All-optical header recognizer for optical packet switched networks

The increase of the internet traffic leads to future
optical networks requiring tens of Tb/s of capacity.
Current electronic circuit switches are limited by
the scalability of the electronic switching fabrics,
power consumption and dissipation in the opto-
electronic conversion. All-optical packet switches
may solve the bottleneck between the required
capacity and the routing speed. All-optical header
processing systems (AOHPS) is a key function in
implementing the all-optical packet switch.
The book focuses on AOPHS solutions based on
nonlinear gain and index dynamics in semiconductor
optical amplifiers (SOA). One approach is based on
two-pulse correlation principles in SOAs combined
with a header pre-processor for recognizing a large
amount of packet headers. Another approach employs
the self-induced nonlinear polarization rotation in
SOAs. This has the advantage to reduce drastically
the optical powers of operation. A third AOHPS
employs a terahertz optical asymmetric
demultiplexers (TOADs), which has the advantage to
be made compact and thus allows the photonic
integration of the system. Finally a comparison
between the different techniques is reported.

Autorentext
Nicola Calabretta is currently with COBRA Research Institute, Eindhoven University of Technology working on all- optical signal processing and advanced modulation formats for optical packet switching. Harm Dorren is professor and scientific director of COBRA Research Institute working on optical packet switching and ultrafast photonics.

Klappentext
The increase of the internet traffic leads to future optical networks requiring tens of Tb/s of capacity. Current electronic circuit switches are limited by the scalability of the electronic switching fabrics, power consumption and dissipation in the opto- electronic conversion. All-optical packet switches may solve the bottleneck between the required capacity and the routing speed. All-optical header processing systems (AOHPS) is a key function in implementing the all-optical packet switch. The book focuses on AOPHS solutions based on nonlinear gain and index dynamics in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA). One approach is based on two-pulse correlation principles in SOAs combined with a header pre-processor for recognizing a large amount of packet headers. Another approach employs the self-induced nonlinear polarization rotation in SOAs. This has the advantage to reduce drastically the optical powers of operation. A third AOHPS employs a terahertz optical asymmetric demultiplexers (TOADs), which has the advantage to be made compact and thus allows the photonic integration of the system. Finally a comparison between the different techniques is reported.