16X16 STRICTLY NONBLOCKING GUIDED-WAVE OPTICAL SWITCHING-SYSTEM

We report the first demonstration of a complete 16 x 16 strictly nonbl ocking guided-wave optical switching system, The system, based on a th ree-stage Extended Generalized Shuffle Network, includes 448 direction al coupler switch elements in 23 packaged modules. The modules are mou nted in a single equipment cabinet and are controlled with a PC-based snitching algorithm, We report results of extensive measurements on de vice and system performance, The devices and system exhibited low unif orm voltages, low loss, low crosstalk, and broad bandwidth. This lithi um niobate based system operated continuously and without maintenance for a period of 20 months.