We describe an application of InGaAs/AlGaAs VCSELs to multiple wavelength light source for optical interconnection. A flip-chip bonding technique is used to integrate the VCSELs lasing at different wavelengths. The integrated VCSELs of different wavelengths are individually grown and processed, so that one can optimize the device characteristics and the wavelength separation or distribution for multiple wavelength interconnection systems. A 9-wavelength VCSEL array with a wavelength separation of 5 nm has been successfully fabricated.

A 4-phase clock generator, which can dynamically change clock frequencies, duty ratios and I/Q balance, is proposed for on-chip timing margin testing. The clock generator macro is integrated into the microprocessor chip of the supercomputer SX-9, which is fabricated with a 65 nm CMOS technology. It demonstrates frequency syntheses of 1.68 GHz to 3 GHz range, an instant frequency change capability for timing margin testing, duty ratio and I/Q balance adjustments of -12.5 ps to 9.4 ps with a 3.125 ps step resolution.

Substrate noise analysis has become increasingly important in recent LSI design. This is because substrate noise, which affects PLLs, causes jitter that results in timing error. Conventional analysis techniques of substrate noise are, however, impractical for large-scale designs that have hundreds of millions of transistors because the computational complexity is too huge. To solve this problem, we have developed a fast substrate noise analysis technique for large-scale designs, in which a chip is divided into multiple domains and the circuits of each domain are reduced into a macro model. Using this technique, we have designed a processor chip for use in the supercomputer (die size: 20 mm 21 mm, frequency: 3.2 GHz, transistor count: 350M). Computation time with this design is five times faster than that with a 1/3000 scale design using a conventional technique, while resulting discrepancy with measured period jitter is less than 15%.