Wavelength conversion in optical packet switching

TLDR

The study proposes operating the optical packet switch block asynchronously, eliminating packet alignment at the input. The authors conduct a detailed traffic analysis of optical packet switch design, examining buffering complexity and block structure, and propose asynchronous operation without input packet alignment. Wavelength converters enhance traffic performance of switch blocks under random and bursty traffic, and provide additional benefits at the inlets of add‑drop switches in a Shufflenetwork.

Abstract

A detailed traffic analysis of optical packet switch design is performed. Special consideration is given to the complexity of the optical buffering and the overall switch block structure is considered in general. Wavelength converters are shown to improve the traffic performance of the switch blocks for both random and bursty traffic. Furthermore, the traffic performance of switch blocks with add-drop switches has been assessed in a Shufflenetwork showing the advantage of having converters at the inlets. Finally, the aspect of synchronization is discussed through a proposal to operate the packet switch block asynchronously, i.e. without packet alignment at the input.