Integrated optical signal processors, in combination with conventional electrical signal processors, are envisioned to open a path to a new generation of signal processing hardware platform that allows for significant improvement in processing bandwidth, latency, and power efficiency. With its well-known features and potential, silicon photonics is considered as a favorable candidate for the device implementation, particularly with high circuit complexity, and hence has been the focus of the study. As an outlook from the previous discussions on such processors, we are considering new building blocks in the silicon photonics platform for further extending the processor capabilities and adding practical features, particularly the miniaturized devices that enable ultra-dense integration of complex circuits into such processor chips. As enlightening examples, we review here our recent contribution together with representative works from other groups of compact designs of silicon photonics devices that enrich functionalities of processor building blocks such as multiplexing, polarization handling, and optical I/Os. The results shown in this review reflect the significance and maturity of the state-of-the-art photonic fabrication technology and contribute to the implementation of high-capacity, general-purpose optical signal processing functionalities on the chip scale.

中文翻译：

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用于集成光信号处理器的小型化硅光子器件

集成光信号处理器与传统电信号处理器相结合，有望为新一代信号处理硬件平台开辟道路，从而显着提高处理带宽、延迟和功率效率。凭借其众所周知的特性和潜力，硅光子学被认为是器件实现的有利候选者，特别是具有高电路复杂性，因此一直是研究的重点。根据之前对此类处理器的讨论，我们正在考虑硅光子学平台中的新构建模块，以进一步扩展处理器功能并添加实用功能，特别是能够将复杂电路超密集集成到此类处理器芯片中的小型化设备. 作为启发性的例子，我们在这里回顾了我们最近的贡献以及来自其他硅光子器件紧凑设计组的代表性工作，这些设计丰富了处理器构建块的功能，例如多路复用、偏振处理和光学 I/O。本综述中显示的结果反映了最先进的光子制造技术的重要性和成熟度，并有助于在芯片级实现大容量、通用的光信号处理功能。