Importance

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Abstract

A fully-connected nonblocking optical crossbar switch with minimal latency for interconnecting a plurality of sources to a plurality of destinations uses an array of photoemitters for each source and corresponding arrays of photodetectors that operate in a wavelength range for which silicon substrates are transparent. The crossbar switch includes a plurality of stacked silicon planes, each plane having an array of photdetectors occupying a unique location on its corresponding silicon plane so that no array of photodetectors blocks another array of photodetectors in the stacked silicon planes. The planes in the stack have varying lengths with a projecting edge of each plane having input/output pads for connecting electrical wiring to photodetectors of the plane. The stacked planes are arranged so that the input/output pads of each projecting edge are exposed for connection to an electrical bus. A plurality of light sources produce light signals representing data from the plurality of sources. An optical fiber bundle interconnects the light sources with photodetector arrays in the stacked silicon planes.

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First Claim