Multicast chip-to-chip interconnect based on millimeter-wave dielectric waveguide

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jan Hesselbarth
• Subject Area: Electronic Semiconductors, Components and Circuits, Integrated Systems, Sensor Technology, Theoretical Electrical Engineering
• Term: from 2018 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 408428878

High data-rate inter-chip / intra-chip communication is of growing importance for modern computer systems. Feasible technologies allowing for broadcast / multi-cast transmission with small latency, low attenuation, and reasonable data throughput do not exist. The project aims to develop and to explore the possible performance of a new board-level chip-to-multi-chip interconnect scheme. The technology to be explored in the proposed project alleviates several drawbacks of wired, wireless and optical interconnect techniques. The proposed interconnect uses low-loss dielectric waveguide, low-leakage Y-junctions in dielectric waveguide, and low-loss and compact transitions from on-chip circuit to dielectric waveguide, which in combination results in a feasible high-performant millimeter-wave multi-chip interconnect. The proposed technique excels with low-loss transmission, small latency and small chip-area consumption. Based on extensive preliminary work done by the applicant, the project is aiming to optimize the overall structures, to implement additional loss-reducing features, and to demonstrate benchmarking performance at a frequency of 180 GHz.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants