All-optical label swapping of in-band addresses and 160 Gbit/s data packets

Abstract

A 1 Â 4 all-optical packet switch is presented, based on an optical label swapping technique that utilises a scalable label processor and a label rewriter with 'on the fly' operation. Experimental results show errorfree packet switching with a data payload at 160 Gbit/s. The label erasing and new label insertion operation introduces 0.5 dB of power penalty. These results indicate a potential utilisation of the presented technique in a multi-hop packet switched network.Introduction: All-optical packet switching (AOPS) is a promising candidate to route optical packets at higher bit rates and with lower power dissipation compared to electronics [1][2][3]. The key issue is to realise an AOPS node that is scalable and that allows photonic integration. Here we demonstrate a scalable 1 Â 4 all-optical packet switch in which both the label processor and the label rewriter are implemented in the optical domain. Our approach allows for encoding of 2 N addresses within a limited bandwidth. Moreover, the system that we introduce is based on 'on the fly' label processing that reduces the latencies to values that can be handled by integrated delay lines.