Paradigm Change: Reinventing HPC Architecture with In-Package Optical I/O

Even with the first exascale systems just around the corner, high performance computing (HPC) centers are already wrestling with what technologies will provide the next level of compute performance, bandwidth and memory to continue to advance their science. And while some CPU/GPU manufacturers have reported near-term solutions on exascale machines that should steepen the curve compared to historical trends in the Top500, new technologies are needed to keep bending the curve on post-exascale machines.

At last, optical I/O has emerged as the best solution to drive the next phase of Moore’s Law and post-exascale progress. This paper describes the developments that Ayar Labs has made to use standard silicon fabrication techniques to replace traditional electrical based I/O with high speed, high density, low power optical-based interconnect “chiplets” and disaggregated multi-wavelength lasers. Ayar Labs’ optical I/O chiplets provide universal I/O that enables truly disaggregated and distributed HPC architectures in support of more flexible systems where all of the components are “first-class citizens.”

HPC Systems Engineers and Architects:

Learn how Ayar Labs’ in-package optical I/O technologies are reinventing HPC architectures that will enable HPC centers to continue to push boundaries for HPC and AI.