PFI:AIR - TT: Top of the rack ultrafast holographic optical switch for hybrid data center architecture

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating a new low power, high bandwidth, holographic optical switch that will enable new architectures, improve data flow and increase energy efficiency in data centers. This new holographic switch is important because today's data centers consume 5% of the United States' electrical production and their power requirements are increasing exponentially as major companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon construct multi-acre data centers to satisfy consumer demand. The worldwide Internet traffic is forecasted to continue its rapid growth; doubling every 18 months due to new applications such as the Internet of Things. Unless a disruptive technology can be implemented, data centers' energy consumption will continue to grow at an exponential rate. The proposed holographic optical switch will enable new data center architectures that can dramatically reduce energy consumption while improving performance. The project will result in a prototype holographic optical switch and characterization of its performance in data center applications. This holographic switch has the following unique features: very low electrical power consumption, support for data rates to at least 1 Terrabit / second, and a flexible design that can provide a large number of input and output ports. These features provide advantages in term of energy efficiency, scalability, throughput, and data center architecture flexibility when compared to the existing electrical top-of-the-rack switches in the market space. This project addresses the following technology gaps as it translates from research discovery toward commercial applications. Commercial hybrid switching technology suffers from limited port count (~300 ports), long configuration time (10s of milliseconds) and high cost ($300/port). The proposal implements a switch based on integrating a novel holographic technique with a piston MOEMS (micro opto electro mechanical system) system. Our proposed system will overcome the limitations of the incumbent technology with the holographic switch which will provide high port count (10,000 ports), microsecond switching times (two orders of magnitude improvement), dramatically reduced cost per port (<$10/port), enabling a 6× reduction in data center power consumption. The graduate students involved in this project will receive entrepreneurship training through seminars and lectures based upon the "Lean Startup" methodology described in "The Startup Owner's Manual" by Steven Blank. The students will also have direct interactions with industry through the CIAN ERC's Industrial Advisory Board. The project combines the holographic switching technology developed at U. Arizona with the Si-based piston MOEMS technology developed at UC Berkeley. TIPD, LLC will guide the commercialization aspects of this technology translation effort from research discovery toward commercial reality.