Title: Optical interconnect opportunities for future server memory systems

Biography:

Yasunao Katayama received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in physics from the Tokyo University, Tokyo, Japan, in 1984 and 1986, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA, in 1994. He is currently with IBM Research—Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. He has been involved with a variety of academic disciplines covering physics, information theory, VLSI design, computer system architecture, optical/wireless interconnect, and future computing paradigms. 

Abstract

This talk deals with innovative computer system architectures with using advanced optical interconnect. In more than a decade ago, we proposed system disaggregation potential, in particular, in between CPU and memory, via optical interconnect for more flexible, scalable, and optimized system arrangements. This approach has been considered as a promissing near term option in modern computer systems. As a long term possibiity, we discuss how brain-inspired computing can take advantage of innovative optical technology features. Information processing in the brain is considered as communication centric rather than computation centric, and therefore, advanced interconnect ideas, such as freespace interconnect and optical crossbar switching is expected to play an increasingly essential role in future brain-inspired computing systems.