Senior Design May High Performance Optical Interconnect April 24, 2007

Introduction Team Members  Layth Al-Jalil  Jay Becker  Adam Fritz  David Sheets Advisors  Dr. Mani Mina  Dr. Arun Somani  Dr. Robert Weber Client: Lockheed Martin

Presentation Outline  Project Overview  Industry Application (High speed fiber optic networking)  Operating environment, users and uses, assumptions and limitations, expected end product  Approach Used  Research, design, implementation, testing  Organizational Details  Project status, resources and schedules  Closure Materials  Project evaluation, lessons learned, closing summary

Terminology  Bus: Shared medium network topology  COTS: Consumer off the shelf, e.g. “COTS equipment”  LASER: Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation  NIC: Network interface card, in this case, a card that accepts data over a PCI-e bus and transfers it into a serial fiber optic signal  Node: A node is the combination of a network interface card and the host computer  Primary Controller: This is the node that acts as the scheduler, i.e. “the master”  Secondary: This is a node that is controlled by the primary controller, i.e. “the slave”  SATA: Serial ATA; A computer bus technology primarily designed to transfer data to and from optical drives  SMA: Coaxial RF connectors to interface with coaxial cable  TDM: Time division multiplexing

Problem Statement  Use COTS equipment  Understand how to interconnect two to four processors using 10 Gbps technology  Use a fiber optic media  $5,000 budget  Develop most capable system with this funding

Project Overview Original Task (design project): Design a fiber optic network that will allow communication up to 10 Gbps Revised Task (research project): Design a fiber optic network with 2.5 Gbps communication which takes into consideration common 10 Gbps issues and provides direction for scaling up to 10 Gbps (Topology Overview) Uni-directional data flow

Industry Relevance and Application   Avionics industry trends:   Orion Space Vehicle (Lockheed Martin)   Network centric warfare   Applications in the private sector:   HDTV   In-flight entertainment systems

Operating Environment  Initial  High Speed Systems Engineering laboratory  Dependable Computing laboratory  Client  Military aircraft and vehicles  Spacecraft (Orion)  Projected  Commercial airliners  Wide area networks Courtesy: GlobalSecurity.org

End Users and Uses  Users  Pilots, passengers, and crew (aerospace vehicles)  Engineers (Lockheed Martin)  Scientists and students (ISU)  Uses  Provide research on the capabilities and limitations of accelerated communication between processing nodes  Provide medium for streaming high resolution video throughout a platform with minimal latency  Provide insight into different protocols, processor configurations, and future fiber optic technology solutions

Assumptions and Limitations  Lockheed Martin provided a budget of $5000 for purchase of COTS equipment  System developed at 2.5 Gbps can be scaled to 10 Gbps with COTS equipment  Processor boards will be provided by either Iowa State University or Lockheed Martin  Development of this system must be largely drawn from existing research  Availability of compatible network components  Distance between nodes using multi-mode fiber optic cabling cannot exceed 300 meters  Lack of familiarity with development platform software

Expected End Product  A fiber optic network utilizing a bus topology which operates at approximately 2.5 Gbps and a plan for scaling up to 10 Gbps with adequate financial resources  Custom software that ensures reliable data transfer between processing nodes across the network  Documentation summarizing the processes and conclusions of experimentation, design, and implementation

Project Status Accomplishments:  Explored available fiber optic technology solutions  Completed a detailed hardware design  Ordered and received fiber optic cabling, couplers, and splitters  Experimented and tested coupler/splitter configuration (to interface boards with the fiber optic link)  Selected and tested prototype development platform (Xilinx Virtex II Pro boards)  Developed software algorithms to enable reliable communication between boards  Initial testing into connection of fiber optic cabling and passive elements between nodes to complete the optical network

Approach Used (Research)  Available fiber optic technology solutions  Xilinx Virtex Boards  Myrinet  Networking protocols compatible with our chosen topology (Loop)  TDM  DWDM  CDMA  Ethernet  Programming languages involved in hardware control  VHDL, C, C++, assembly level languages, etc.

