Large-capacity optical path cross-connect system for WDM photonictransport network

This paper demonstrates our previously developed large-capacity optical path cross-connect (OPXC) system. The major hurdles to be cleared are (1) establishment of a highly modular architecture that facilitates hardware design and upgrading and (2) the development of an OPXC demonstrator designed to achieve 320-Gbit/s throughput capacity. Due to the use of planar lightwave circuit technologies, compact size packaging for an 8×16 delivery-and-coupling type optical switch and an arrayed-waveguide grating for a wavelength-demultiplexer are achieved. The dense packaging of the four-channel optical regenerators (3-R function regenerator) makes it possible to realize a large-capacity OPXC that can offer high quality transmission and ensure robustness in terms of multiple node connection. Performance test results confirm the validity of the system design and the feasibility of 320-Gbit/s OPXC implementation     

Analytical model for a WDM optical cross-connect with limitedconversion capability

We introduce a general model for describing the connection setup in various wavelength-routing optical cross-connects with limited conversion capability. It enables us to determine if a given connection pattern can be supported, and to calculate the blocking performance of the cross-connects     

A novel integrated-optic WDM cross-connect for wide area all optical networks

The authors propose a novel design for an integrated-optic wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) cross-connect that can be used in routing network applications at various wavelengths. The device is based on integrating a two-dimensional array of Bragg diffraction cells at cross points of input/output (I/O) coplanar waveguides. The wavelength tuning of the individual Bragg cells can be chosen to produce a WDM cross-connect with any number of required I/O interconnections. These cross-connects have proved extremely useful in the design and deployment of wide-area/nationwide all-optical networks.<>     

Asymmetric dilation of multiwavelength cross-connect switches forlow-crosstalk WDM optical networks

We predict that, for wavelength division multiplexing optical-network applications, an asymmetrically dilated configuration of a 2×2 cross-connect is significantly better in terms of overall crosstalk when the levels of the bar-port crosstalk and the cross-port crosstalk are significantly different from each other, as is the case with optical-frequency filters which utilize grating-assisted coupling. As a verification, we present a simulation study with 2×2 polarization-diversified acousto-optic tunable filters. We present a recursive method to extend the principle of asymmetric dilation to larger-size cross-connect switches, and make a recommendation for an asymmetrically dilated 4×4 cross-connect configuration     

Polarization independent dilated WDM cross-connect on InP

A four wavelength 2×2 optical wavelength-division-multiplexed cross-connect with dilated switches is reported. The device is monolithically integrated on InP and consist of two eight-channel PHASAR's combined with 16 electrooptic Mach-Zehnder interferometer switches. On-chip loss is less than -17 dB and crosstalk is better than -20 dB     

Optical preamplifier receiver for spectrum-sliced WDM

Spectrum-slicing provides a low-cost alternative to the use of multiple coherent lasers for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) applications by utilizing spectral slices of a single broadband noise source for creating the multichannel system. In this paper we analyze the performance of both p-i-n and optical preamplifier receivers for spectrum-sliced WDM using actual noise distributions, and the results are compared with those using the Gaussian approximation. This extends prior results of Marcuse for the detection of deterministic signals in the presence of optical amplifier and receiver noise. Although the methodology is similar, the results are considerably different when the signal is itself noise-like. For the case of noise-like signals, it is shown that when an optical preamplifier receiver is used, there exists an optimum filter bandwidth which minimizes the detection sensitivity for a given error probability. Moreover the evaluated detection sensitivity, in photons/bit, represents an order of magnitude (>10 dB) improvement over conventional detection techniques that employ p-i-n receivers. The Gaussian approximation is shown to be overly conservative when dealing with small ratios of the receiver optical to electrical bandwidth, for both p-i-n and preamplifier receivers     

Inband crosstalk analysis of optical cross-connect architectures

In this paper, inband crosstalk in several important classes of optical cross-connect (OXC) architectures is studied. We derive the expression for the power penalty imposed by crosstalk so that the various OXC architectures can be evaluated in a systematic way. This, in turn, enables us to study the relation between crosstalk and the component requirement.     

