On-Chip Communication Architectures

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delays for these innovative solutions would have to be lower than

280–370ps for polymer waveguides, and lower than 180–270 ps for sili-

con waveguides, for end-to-end chip global interconnects. Similarly, the

total power consumption of the components should be reduced and at

least comparable to that of EIs (approximately 18 mW) for chip-length

global interconnects. Only then can optical interconnects be consid-

ered as advantageous over EIs, and replace them in future technologies.

There is immense research interest in designing effi cient electro-optical

modulators and receivers, and some interesting results are emerging. For

instance,