offering a much lower Lloss polymer alternative to the polymeric waveguide materials under current investigation.