Solid state optical space switches for network cross-connect andprotection applications

Network protection and reconfiguration is becoming increasingly important in fiber optic communications systems. This is driven by the intense traffic and high cost of lost high-data-rate optical connections. Optical cross-connects at the nodes in transmission systems are developing rapidly in response. A key optical component required for these applications is an optical space switch. Since the required timescale of network reconfiguration at the optical level is on the order of 50 ms to prevent electrical intervention. The optical space switching speed must be approximately 5 ms or faster. The demand created by these applications has motivated the development of a solid state optical space switch based on a novel planar-waveguide technology. This planar integrated optics technology relies on the thermo-optic effect in specialized optical polymer materials and results in reliable optical space switches without moving parts to wear out. This article reviews the state of the art in solid state optical space switches based on thermo-optic polymers and applications of these switches in network communication systems. The same polymer-based planar waveguide technology used to make the solid state optical space switches of today provides the basis for WDM devices. Electro-optic modulators, and devices integrating several functions (space switching, wavelength multiplexing, light generation and detection) in one component in the years to come     

Low-noise optical receiver for high-speed optical transmission

This paper describes the design of a low-noise optical receiver using Si bipolar transistors for high-speed optical transmission. The conventional common emitter-common collector circuit (CE-CC pair) and Darlingtou circuit (transimpedance amplifiers with parallel feedback) are studied. Optimal CE-CC pair collector-biasing current for attaining minimum noise current with a 400-MHz bandwidth is 2.7 mA, and less than 1.2 mA for the Darlington circuit. It is confirmed that the Darlington circuit is better than the CE-CC pair in signal-to-noise ratio by about 1.5 dB. The low-noise Darlington optical receiver with a Ge-avalanche photodiode has achieved an optical sensitivity of -41 dBm for a 400 Mbit/s RZ pulse with a bit error rate of 10^-10. This is a 2.5-dB improvement in optical sensitivity over that of the conventional CE-CC receiver.     

Low-noise optical receiver for high-speed optical transmission

This paper describes the design of a low-noise optical receiver using Si bipolar transistors for high-speed optical transmission. The conventional common emitter-common collector circuit (CE-CC pair) and Darlington circuit (transimpedance amplifiers with parallel feedback) are studied. Optimal CE-CC pair collector-biasing current for attaining minimum noise current with a 400-MHz bandwidth is 2.7 mA, and less than 1.2 mA for the Darlington circuit. It is confirmed that the Darlington circuit is better than the CE-CC pair in signal-to-noise ratio by about 1.5 dB. The low-noise Darlington optical receiver with a Ge-avalanche photodiode has achieved an optical sensitiyity of -41 dBm for a 400 Mbit/s RZ pulse with a bit error rate of 10^-10. This is a 2.5-dB improvement in optical sensitivity over that of the conventional CE-CC receiver.     

WDM receiver by monolithic integration of an optical preamplifier,waveguide grating router and photodiode array

A high performance monolithic WDM receiver is demonstrated. The chip receives eight optical channels spaced by 200 GHz. An optical amplifier at the input of the device boosts the incoming signal. A fibre insertion DC responsivity of 0.5 A/W and crosstalk below -20 dB are achieved. The receiver has a small signal bandwidth of 3.5 GHz     

Protection interoperability for WDM optical networks

The failure of a single optical link or node in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network may cause the simultaneous failure of several optical channels. In some cases, this simultaneity may make it impossible for the higher level (SONET or IP) to restore service. This occurs when the higher level is not aware of the internal details of network design at the WDM level. We call this phenomenon “failure propagation.” We analyze three types of failure propagation, called “bottleneck,” “connectivity,” and “multiple groups.” Then we present a solution based on the definition of appropriate requirements at network design and a WDM channel placement algorithm, protection interoperability for WDM (PIW). Our method does not require the higher level to be aware of WDM internals, but still avoids the three types of failure propagation mentioned above. We finally show the result on various network examples     

