16×16 optical-fiber crossbar switch operating at 0.85 μm

An optical-fiber crossbar switch has been constructed using fully integrated GaAs optoelectronic receivers, custom monolithic GaAs laser drivers, and an electrical 32×32 silicon crossbar switch. 470 Mb/s operation has been achieved with a bit error rate of less than 10^-12. The approach uses a monolithic GaAs optoelectronic integrated receiver to convert optical signals into electrical signals that are fed into an Si 32×32 electronic crossbar switch. The switch outputs are used to drive laser transmitters consisting of a custom monolithic GaAs IC laser driver and a 0.85 μm GaAs/AlGaAs laser. The system could be reconfigured in 1 μm, limited by the control logic, with the switch chip capable of reconfiguration in 35 ns. No errors are induced by reconfiguration