ALL-OPTICAL TDM-TO-WDM DATA FORMAT CONVERSION IN A DYNAMICALLY RECONFIGURABLE WDM NETWORK

We demonstrate both single-stage and two-stage ah-optical TDM-to-WDM d ata format convertors based on cross-gain compression in an SOA, Our m ethod simultaneously time demultiplexes and wavelength shifts each cha nnel's data within a TDM packet, We convert a 2-Gb/s 4-channel TDM dat a stream at 1552 nm into Pour 500-Mb/s WDM channels at 1535, 1537, 154 0, and 1571 nn. Moreover, we extend this single-stage approach by demo nstrating a two-stage TDM-to-WDM convertor that selectively time demul tiplexes and wavelength shifts a 2-Gb/s TDM input data stream into two 500-Mb/s WDM channels after the second stage, We find that low power penalties (<2 dB) can be achieved by using this scheme for both the si ngle- and two-stage cases, This conversion scheme may be quite useful in WDM switching nodes.