
164 Communication Architectures for SoC
TABLE 5.3
Optical vs. electrical interconnects
Optical Electrical
Speed-of-Ligth Speed Requirements Matched
High Bandwidth Bandwdith Requirements Matched
No Crosstalk Crosstalk Constraint
Low Density High Density
Global Interconnects All Interconnect Levels
(WDM), which is a unique property of optical waveguides. Moreover, as the
device scaling progresses, global interconnects using WDM systems become
more and more competitive with respect to Cu. Advantages and disadvantages
of optical physics for interconnects are summarized in Table 5.3. One of the
major difficulties is the hybrid integration of photonic devices