Photonic wavelength-division and time-division hybrid switching system utilizing coherent optical detection

The application of coherent optical detection to a photonic wavelength-division (WD) and time-division (TD) hybrid switching system for a large-capacity switching is studied. Wavelength switching time is 1.8 ns, and the wavelength is stable after wavelength switching as wide as 3-4 AA. The results suggest the feasibility of switching over 20 channels (TD 4 channels, WD approximately 6 channels) for 100-Mb/s signals. This channel number can be increased to 256 channels (WD 64 channels) in view of the maximum wavelength sweep range (40 AA) of wavelength tunable laser diodes obtained so far.<
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