Optical crossbar interconnections using variable grating mode devices

Abstract

In this paper we propose a system design for an optical crossbar interconnection network utilizing variable grating mode liquid crystal devices (VGM LCDs) which are optical transducers capable of performing intensity-to-spatial-frequency conversion. The proposed system performs real-time, reconfigurable, and nonblocking, but nonbroadcasting, optical crossbar interconnections. The fundamental limitations and the performance of the system are discussed.