Transceiver design for optical interconnects

Free space optical interconnects are a viable candidate to meet the intensive bandwidth requirements for interconnecting the future high performance digital computing systems and switching fabrics. Transceivers for the optoelectronic VLSI are key components of such systems. The design constraints of such transceivers (especially receivers) are quite different from the transceivers used for telecommunication links. Besides the requirement for availability in large arrays (and associated constraints such as small area, low complexity and low power dissipation), it is desirable that the transceivers contribute to making the optical design easy for the system.With the above objectives in mind, the various issues of transmitter and receiver design are considered in this thesis. BICMOS drivers are proposed as transmitter drivers instead of conventional CMOS. Time-differential receiver, a new mode of receiver operation, is introduced. Current-mode operation of receiver is discussed to enhance tolerance to optical misalignment. Future areas for research and development are then considered