Massive Parallelization via Spatial Division Multiplexing

Unlike high-speed optical data transmission, wide and slow concepts achieve high data transmission rates through extensive parallelization using spatially separated channels, e.g. by means of spatial division multiplexing in multi-mode fibers or waveguides. Significant research efforts demonstrated numerous realization options, using various fabrication technologies for different settings. Despite this, market impact is small to date. With the data-center driven increasing demand on optical interconnects, fabricable and scaleable solutions are needed. This project will:

• Evaluate a variety of use cases (e.g. on chip(package), chip to chip, rack to rack etc.), for the applicability and usefulness of a wide and slow approach using SDM.
• Explore realization and fabrication technologies with a clear focus on fabricable and scaleable solutions, preferentially using only passive photonics.
• Manufacture well defined functional demonstrators for selected use cases