Abstract: The present disclosure provide for active boost in an electrical driver via a frequency comparator, configured to determine operational characteristics of an electrical circuit connected to an optical modulator based on a frequency difference between a ring oscillator and the clock signal; an electrical driver configured to drive a phase shift of a first optical signal carried on a first arm relative to a second optical signal carried on a second arm of an optical modulator, the electrical driver comprising: a first signal pathway, connected to the first arm of the optical modulator, wherein the first signal pathway includes: an adjustable gain inverter, electrically connected to first and second nodes; a fixed gain inverter, electrically connected to the first and second nodes; an inductor electrically connected between the second node and a third node; and a non-inverting amplifier connected between the third node and the first node.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for merging command/data packets from a plurality of parallel processing units into a concentrated data stream, while also providing for pipeline attribute data storage, direct user access to the pipeline, redirection of the pipeline, data insertion into the pipeline and pipeline diagnostics. The data from a plurality of parallel processing units is recombined in the same order as originally transmitted and then inputted into a buffer for entry into the pipeline. Attribute switching commands are deciphered by the concentrator of the invention and selectively stored and retrieved from the pipeline. New attribute values are passed downstream on command when they are different from existing attributes, or conversely, the concentrator may be overridden by the user so that attribute values supplied by the user may be stored and passed downstream. This technique thus minimizes repetitiveness in attribute switching.