Design of a Gigabit Optical Network Interface Card and Layout Methodology for High-Voltage Drivers in Large Arrays for Modulators and MEMS Devices
Abstract
High-speed optical data links enable local area networks (LANs) that operate at data rates above 10Gbps. Various networks, protocol and switch architectures have been proposed that use these links. The optical network interface card (ONIC) is an important component for demonstrating efficient application of these architectures. In this paper, we describe the design of a programmable ONIC that interfaces a 12-channel gigabit parallel optical link module with a 64-bit/66-MHz PCI computer bus. Hardware programmability (using FPGAs) enables the ONIC to efficiently implement different communication protocols. For hardware testing, the ONIC hardware was programmed for bit error rate (BER) analysis. In continuous operation at 8Gbps for 30 days through a 1-meter fiber, no errors occurred. For application testing, a custom ONIC software driver was developed. We used this driver to demonstrate message passing between applications running on two ONIC-equipped servers. The ONIC design provides a low-cost solution that can be readily adapted for application and device specific requirements.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA511199
Entities
People
- Premanand Chandramani
Organizations
- University of Delaware