Abstract
Parallel processing systems require interconnects capable of handling high data rates in order to satisfy the communication demands of applications. The data rates that electrical data buses can handle may not be sufficient for some types of data interactive applications. Optical technologies have been proposed to address this limitation of electrical bus systems. During the past decade, several optical bus parallel models have been proposed, together with a suite of basic and advanced algorithms. However, much of this work is theoretical, and only limited portions of model implementations have been noted. This thesis assesses the practical nature of such optical bus parallel models. In particular, this thesis reports on optical power and signal loss in the Linear Array with Reconfigurable Pipelined Bus System (LARPBS), which is one of the more popular optical bus models. A model that assists the calculation of signal losses in the LARPBS is presented as well as four case studies developed with the aid of this model. A straight forward implementation of the bus model %without amplification of optical signals suggests high losses that limit the number of processors supported. Nevertheless, this work also suggests that variations in the architecture may lead to more practical parallel systems.