The increase of the internet traffic leads to future
optical networks requiring tens of Tb/s of capacity.
Current electronic circuit switches are limited by
the scalability of the electronic switching fabrics,
power consumption and dissipation in the opto-
electronic conversion. All-optical packet switches
may solve the bottleneck between the required
capacity and the routing speed. All-optical header
processing systems (AOHPS) is a key function in
implementing the all-optical packet switch.
The book focuses on AOPHS solutions based on
nonlinear gain and index dynamics in semiconductor
optical amplifiers (SOA). One approach is based on
two-pulse correlation principles in SOAs combined
with a header pre-processor for recognizing a large
amount of packet headers. Another approach employs
the self-induced nonlinear polarization rotation in
SOAs. This has the advantage to reduce drastically
the optical powers of operation. A third AOHPS
employs a terahertz optical asymmetric
demultiplexers (TOADs), which has the advantage to
be made compact and thus allows the photonic
integration of the system. Finally a comparison
between the different techniques is reported.
optical networks requiring tens of Tb/s of capacity.
Current electronic circuit switches are limited by
the scalability of the electronic switching fabrics,
power consumption and dissipation in the opto-
electronic conversion. All-optical packet switches
may solve the bottleneck between the required
capacity and the routing speed. All-optical header
processing systems (AOHPS) is a key function in
implementing the all-optical packet switch.
The book focuses on AOPHS solutions based on
nonlinear gain and index dynamics in semiconductor
optical amplifiers (SOA). One approach is based on
two-pulse correlation principles in SOAs combined
with a header pre-processor for recognizing a large
amount of packet headers. Another approach employs
the self-induced nonlinear polarization rotation in
SOAs. This has the advantage to reduce drastically
the optical powers of operation. A third AOHPS
employs a terahertz optical asymmetric
demultiplexers (TOADs), which has the advantage to
be made compact and thus allows the photonic
integration of the system. Finally a comparison
between the different techniques is reported.