Optical Transport Network

About: Optical Transport Network is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6055 publications have been published within this topic receiving 85783 citations.

On the design of optical deflection-routing networks

Abstract: Deflection routing plays a prominent role in many optical network architectures, because it can be implemented with modest packet-buffering requirements. From the practical perspective, however, the implementation of deflection routing, which is normally based on global time slotting, might pose challenges. The authors develop approaches to the implementation of both slotted and unslotted deflection-routing optical networks. They analyse important tradeoffs that are inherent to the design of optical deflection-routing networks and compare the performance of slotted and unslotted networks. Under a reasonable set of assumptions about optical technology, the results suggest that the unslotted link protocol should be the preferred approach to building the optical deflection-routing network. >

A Scalable, Partially Configurable Optical Switch for Data Center Networks

Abstract: Optical circuit switching may be instrumental in meeting the cost, energy, and aggregate bandwidth requirements of future data center networks. However, conventional MEMS beam-steering cross-connects cannot provide submillisecond switching with the port count necessary for data centers. Here, we investigate a novel noncrossbar selector switch architecture and pupil-division switching layout to improve optical switching performance by relaxing the requirement of arbitrary switch configurability. This architecture and switch design enable MEMS beam-steering micromirrors to scale to microsecond response speeds while supporting high port count and low loss switching, and can realize a number of useful interconnection topologies. We present the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of a proof-of-principle prototype using a single comb-driven MEMS mirror to achieve 150 μs switching of 61 ports between four preprogrammed interconnection mappings. We demonstrate the scalability of this switch architecture with a detailed optical design of a 2048-port selector switch with 20 μs switching time.

System-Level Modeling and Analysis of Thermal Effects in WDM-Based Optical Networks-on-Chip

Abstract: Multiprocessor systems-on-chip show a trend toward integration of tens and hundreds of processor cores on a single chip. With the development of silicon photonics for short-haul optical communication, wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)-based optical networks-on-chip (ONoCs) are emerging on-chip communication architectures that can potentially offer high bandwidth and power efficiency. Thermal sensitivity of photonic devices is one of the main concerns about the on-chip optical interconnects. We systematically modeled thermal effects in optical links in WDM-based ONoCs. Based on the proposed thermal models, we developed OTemp, an optical thermal effect modeling platform for optical links in both WDM-based ONoCs and single-wavelength ONoCs. OTemp can be used to simulate the power consumption as well as optical power loss for optical links under temperature variations. We use case studies to quantitatively analyze the worst-case power consumption for one wavelength in an eight-wavelength WDM-based optical link under different configurations of low-temperature-dependence techniques. Results show that the worst-case power consumption increases dramatically with on-chip temperature variations. Thermal-based adjustment and optimal device settings can help reduce power consumption under temperature variations. Assume that off-chip vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers are used as the laser source with WDM channel spacing of 1 nm, if we use thermal-based adjustment with guard rings for channel remapping, the worst-case total power consumption is 6.7 pJ/bit under the maximum temperature variation of 60°C; larger channel spacing would result in a larger worst-case power consumption in this case. If we use thermal-based adjustment without channel remapping, the worst-case total power consumption is around 9.8 pJ/bit under the maximum temperature variation of 60°C; in this case, the worst-case power consumption would benefit from a larger channel spacing.

Broadband building blocks [optical networks]

Abstract: This article has focused on optical networks using WDM to provide broadband network solutions with increased functionality, capacity, and reach. The building blocks in this type of networks, i.e., OADMs and OXCs, have been discussed in detail. The different architectures and technology options used in these types of nodes have been investigated. A comparison between WS and BS OADM architectures has been given, while OXCs have been classified into opaque and transparent. The WS and B&S transparent OXC architectures have been discussed in detail, and the various technology options in terms of optical switching have been covered. The system performance of OADMs and OXCs including their cascadability has been analyzed in terms of OSNR, crosstalk, amplifier transients, and filter concatenation effects.