EURASIP Journal on Embedded Systems
Volume 2007 (2007), Article ID 67603, 7 pages
doi:10.1155/2007/67603
Research Article
Characterization of a Reconfigurable Free-Space Optical Channel for Embedded Computer Applications with Experimental Validation Using Rapid Prototyping Technology
1Optical Interconnected Computing Group (OIC), School of Engineering and Physical Science, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
2Digital Tools Manufacturing Group (DTMG), School of Engineering and Physical Science, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
Received 26 May 2006; Revised 6 November 2006; Accepted 15 November 2006
Academic Editor: Neil Bergmann
Copyright © 2007 Rafael Gil-Otero et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Free-space optical interconnects (FSOIs) are widely seen as a potential solution to current and future bandwidth bottlenecks for parallel processors. In this paper, an FSOI system called optical highway (OH) is proposed. The OH uses polarizing beam splitter-liquid crystal plate (PBS/LC) assemblies to perform reconfigurable beam combination functions. The properties of the OH make it suitable for embedding complex network topologies such as completed connected mesh or hypercube. This paper proposes the use of rapid prototyping technology for implementing an optomechanical system suitable for studying the reconfigurable characteristics of a free-space optical channel. Additionally, it reports how the limited contrast ratio of the optical components can affect the attenuation of the optical signal and the crosstalk caused by misdirected signals. Different techniques are also proposed in order to increase the optical modulation amplitude (OMA) of the system.