Approach Used (Preliminary System Designs)  Initial design provided signal termination and bi-directional signal traffic.  Signal termination was provided by fiber optic switch which was opened when fiber optic transceiver fed a signal into the switch. When no signal was fed, the switch would be closed (allowing traffic to pass through the node).  Such a topology cost $14000, thus exceeding our budget.

Approach Used (Double Ring Design)

Approach Used (Current System Design)  The current design does not realize a complete ring because without signal termination fiber optic line becomes saturated, and f/o transceiver does not output a value therein.

Differential signal from transceiver in absence of a complete loop. Differential signal from transceiver in presence of a complete loop. The optic signal is degraded by line noise that is not terminate, thus acculumating.

Approach Used (Technologies Involved)  Myrinet/Ethernet board: could not modify software running on boards.  Xilinx Virtex II Pro X: Provided 10 Gbps solution over multiple channels; became Virtex 4.  Xilinx Virtex II Pro: 3 Gbps solution that is available in the lab.

Approach Used (Software Design)

 PowerPC processor  Program is stored in application memory  Communication through OPB  Data transfer through PLB  Bus Transceiver interfaces PLB and Aurora

Approach Used (Software Design) The controller calculates each node’s transmission needs and allocates a proportional “transmission window” for the next time slot.

Approach Used (Implementation)  Strategy:  Implement components piecewise, then integrate  Ensure proper performance before integrating  Development components:  Established reliable communication between boards  Developed an organized communication scheme that would manage signal transmissions across the network  Designed and tested a coupler/splitter configuration to interface processing boards with the fiber optic link  Integrated fiber optic cabling and coupler/splitter configuration between boards to complete the fiber optic connection

Approach Used (Testing)  Communication between two processors located on the same board  Communication between two processors located on separate boards  Terminal characteristics of coupler/splitter configuration to verify proper functionality  Fiber optics and passive elements were integrated between two processing nodes  Tested complete network functionality

Project Evaluation Milestones Relative Importance Evaluation Score Resultant Score Problem definition 5%100%5% Research20%100%20% Technology selection 20%100%20% End-product design 15%66.66%10% Prototype implementation 15%66.66%10% End-product testing 5%66.66%3.33% End-product documentation 5%90%4.5% Project reviews 5%90%4.5% Project reporting 5%90%4.5% End-product demonstration 5%100%5% Total100%86.83% (Previously defined passing score: 80% )

Resources and Schedules (This Semester) Hours (current) Cost ($10.50) Adam Fritz 161$ David Sheets 251$ Layth Al-Jalil 148$1554 Jay Becker 167.5$ Xilinx Virtex II Pro development boards 0Donated Multi-mode fiber cabling 0$250 2 PC’s 0Donated Misc. Hardware (splitters, couplers, etc.) 0$1,900 Poster Board 10$25 Totals 727.5$ (Personal Effort and Resource Requirements)

Resources and Schedules

Future Recommendations  Fiber optic elements and network complexity can be expanded upon  A TDM scheme could be implemented to govern the signal transmissions across the network  Obtain necessary equipment for increasing communication rates to 10 Gbps  Continue development of hardware capable of handling the necessary digital signal processing

Closure Materials  Project Evaluation:  Valuable learning experience for group members  Team has gained an understanding of how to interconnect multiple processors and a fiber optic media  Commercialization:  This product is intended to serve as a research tool for students at Iowa State University and engineers at Lockheed Martin  Risk and Management  Lack of familiarity with subject matter  Lessons learned:  Signal processing issues related to fiber optic communications  Vendors are reluctant to allow public access to product prices, specs, and quality customer service  Troubleshooting issues related to controlling hardware through software

Closing Summary Questions? We believe our design for this fiber optic connection of processor nodes will prove to be a cost effective and beneficial resource for Lockheed Martin and Iowa State University in studying the capabilities and limitations of gigabit communication technology.