TDM 100 Gb/s packet switching in an optical shuffle network

The feasibility of achieving large throughput in a single wavelength channel using TDM is discussed. The system is implemented with electronic routing control having networks that are often referred as transparent optical networks. The processing time required by the electronic routing controllers depends on the complexity of the routing algorithm employed, so it is critical to develop simple and efficient routing schemes. The system demonstrated packet switching in an 8-node shuffle networks using a physical node by connecting the two output links back to one of the input links using 500 m of fiber. The routing controller traces the path of a test packet by reconfiguring the node identified after performing switching on the test packet

Comparison of three nonlinear interferometric optical switch geometries

We present an experimental study of ultrafast all-optical interferometric switching devices based upon a resonant nonlinearity in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). We experimentally compare three configurations: one based upon a Sagnac interferometer and the other two based upon Mach-Zehnder interferometers. By using picosecond pulses, we characterize the switching window of the three devices in terms of both temporal width and output peak-to-peak amplitude. These results are found to be in close agreement with a previously developed theoretical model. Since these nonlinear interferometric switches use an active device as the nonlinear element, relatively low control pulse energy is needed to perform switching as compared to other techniques. As a result, these optical switches are practical for all-optical demultiplexing and ultrafast optical sampling for future lightwave communication systems

Fully Programmable Ring-Resonator-Based Integrated Photonic Circuit For Phase Coherent Applications

A novel ring-resonator-based integrated photonic chip with ultrafine frequency resolution, providing programmable, stable, and accurate optical-phase control is demonstrated. The ability to manipulate the optical phase of the individual frequency components of a signal is a powerful tool for optical communications, signal processing, and RF photonics applications. As a demonstration of the power of these components, we report their use as programmable spectral-phase encoders (SPEs) and decoders for wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM)-compatible optical code-division multiple access (OCDMA). Most important for the application here, the high resolution of these ring-resonator circuits makes possible the independent control of the optical phase of the individual tightly spaced frequency lines of a mode-locked laser (MLL). This unique approach allows us to limit the coded signal\u27s spectral bandwidth, thereby allowing for high spectral efficiency (compared to other OCDMA systems) and compatibility with existing WDM systems with a rapidly reconfigurable set of codes. A four-user OCDMA system using polarization multiplexing is shown to operate at data rates of 2.5 Gb/s within a 40-GHz transparent optical window with a bit error rate (BER) better than 10 -9 and a spectral efficiency of 25%. © 2006 IEEE

Experimental and theoretical evaluation of an ultrafast multihop packet-switched optical TDM network test bed

Just recently, a network that has integrated many optical time-division multiplexing (TDM) technologies such as 100-Gbits/s packet compression and ultrafast demultiplexing has been demonstrated. This article briefly presents the experimental results of this demonstration and addresses the physical layer performance issues including scalability, reliability, and channel constraints of such networks

Entangled-Pair Transmission Improvement Using Distributed Phase-Sensitive Amplification

We demonstrate the transmission of time-bin entangled photon pairs through a distributed optical phase-sensitive amplifier (OPSA). We utilize four-wave mixing at telecom wavelengths in a 5-km dispersion-shifted fiber OPSA operating in the low-gain limit. Measurements of two-photon interference curves show no statistically significant degradation in the fringe visibility at the output of the OPSA. In addition, coincidence counting rates are higher than direct passive transmission because of constructive interference between amplitudes of input photon pairs and those generated in the OPSA. Our results suggest that application of distributed phase-sensitive amplification to transmission of entangled photon pairs could be highly beneficial towards advancing the rate and scalability of future quantum communications systems

Demonstration of 100 GSa/s analog photonic packet service using analog optical TDM (AOTDM)

In this experimental demonstration, ultrafast optical time-division multiplexing is combined with high-speed arbitrary wavwform generation and detection techniques in order to provide 100 GSa/s analog optical waveform packet services for use in future broadband networks

Generation, routing, and detection of 100 GSa/s arbitrary analog optical waveform packets using analog optical TDM

The concept of applying ultrafast optical time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques to enable the generation and detection of high-bandwidth analog waveform packets are introduced. Initial experiments with the analog optical TDM system shows that these techniques can provide great deal of control on the waveform profile. In addition, by appending the analog waveform to a high-speed digital header, more complex system functions, such as self-routing of analog waveforms throughout an interconnection network, are made possible

Quantum information to the home

Information encoded on individual quanta will play an important role in our future lives, much as classically encoded digital information does today. Combining quantum information carried by single photons with classical signals encoded on strong laser pulses in modern fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks is a significant challenge, the solution to which will facilitate the global distribution of quantum information to the home and with it a quantum internet [1]. In real-world networks, spontaneous Raman scattering in the optical fibre would induce crosstalk between the high-power classical channels and a single-photon quantum channel, such that the latter is unable to operate. Here, we show that the integration of quantum and classical information on an FTTH network is possible by performing quantum key distribution (QKD) on a network while simultaneously transferring realistic levels of classical data. Our novel scheme involves synchronously interleaving a channel of quantum data with the Raman scattered photons from a classical channel, exploiting the periodic minima in the instantaneous crosstalk and thereby enabling secure QKD to be performed

Routing of 100 Gb/s words in a packet-switched optical networking demonstration (POND) node

This paper presents the design and experimental results of an optical packet-switching testbed capable of performing message routing with single wavelength time division multiplexed (TDM) packet bit rates as high as 100 Gb/s. The physical topology of the packet-switched optical networking demonstration (POND) node is based on an eight-node ShuffleNet architecture. The key enabling technologies required to implement the node such as ultrafast packet generation, high-speed packet demultiplexing, and efficient packet routing schemes are described in detail. The routing approach taken is a hybrid implementation in which the packet data is maintained purely in the optical domain from source to destination whereas control information is read from the packet header at each node and converted to the electrical domain for an efficient means of implementing routing control. The technologies developed for the interconnection network presented in this paper can be applied to larger metropolitan and wide area networks as well

Ultrafast multihop packet-switched optical time-division multiplexing : components and systems

Ultrafast processing techniques for the implementation of high-speed all-optical packet-switched networks are reviewed. Some of the key technologies required for building the next generation of high-speed interconnection networks include ultrafast packet generation, high-speed packet demultiplexing, and efficient packet routing. A review of recent component, subsystem, and system development as well as experimental demonstrations being conducted at Princeton University is presented to illustrate some of the capabilities of these technologies