155 Mb/s operation of a FET-SEED free-space switching network

The interconnection problems present in many high-performance digital systems may be alleviated through the use of surface normal optical interconnections using optoelectronic smart pixels. We present recent results of high-speed operation of a five-stage experimental free-space switching network using embedded control techniques for network control. The smart pixels consist of buffered GaAs FET logic with MQW SEED detectors and modulators. The system also incorporates external cavity lasers, bulk, micro, and diffractive optics, two-dimensional fiber bundles, and novel optomechanics. At 155 Mb/s, 77 of the 80 total pixels in the system and 31 of the 32 input fibers were functional. Two of the network paths have carried digital video at 105 Mb/s for over four months without readjustment. Error rate measurements on these paths have shown a short-term BER of 10^-10