Optical Clock Distribution For High Speed Computers

In synchronous systems, clock signals are used to maintain the order of occurance of events as well as defining the time frame in which logic is performed. Clock skew, the variance in arrival times of the same state of the clock signal to various parts in the system, is being identified as one of the main limitations to system performance. In this paper, we analyze an optical alternative for clock distribution. To demonstrate the feasibility of optical clock distribution, an experimental system has been designed and implemented to achieve a clock skew less than 200 psec.