
single-wavelength operation is assumed. As pointed out earlier, some efficiency in
device area could be achieved through WDM. However, the energy per bit and
total power dissipation cannot be improved by employing WDM.
The lowest power consumption in Table 17.1 is achieved with fiber delay lines.
However, because of their physical bulk, fiber delay lines are generally not
considered to be practical. The next lowest power consumption is in CMOS
buffers, and the largest consumption is in slow-light delay lines and other planar
waveguide delay lines, which consume the same amount of power as slow-light
delay lines with the same waveguide losses and the ...