Thermal-efficient ring-based coarse wavelength division multiplexing optical link

A method, comprising:

• receiving, by a unit cell of a ring modulator of a coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) optical link, an optical signal via a first bus waveguide of the unit cell;
• generating, by a ring waveguide of the unit cell, a modulated optical signal based on the optical signal;
• filtering, by a multiplexer of the unit cell that is disposed between the first bus waveguide and a second bus waveguide, the modulated optical signal to generate a filtered optical signal by coupling light within a specific wavelength range between the first bus waveguide and the second bus waveguide, wherein the multiplexer comprises a grating coupler;
• and
• outputting, by the unit cell via the second bus waveguide, the filtered optical signal.

A system comprising:

• a coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) optical link comprising a transmitter and a receiver, at least one of the transmitter or the receiver comprising a modulator comprising plurality of unit cells, wherein each unit cell of the plurality of unit cells comprises:
• a plurality of waveguides comprising a ring waveguide having a respective resonant frequency, a first bus waveguide and a second bus waveguide, wherein the ring waveguide is configured to receive, via the first bus waveguide, an optical signal, and modulate the optical signal to generate a modulated optical signal;
• and
• a multiplexer comprising a grating coupler, disposed between the first bus waveguide and a second bus waveguide, configured to filter the modulated optical signal to generate a filtered optical signal by coupling light within a specific wavelength range between the first bus waveguide and the second bus waveguide.