
19
Optical interconnection networks
in advanced computing systems
Keren Bergman
Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University,
New York, NY, USA
19.1 COMPUTING SYSTEMS TRENDS AND
THE PHOTONICS OPPORTUNITY
Over the past four decades, the progress of computing systems was largely
dominated by the underlying acceleration in microprocessor performance and
extraordinary advances in semiconductor technology. Improved fabrication meth-
ods and increasing die sizes were manifested in Moore’s law, predicting in 1965
that the number of transistors integrated on a single die will be roughly doubled
every 2 years [1]. Along with additional advances in