AN OPTICAL SWITCH ARCHITECTURE FOR MANHATTAN NETWORKS

Current networks using optical fibers as the transmission medium suffe r from performance bottlenecks caused by the use of electronic switche s. In these networks, the relatively limited electronic processing/swi tching bandwidth prevents the realization of the optical transmission bandwidth from being achieved across the network. This paper proposes a new electronically controlled optical packet deflection switch based on space and time switching at intermediate nodes. The presented swit ch uses optical delay lines to store and switch packets in the optical domain so that the huge optical bandwidth can be achieved across the network. The optical switch is controlled by an associated electronic mechanism, which provides the versatility and processing power of elec tronics, needed for controlling the optical switching. The proposed ap proach thus combines the respective advantages of the optical and the electronic worlds. The use and performance of the proposed switch is d emonstrated in the context of the Manhattan deflection network.