Thursday, August 31, 2023

Tech Update: 4 Tbps FPGA with In-Package Optical I/O

Bringing optical I/O as close as possible to the processor is key design aim for high-performance computing. Intel and Ayar Labs demonstrate  a 4 Tbps bidirectional communication between two optically enabled Intel FPGAs using Ayar Labs TeraPHY optical I/O chiplets. Data generated from each FPGA is optically transmitted from one board and received and verified on the other board. 


Mark Wade, Chief Scientist and Co-founder of Ayar Labs, and Anthony Yu, Vice President of Computing and Wired Infrastructure at GlobalFoundries, walk us through the demo:

  • They showcase Ayar Labs' TeraPHY optical I/O chipletss, built in the GlobalFoundries' 45nm silicon photonics process, which enables breakthrough multi-terabit per second optical connectivity solutions.
  • They discuss the evolution of fiber attached technology, highlighting the importance of figuring out how to attach fiber once you have Optical I/O chiplets in the package.
  • They demonstrate the assembly of the whole solution into a standard card level form factor, integrating laser sources externally from the SoC package and sending laser light into the optical chiplets through optical fiber routed on the edge of the card.

The demo represents a major milestone on the path to drive optical connectivity all the way to the processor.

Have a tech update that you want to brief us on? Contact info@nextgeninfra.io

Check out other Tech Updates on our YouTube Channel (subscribe today): https://www.youtube.com/@NextGenInfra and check out our latest reports at: https://nextgeninfra.io/