This paper discusses the design, implementation, and performance of a bus-connected multiprocessor, called Presto, for a Rete-based production system. To perform a match, which is a major phase of a production system, a Presto match scheme exploits the subnetworks that are separated by the top two-input nodes and the token flow control at these nodes. Since parallelism of a production system can only increase speed 10-fold, the aim is to do so efficiently on a low-cost, compact bus-connected multi-processor system without shared memory or cache memory. The Presto hardware consists of up to 10 processisng elements (PEs), each comprising a commercial microprocessor, 4 Mbytes of local memory, and two kinds of newly developed ASIC chips for memory control and bus control. Hierarchical system software is provided for developing interpreter programs. Measurement with 10 PEs shows that sample programs run 5-7 times faster.

We have measured the temperature dependence of the gain characteristics in 1.3-µm AlGaInAs/InP strained multiple-quantum-well (MQW) semiconductor lasers using Hakki-Paoli method. By measuring the temperature dependences of the peak gain value and the gain peak wavelength, we evaluated the temperature dependences of the threshold current and the oscillation wavelength, respectively. The small temperature dependence of the threshold current in AlGaInAs/InP lasers is caused by the small temperature dependence of the transparency current density, which is represented by the characteristic temperature TJtr of 116 K. In AlGaInAs/InP high T0 lasers, the temperature dependence of the oscillation wavelength is slightly larger than that in GaInAsP/InP lasers because of the larger temperature dependence of bandgap wavelength 0.55 nm/K.

We have measured the temperature dependence of the gain characteristics in 1.3-µm AlGaInAs/InP strained multiple-quantum-well (MQW) semiconductor lasers using Hakki-Paoli method. By measuring the temperature dependences of the peak gain value and the gain peak wavelength, we evaluated the temperature dependences of the threshold current and the oscillation wavelength, respectively. The small temperature dependence of the threshold current in AlGaInAs/InP lasers is caused by the small temperature dependence of the transparency current density, which is represented by the characteristic temperature TJtr of 116 K. In AlGaInAs/InP high T0 lasers, the temperature dependence of the oscillation wavelength is slightly larger than that in GaInAsP/InP lasers because of the larger temperature dependence of bandgap wavelength 0.55 nm/K.

We fabricated an InP-based dual-polarization In-phase and Quadrature (DP-IQ) modulator consisting of a Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulator array integrated with RF termination resistors and backside via holes for high-bandwidth coherent driver modulators and revealed its high reliability. These integrations allowed the chip size (Chip size: 4.4mm×3mm) to be reduced by 59% compared with the previous chip without these integrations, that is, the previous chip needed 8 chip-resistors for terminating RF signals and 12 RF electrode pads for the electrical connection with these resistors in a Signal-Ground-Signal configuration. This MZ modulator exhibited a 3-dB bandwidth of around 40 GHz as its electrical/optical response, which is sufficient for over 400 Gbit/s coherent transmission systems using 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and 64QAM signals. Also, we investigated a rapid degradation which affects the reliability of InP-based DP-IQ modulators. This rapid degradation we called optical damage is caused by strong incident light power and a high reverse bias voltage condition at the entrance of an electrode in each arm of the MZ modulators. This rapid degradation makes it difficult to estimate the lifetime of the chip using an accelerated aging test, because the value of the breakdown voltage which induces optical damage varies considerably depending on conditions, such as light power, operation wavelength, and chip temperature. Therefore, we opted for the step stress test method to investigate the lifetime of the chip. As a result, we confirmed that optical damage occurred when photo-current density at the entrance of an electrode exceeded threshold current density and demonstrated that InP-based modulators did not degrade unless operation conditions reached threshold current density. This threshold current density was independent of incident light power, operation wavelength and chip temperature.