Abstract

This paper explores how optical switching technologies can innovate future intra data center networks. The effectiveness of applying large-port-count optical switches is clarified by comparing the available scales and performances of electrical and optical switching networks. The two core technologies needed to make it happen are presented: large-port-count optical switches that have pay-as-you-grow scalability and a simple and fast switch control procedure. Different from the present multi-tier electrical switch network, single-tier large-port-count optical switches and their parallel configurations are shown to greatly simplify the network. Their combination offers low blocking rates and low latency even though the connection set-up is performed in a completely distributed and asynchronous manner where network wide synchronization and routing control are unneeded. The design and performance verification of our control network are detailed, and experiments on a control network emulation based on field programmable gate arrays are presented. The connection set-up latency of around 20 µs is verified within a floor (200 m) using our recently developed silicon photonic switch and tunable filter devices. The devices rely on the thermo-optic effect, but if we apply the electro-optic effect and adopt a simplified connection set-up procedure, the set-up latency is reduced to around 7 µs. The direction discussed here will pave the way for achieving bandwidth abundant and energy efficient data center networks in the future.

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