3rd Workshop on Optics and Computer Science (WOCS)

Scope of the Workshop - Call for Participation

Advances in semiconductor technologies coupled with progress in parallel processing and distributed computing are placing stringent requirements on inter-system and intra-system communications. Demands for high density, high bandwidth, and low power interconnections are already present in a wide variety of computing and switching applications, including, for example, multiprocessing and parallel computing (simulations of real problems, monitoring of parallel programming, etc), and enhanced digital telecommunications services (broadcast TV, video on demand, video conferencing, wireless communication, etc.). Furthermore, with advances in silicon and Ga-As technologies, processor speed will soon reach the gigahertz (GHz) range. Thus, the communication technology is becoming and will remain a potential bottleneck in many systems. This dictates that significant progress needs to be made in the traditional metal-based interconnects, and/or that new interconnect technologies, such as optics, be introduced in these systems.

Optical means are now widely used in telecommunication networks and the evolution of optical and optoelectronic technologies tends to show that they could be successfully introduced in shorter distance interconnection systems such as parallel computers. These technologies offer a wide range of techniques that can be used in interconnection systems. But introducing optics in interconnect systems also means that specific problems have yet to be solved while some unique features of the technology must be taken into account in order to design optimal systems. Such problems and features include device characteristics, network topologies, packaging issues, compatibility with silicon processors, system level modeling, ....

The purpose of this workshop is two-fold. First, we hope to provide a good opportunity for the optical, architecture and communication research communities to get together for a fruitful cross-fertilization and exchange of ideas. The goal is to bring the optical interconnects research into the mainstream research in parallel processing, while at the same time provide the parallel processing community with a more comprehensive understanding of the advantages and limitations of optics as applied to high-speed communications. In addition, we intend to assemble a group of major research contributors in the field of optical interconnects for assessing its current status, and identifying future directions.

The workshop will feature invited speakers, several sessions of submitted papers, and a panel discussion.

Steering Committee

Chair: Afonso Ferreira, CNRS - SLOOP Project - I3S & INRIA Sophia Antipolis, France

Pierre Chavel, Institut d'Optique Theorique et Appliquee, Orsay, France.
Timothy Drabik, Georgia Tech Lorraine, Metz, France, and Georgia Tech., Atlanta, USA
Sadik C. Esener, University of California, San Diego, USA
Paul Spirakis, Computer Technology Institute, Patras, Greece

Program Chair

Important dates

Submission deadline .............. 17 November 1998

Notification of acceptance ....... 10 December 1998

Camera ready paper due ........... 15 January 1999

Submission Guidelines

Authors are invited to submit manuscripts that demonstrate original unpublished research in all areas of optical interconnections including development of experimental or commercial systems. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• High-Speed Interconnections
• Optical Interconnects
• Algorithms using Optical Interconnects
• Parallel Optical Architectures
• Reconfigurable Optical Interconnects and Architectures
• Applications of Optical interconnects
• Modeling of Optical Systems and Applications
• Performance Analysis and Comparisons
• Packaging of optical interconnects
• System Demonstrations
• Routing in Optical Networks

To submit an original research paper, send your complete manuscript (not to exceed 12 single-spaced pages of text using point size 12 type on 8 1/2 X 11 inch or A4 pages) to the Program Chair. References, figures, tables, etc. must be included in the 12 pages. Electronic submissions are encouraged and should be sent to pan@cps.udayton.edu.

Electronic submissions must be in the form of a readable postscript file containing the following header information in ASCII form: title, author name(s), abstract, postal address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers. The header (in ASCII) should be followed by the postscript version of the complete manuscript (including title, author's name, affiliation, and abstract).

All manuscripts will be reviewed. Manuscripts must be received by 10 November 1998. Notification of review decisions will be sent by 10 December 1998. Authors will receive, along with the notification of acceptance, the LNCS autors' kit for their papers. Camera-ready papers are due 15 January 1998 to match IPPS deadlines. The papers should be prepared according to the LNCS guidelines, which can be found at http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/authors.html. The proceedings will be available at the Symposium and published by Springer in a volume of LNCS.

Hard copy submissions are also permitted and, like electronic submissions, must be received by the submission deadline. Send three copies of the manuscript to:

Yi Pan
Computer Science Department
University of Dayton
Dayton, OH 45469-2160, USA.
email: pan@cps.udayton.edu
URL: http://www.cps.udayton.edu/~pan

About the Proceedings: The full proceedings of IPPS including WOCS will be published on CD-ROM. WOCS will also be published in a volume of LNCS by Springer. Each IPPS registrant will be handed a copy of the CD-ROM and a paper copy of the LNCS containing the WOCS proceedings.