We explore the possibility of enhancing very large scale integration (VLSI) electronic switch structures using reconfigurable freespace optical chip-to-chip interconnects. We present a novel technological approach to the realization of an output queued asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switching fabric within a low-blocking, three-stage network configuration by employing both electronic and optical switching stages with reduced cross-office transfer rates. The first and third stages are implemented by the selective reading/writing from/to a sectorized optically accessible random access memory (known as opto-RAM) currently under development in our laboratory. The second (central) stage uses holographic fan-out/selective fan-in optics to implement a freespace photonic crossbar switch. We assess the performance of the ATM switch fabric using computer simulation as well as analytic techniques.
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