Provisioning algorithms for WDM optical networks

This paper concerns connection provisioning for optical networks employing wavelength division multiplexing. A heuristic algorithm is developed and numerically studied for routing and wavelength assignment of a set of static connection requests. The algorithm runs much faster than the optimum solution of this problem. An adaptation of the algorithm is proposed to design restorable networks which can handle a specified set of failures. The proposed algorithm is based on taking all failures into consideration simultaneously, and performs better than developing independent designs for each failure     

Design protection for WDM optical networks

With wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks the failure of a single link or component may cause the simultaneous failure of several optical channels, potentially making impossible restoration by rerouting directly in higher layers directly using the optical network (SDH, ATM, internal protocol (IP)). To address this, we introduce the concept of design protection, which aims at making such failure propagations impossible. We present the disjoint alternate path (DAP) algorithm which places optical channels in order to maximize design protection. We show the result on various network examples     

Multiple-wavelength transmitter for WDM optical network

Optical network based on wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) technology will be a most active research topic in the 21 st century. This paper describes a WDM multiple-wavelength transmitter and several key corresponding devices for optical network, including amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) spectrum-sliced multiple-wavelength optical source, optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM), semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), as well as the spectrum noise suppression scheme. The new research results are reported, and the applications of these developed devices are also introduced.     

Design of a 10-Gb/s burst-mode optical packet receiver module and its demonstration in a WDM optical switching network

A 10-Gb/s burst-mode optical packet receiver module was fabricated. Its sensitivity was -24.8 dBm. Its sensitivity penalty due to packet-arrival timing jitter was less than 1.5 dB in arbitrary relative phase, and its total sensitivity penalty due to power fluctuation and packet-arrival timing jitter was less than 2.9 dB when the magnitude of packet-by-packet power fluctuation was 9 dB. We experimentally confirmed that our burst-mode optical packet receiver did not cause a penalty for wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical switching using the wavelength channel selector module.     

Time-multiplexed signals and parallel signal analysis/switch optimization for MEMS-based optical cross-connect

The calibration of the numerous mirror pairs, or switches, in MEMS-mirror optical cross-connect systems is a critical process in their manufacture. Because the number of switch connections for these systems scales quadratically to the number of inputs/outputs, this places great demands on the equipment used to perform testing. We propose and demonstrate a calibration technique for generic optical subsystems based on optical time-division multiplexing (OTDM).     

Gigabit receiver ICs for optical communications

The authors discuss gigabit receiver ICs for optical communications, focusing on their circuit and package design, the performance of receivers that were fabricated, and their application to a 1.6 Gb/s optical receiver. The key technologies for the receivers are discussed, and a design based on these key technologies is proposed. The proposed design is used to fabricate six receiver ICs (eight chips) using an ultra-high-speed bipolar process with transistors having a unity gain bandwidth of 6-8 GHz. The receivers are suitable for long-haul optical transmission at bit rates up to 1.6 Gb/s. Experimental results show that the 1.6 Gb/s receiver has an optical dynamic range of more than 23 dB without any adjustment, and the received average optical power required to maintain a 10^-11 error rate is less the -31 dBm     

波分复用系统用光学器件的新进展

简要说明了WDM系统所使用的半导体光学器件中的EA调制器，可变波长LD以及波长转换器件的开发情况。     

Parallel-stage-based reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer for WDM optical transport networks

This letter proposes a simple and flexible reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) based on parallel-stage configuration using Mach-Zehnder-based fiber gratings, 1/spl times/2 optical switches, and Y-model combiners. The proposed ROADM with four-stage parallel configuration is designed and experimentally investigated to show its performance in full wavelength selection and advantages in reducing the discrepancy of the insertion loss between channels and upgrading.