On polarization sensitivity of all-optical label swapping using synchronous phase modulation

Polarization sensitivity degrades the performance of many optical devices in optical packet switched networks. We investigate the polarization sensitivity for all-optical label swapping for the first time. We propose and demonstrate a polarization-insensitive phase modulator for all-optical label swapping. The polarization sensitivity of the power penalty for the label swapping is less than 0.3 dB.